I'm a Sage user and am reminded after reading these comments how people might not feel comfortable using a beta release of software.  I normally wouldn't either.  But somehow I've gotten comfortable with the idea of using all of Sage's beta releases.  I'm not versed in codecs and how to create plugins like Plucky either.  All I know is that I occassionally look for updated betas and they show up with new features.  I look for new plugins and there's a lot of them for free - thanks to the great work of guys like Plucky.  It generally just works really well with almost all the features I could think of.  So as Plucky said, the beta is definitely worth a look if you're considering spending any more money on any other system.  If you're not doing much now but don't like betas, just remember to check back later.  I used to use WMC and am completely happy with Sage.

 Plucky,

 Thanks for posting this.  I have a few questions.

 On the DVD/Blu-ray playback.  Does it mount the DVD/Blu-ray ISO on the server and then play it back?  My concern is that my blu-ray rips still need to be decrypted by anydvd.  Would I need to go back through and re rip them all without encryption? 

 If Sage ever gets CableCard support I'll be taking a serious look at it.

 Thanks

Thx for the heads up on the new extender Plucky! My current setup is W7 htpc feeding 4 xbox extenders. My love for Media Center is fading quickly though. Finally got fed up with the lack of container support and have bought a Dune box to pair with my Xbox @ every TV. In a perfect world, I'd like as few boxes as possible and Sage does look like it's headed in the right direction with the full BluRay (and I'm assuming mkv) support. I think that as soon as I can get Premium HDTV into it w/o relying on a HDPVR I'll make the switch completely to Sage. The HDPVR + CableBox has too many issues for me to ignore cablecard support. Any word on Sage working with Ceton or SD tuners down the road? -BrianAz

 

BrianAZ

Thx for the heads up on the new extender Plucky! My current setup is W7 htpc feeding 4 xbox extenders. My love for Media Center is fading quickly though. Finally got fed up with the lack of container support and have bought a Dune box to pair with my Xbox @ every TV. In a perfect world, I'd like as few boxes as possible and Sage does look like it's headed in the right direction with the full BluRay (and I'm assuming mkv) support. I think that as soon as I can get Premium HDTV into it w/o relying on a HDPVR I'll make the switch completely to Sage. The HDPVR + CableBox has too many issues for me to ignore cablecard support. Any word on Sage working with Ceton or SD tuners down the road? -BrianAz

 You will get full codec support (including mkv) with SageTV so that will definitely not be a problem. There is this whole I think it is called PlayReady which shows SageTV and even Dune on the list. No one knows for sure exactly what this means and if it is possibly a door opening towards CableCard support.

dbone1026

 

BrianAZ

Thx for the heads up on the new extender Plucky! My current setup is W7 htpc feeding 4 xbox extenders. My love for Media Center is fading quickly though. Finally got fed up with the lack of container support and have bought a Dune box to pair with my Xbox @ every TV. In a perfect world, I'd like as few boxes as possible and Sage does look like it's headed in the right direction with the full BluRay (and I'm assuming mkv) support. I think that as soon as I can get Premium HDTV into it w/o relying on a HDPVR I'll make the switch completely to Sage. The HDPVR + CableBox has too many issues for me to ignore cablecard support. Any word on Sage working with Ceton or SD tuners down the road? -BrianAz

 You will get full codec support (including mkv) with SageTV so that will definitely not be a problem. There is this whole I think it is called PlayReady which shows SageTV and even Dune on the list. No one knows for sure exactly what this means and if it is possibly a door opening towards CableCard support.

Thx! Do you know if the new extended will support BluRay menus like the Dune? Reading through Pluckys review I saw this... but since it only calls out DVD menus, I'm not sure: Note: Non-encrypted DVD & Blu-ray’s imported into the video library can be played back on the media player with full use of the DVDs menus along with chapter, subtitle, and audio track selection.  Non-encrypted BD images (BDMV folders or ISOs) can be played back on the media player with chapter, subtitle, and audio track selection.

BrianAZ

Thx! Do you know if the new extended will support BluRay menus like the Dune? Reading through Pluckys review I saw this... but since it only calls out DVD menus, I'm not sure: Note: Non-encrypted DVD & Blu-ray’s imported into the video library can be played back on the media player with full use of the DVDs menus along with chapter, subtitle, and audio track selection.  Non-encrypted BD images (BDMV folders or ISOs) can be played back on the media player with chapter, subtitle, and audio track selection.

