SageTV or BeyondTV or GBPVR?

Jaxidian

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Oct 22, 2001
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Looks like these are the 2 most popular pieces of software and I need to dish out up to $100 or so for this. Was hoping it'd be cheaper but oh well. Now I just need to know which one of these two I should go with. I need to know quick to - gotta get this htpc setup before the super bowl!

What I'm looking for HD DVR'ing.

Thanks!

Edit: Although I shouldn't I just have to brag - take a look at my receipt for my 40" Bravia + 5-yr Sears warranty. This is the main thing prompting me for this HTPC. :)

Edit 2: I added GBPVR to the poll. A quick browsing of their site makes it look like a prime candidate, imo. Plus free = good!
 

archcommus

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2003
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I recommend Sage. It has a better interface, everything can be controlled from your couch, very active and non-censored forums, and a plethora of customizations available for later when you feel like tinkering with it and perfecting it. It also serves as a full media center, not just TV, which Beyond does not without additional software.
 

Jaxidian

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Oct 22, 2001
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Oh, btw, I'm thinking about going multiple tuners. Is it safe to assume both pieces of software can handle this just fine?
 

archcommus

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2003
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Originally posted by: Jaxidian
Oh, btw, I'm thinking about going multiple tuners. Is it safe to assume both pieces of software can handle this just fine?
Yep I know Sage can, I'm sure Beyond can, as well.
 

archcommus

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2003
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Originally posted by: bigrash
i'm looking to buy either of these two also.
Again, I'll recommend Sage.

Beyond is not bad software. It gets the job done, has an active community, comes with commercial skip and show compression features built-in, and is $10 cheaper than Sage.

However, Beyond is ONLY a PVR. Sage is only $10 more and includes full media center functionality (music, photos, videos, etc). Sage has better forums (not censored) and supports plug-ins. Dozens are available that can really extend and add functionality, and most require little more than extracting a zip file and making one change in Sage to get them working. Sage is quicker with full-screening and resizing the window (at least for me) and has support for VMR9 rendering, which allows all menus to be accessed transparently over top of running video or live TV in the background. In Beyond you can't do this, so every time you want to sift through the menu you need to exit live TV.

Another thing that is important to me is simplicity. Sage runs one program, SageTV.exe, and if you are using client/server mode, one service, SageClient. Beyond, however, has EIGHT running executables while you are watching TV, and still seven while it is idle in your tray. Even if it uses the same amount of memory, that would still annoy me.

If you have any other questions send them my way.
 

GZeus

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Apr 24, 2006
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Thanks 'archcommus' for the clarity of your comparison. :thumbsup:
Getting closer to slapping all these 'spare' parts I have into an HTPC and I was wondering which way to go for software.
 

bigrash

Lifer
Feb 20, 2001
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Originally posted by: archcommus
Originally posted by: bigrash
i'm looking to buy either of these two also.
Again, I'll recommend Sage.

Beyond is not bad software. It gets the job done, has an active community, comes with commercial skip and show compression features built-in, and is $10 cheaper than Sage.

However, Beyond is ONLY a PVR. Sage is only $10 more and includes full media center functionality (music, photos, videos, etc). Sage has better forums (not censored) and supports plug-ins. Dozens are available that can really extend and add functionality, and most require little more than extracting a zip file and making one change in Sage to get them working. Sage is quicker with full-screening and resizing the window (at least for me) and has support for VMR9 rendering, which allows all menus to be accessed transparently over top of running video or live TV in the background. In Beyond you can't do this, so every time you want to sift through the menu you need to exit live TV.

Another thing that is important to me is simplicity. Sage runs one program, SageTV.exe, and if you are using client/server mode, one service, SageClient. Beyond, however, has EIGHT running executables while you are watching TV, and still seven while it is idle in your tray. Even if it uses the same amount of memory, that would still annoy me.

If you have any other questions send them my way.

sweet, thanks for that. guess I'm going with Sage. :)
 

archcommus

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2003
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Originally posted by: bigrash
Originally posted by: archcommus
Originally posted by: bigrash
i'm looking to buy either of these two also.
Again, I'll recommend Sage.

Beyond is not bad software. It gets the job done, has an active community, comes with commercial skip and show compression features built-in, and is $10 cheaper than Sage.

However, Beyond is ONLY a PVR. Sage is only $10 more and includes full media center functionality (music, photos, videos, etc). Sage has better forums (not censored) and supports plug-ins. Dozens are available that can really extend and add functionality, and most require little more than extracting a zip file and making one change in Sage to get them working. Sage is quicker with full-screening and resizing the window (at least for me) and has support for VMR9 rendering, which allows all menus to be accessed transparently over top of running video or live TV in the background. In Beyond you can't do this, so every time you want to sift through the menu you need to exit live TV.

Another thing that is important to me is simplicity. Sage runs one program, SageTV.exe, and if you are using client/server mode, one service, SageClient. Beyond, however, has EIGHT running executables while you are watching TV, and still seven while it is idle in your tray. Even if it uses the same amount of memory, that would still annoy me.

