[mythtv-users] MythTV vs. SageTV vs. Etc....

Sean shomann2 at insightbb.com
Thu Dec 18 11:50:40 EST 2003


Now, before we get started, let me say that I am a true believer in MythTV
and its bright future. I also now understand fully what a convergence
appliance can mean and expect this industry to grow quickly in the coming
years. 
I really want this to be a fair discussion about where MythTV stands in the
PVR market. What has spurned this debate in my own mind is the
discovery/re-discovery of a program called SageTV:

http://www.freytechnologies.com/

Now, from a first glance, SageTV looks like the closest real competition to
MythTVıs PVR functionality. It can timeshift television, schedule
programming from a non-subscription based service through available internet
connection, and most surprisingly to me, handle multiple tuner cards. It can
also act as a server/client to stream programming thoughout a LAN. Like
MythTV, it seems to have a very active development cycle and user/fan base.

It does not, however, support some of Mythıs peripheral features. I can find
no mention of transcoding, DVD ripping or modules like weather, news, or
game emulation. It does look like the conflict resolution is quite good and
they claim the box can actually predict programming that you might want to
watch based on viewing habits, like TIVO.

The most interesting thing to a nOOb like myself is that is runs on
Win2k/XP. For me, and likely many others, this is attractive in that we
donıt have to learn a new OS. Personally, I enjoyed the thrill of setting up
my MythBox in that I learn something new everytime. I feel more comfortable
with Linux in general now, but still realize that I am missing some basic
level knowledge that would make me less dependent on the various guides and
community support. In other words, whenever something ³breaks² I feel a
little helpless and frustrated. It is only a guess, but I feel much more
confident fixing something in Windows and would therefore feel less likely
to bash my little computer into junk less quickly should, say, my system
crashed in the middle of a high-load operation (transcoding, 3 weeks ago).

So, how do we feel about how Myth stands up against the competition? Linux
is undeniably more stable in general, but support for the hardware is behind
that of the Wintel world. Truth be told, my general wish for my PVR as it
stands is an easy way to archive my shows to DVD-Video. Right now, it isnıt
easy for me and if Sage or anyone else can give me the PVR functionality of
Myth, with an easy archival tool (and yes, I know several on the list have
talked about development of such a system) I will take a hard look at it.

-Sean
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