I couldn't resist. I had to try the "easy" way of setting up a HTPC. I have been keeping my eye on SageTV and once they released their version 2.0 I decided to try it out.
Well, this for me meant stripping my system down and rebuilding from scratch. The first time I tried this, the app (a well-written Java app by most accounts) kept rebooting itself. This had me pointing fingers right back at the Sage forum users that were chanting its praises.
Once I got all that worked out, I spent the next 2 weeks never really happy with the decoder settings (tons of ajustability does not nessecarily equal a good thing IMHO) but was still utterly impressed with several things:
1) Stability...it was rock-solid after the initial problems, the app never crashed or wigged out in anyway
2) The system drivers in Windows for the Hauppauge cards and my GeForce 5200fx are ALOT better (playing back video, even though it was software decoded was smooth even across slow panning shots.)
I was fighting the battle in my mind about whether to come back to Myth just based on the quality and stability (I was having a banding issue that was totally random in my Myth 0.14 based installs). However, even though Windows based PVRs are supposed to be easier (no text-based settings files? what?
) I did have to struggle with the decoders that were supposed to just work.
So why am I back? I missed you guys... Ok, that aside, I found myself wishing for the interface and options that I had taken for granted. Commercial skipping is laughed at at the Sage forums (because they don't think it works well enough), the organization of recording and deleting videos is one-step too complicated, and I missed not being able to rip DVDs, access the information online (I never thought I would use that, but it is handy isn't it?) and the seeming explosion of DVD archiving tools (still waiting for a true archive module, but its nice to see progress being made
)
All that said, Sage is a worthy adversary. I will continue to keep my eye on their as-yet-unseen Studio to see what can be done with the interface and third-party solutions.
BTW, my Knoppmyth install was nearly effortless this time around. And it isn't because I have re-installed this software several dozen times...you guys are making a stable, working PVR an easy, end-user solution... keep it up!