If you have any other questions send them my way.

sweet, thanks for that. guess I'm going with Sage. :)
Be sure to make use of the trial periods for each before purchasing, just in case your tastes differ drastically from mine. Let me know of your opinions.
 

archcommus

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2003
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Originally posted by: LouPoir
BeyondTV is the best - IMHO
SageTV Pros -
Faster update with full screen and resizing
Customizable (plug-ins, can change menu layouts, all keyboard shorcuts, etc.)
Non-censored forums
Full media center functionality
1 running process versus 8
Transparent menus so you can work on ALL settings while watching TV
Can control everything from the interface without using web settings

Beyond TV Pros -
Built-in commercial skip (can be implemented with add-on in Sage)
Built-in compression (can be implemented with add-on in Sage)
$10 cheaper

What are your reasons for saying BTV is superior?
 

lozina

Lifer
Sep 10, 2001
11,711
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I'm a Sage user and never tried BeyondTV. I am very happy with SageTV and so have no need or desire to try BeyondTV because I really dont want to waste any more time configuring a new setup.

Only thing I am getting worried about is I am getting FIOS TV from Verizon soon and am not sure if I can even use a HTPC anymore with HDTV... I imagine it's going to be a huge headache and I might not want to even deal with it. Please correct me if I am wrong!
 

Jaxidian

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Oct 22, 2001
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All of this sounds pretty interesting. Is there any problem with installing both pieces of software on the same machine so I can switch back and forth between them?
 

archcommus

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2003
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Originally posted by: Jaxidian
All of this sounds pretty interesting. Is there any problem with installing both pieces of software on the same machine so I can switch back and forth between them?
Nope, not at all. Can't have both open and running at the same time, of course. And let us know of your opinions.

 

Jaxidian

Platinum Member
Oct 22, 2001
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Well, turns out my first hdtv tuner ended up not letting me use either. :(

Bought an ATI HDTV Wonder - figured it would be pretty standard but I was wrong. The software with it sucks ass - I couldn't get it working, called tech support and they told me to roll back to 3-version-old software in order to get it working - a known issue in all recent versions of their software if you don't have an ATI video card. I figure I'll take it back to Fry's after the super bowl and pick up something else. Anybody have any suggestions on what to get? I just want HDTV (DTV over the air - don't give a damn about analog as I have DirecTV for that) and probably 2 tuners in it now that I'm not in such a rush to get it.

Thanks for all the help!
 

Bootprint

Diamond Member
Jan 11, 2002
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Originally posted by: Jaxidian
Well, turns out my first hdtv tuner ended up not letting me use either. :(

Bought an ATI HDTV Wonder - figured it would be pretty standard but I was wrong. The software with it sucks ass - I couldn't get it working, called tech support and they told me to roll back to 3-version-old software in order to get it working - a known issue in all recent versions of their software if you don't have an ATI video card. I figure I'll take it back to Fry's after the super bowl and pick up something else. Anybody have any suggestions on what to get? I just want HDTV (DTV over the air - don't give a damn about analog as I have DirecTV for that) and probably 2 tuners in it now that I'm not in such a rush to get it.

Thanks for all the help!

Might take a look at Hauppauge's HVR-950


For those running Sage, does it handle multiple sources? I run BeyondTV, and have 2 PVR-250's, 1 PVR-150 and a PVR-USB2, plus a HVR-950.

The PVR-250's and 150 are on Roger's analog cable. The USB2 is on Bell's ExpressVu for Condo's(Satellite TV) and the HVR-950 as a experiment for HD.
 

oogabooga

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2003
7,806
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I use BeyondTV pretty happy with it, but have heard good things about sage.
BeyondTV handled everything I wanted it to right from the getgo, didn't have a desire to look for anything else.
 

Jaxidian

Platinum Member
Oct 22, 2001
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Originally posted by: Bootprint
Originally posted by: Jaxidian
Well, turns out my first hdtv tuner ended up not letting me use either. :(

Bought an ATI HDTV Wonder - figured it would be pretty standard but I was wrong. The software with it sucks ass - I couldn't get it working, called tech support and they told me to roll back to 3-version-old software in order to get it working - a known issue in all recent versions of their software if you don't have an ATI video card. I figure I'll take it back to Fry's after the super bowl and pick up something else. Anybody have any suggestions on what to get? I just want HDTV (DTV over the air - don't give a damn about analog as I have DirecTV for that) and probably 2 tuners in it now that I'm not in such a rush to get it.

Thanks for all the help!

Might take a look at Hauppauge's HVR-950


For those running Sage, does it handle multiple sources? I run BeyondTV, and have 2 PVR-250's, 1 PVR-150 and a PVR-USB2, plus a HVR-950.

The PVR-250's and 150 are on Roger's analog cable. The USB2 is on Bell's ExpressVu for Condo's(Satellite TV) and the HVR-950 as a experiment for HD.

I'd like to have a remote control that works with all of this so would probably steer away from the USB stick options from what I've read.
 

pauche

Junior Member
Mar 7, 2005
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I use GBPVR. Its free to download but the programmer accepts donations. They are constantly upgrading the software and providng support. The forum is quite active.
 

Jaxidian

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Oct 22, 2001
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Originally posted by: pauche
I use GBPVR. Its free to download but the programmer accepts donations. They are constantly upgrading the software and providng support. The forum is quite active.

Awesome, thanks for bringing this to my attention! Looks like it has quite a bit of device support as well! I'll add it to my poll. :)
 

GregGreen

Golden Member
Dec 5, 2000
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I currently use SageTV v2. I personally like BeyondTV better but as a poor college student have not been able to pony up for a non-trial copy. In addition, from my testing of SageTV v4 and v5, they were extremely buggy. It may have just had to do with installing it on a system that had v2 on it before, but v5 would barely last 10 minutes. So I would check out BeyondTV, because v2 of SageTV will not handle HD sources....