It does not support blu rays menus. you can select difrerent tracks (playlist) and chapters are supported. Blu ray menu support cost and from what I have read it would not be a cheap option (look at the dune's price). I prefer no menu;s as I just want to watch the main menu. cheers

BrianAZ

Thx for the heads up on the new extender Plucky! My current setup is W7 htpc feeding 4 xbox extenders. My love for Media Center is fading quickly though. Finally got fed up with the lack of container support and have bought a Dune box to pair with my Xbox @ every TV. In a perfect world, I'd like as few boxes as possible and Sage does look like it's headed in the right direction with the full BluRay (and I'm assuming mkv) support. I think that as soon as I can get Premium HDTV into it w/o relying on a HDPVR I'll make the switch completely to Sage. The HDPVR + CableBox has too many issues for me to ignore cablecard support. Any word on Sage working with Ceton or SD tuners down the road? -BrianAz

Also we are hopeful on netflix and cablecard (although netflx and hulu integration just got allot tighter with playon MyMovies addin now supports netflix que and upcoming tv addin ploxeeTV will integrate online and local content much like boxee). They did opt for a chipset in the hd300 that supports full drm and they have a playready license so I think at least neftlix native integration is coming but I also believe they are aware of the need for cable card support. cheers

DanITman

 Plucky,

 Thanks for posting this.  I have a few questions.

 On the DVD/Blu-ray playback.  Does it mount the DVD/Blu-ray ISO on the server and then play it back?  My concern is that my blu-ray rips still need to be decrypted by anydvd.  Would I need to go back through and re rip them all without encryption? 

 If Sage ever gets CableCard support I'll be taking a serious look at it.

 Thanks

yes that need to be decrypted...I am more curious how you are ripping blu ray movies with encryption in tact I didn't even know if that was possible....

 When you rip a blu-ray using Slysoft AnyDVD one of the options is "Keep Protection".  Slysoft recommends using this since things might "change" in the way they decrypt a movie.

Wow never saw that option. Still not understanding why a change would hurt when you rip it the encryption is gone and anydvd is not necessary anymore. With sage and extenders it works flawlessly without encryption I don't know if wmc is the same maybe the blu ray software requires encryption?

 I think the reason they offer it has to do with BD+.  BD+ involves piecing back together frames in a movie using a decryption table (or something like that).  Slysoft added it in case they got it wrong you could always remount the movie with encryption in tack and a newer version would fix any issues that were caused with the first decryption.

 Anyways, I found some of your youtube videos and I would love to see more of the interface besides MyMoves.  Could you show off the speed of other features such as watching tv or browsing the guide.  This is probably the second biggest thing for WAF next to CableCard in my household.

Thanks

DanITman

 I think the reason they offer it has to do with BD+.  BD+ involves piecing back together frames in a movie using a decryption table (or something like that).  Slysoft added it in case they got it wrong you could always remount the movie with encryption in tack and a newer version would fix any issues that were caused with the first decryption.

 Anyways, I found some of your youtube videos and I would love to see more of the interface besides MyMoves.  Could you show off the speed of other features such as watching tv or browsing the guide.  This is probably the second biggest thing for WAF next to CableCard in my household.

Thanks

the guide and tv section is worlds faster than WMC was for me. I can fast scroll through the guide on the extender something I never could get WMC to do. Check out geektonic or missing remote for some pictures and I think even a video of v7 UI.Those too blogs are very Supportive of sagetv and dbone has been doing some nice writeups as well @ MediaSmartServer :) Although they aren't as fun as my videos :). Ortus/Phoenix are really going to change the UI drastically us developers have only had the new v7 api since the first of the year so it is taking some time to get out UI mods to take advantage of it fully. Basically it now has a full 3d rendering system that is pretty much identical to the one XBMC uses. SageTV UI's is much improved to v6 but still not what I call great but the third party UI replacements I mentioned are going to change it drastically. Sage really gives developers the best backbone api and support I have ever seen a company give. You are not stuck with developing limits all over the place like WMC that is why I never developed for them it was just too restricted imho. So I think you will see some really amazing stuff as sage had really got a good set of third part developers and we are all very active in development of some nice stuff. I will post back some PloxeeTV pictures once we get to a good sharing point it is our (team ortus) take on the boxee ui with out own modifications, but it will allow full integration of online (hulu,netflix) and local stored content as well. cheers

Is there any estimate on a release date for V7? I'd like to give it a go when the final version is available.  Probably alongside Media Center on my HTPC with Sage running on my WHS with some test tuners to begin with.

Ive been following the announcement for this extender very closely.  I love the idea of a single, low powered device that i can connect around the house to share all the media from my central htpc.  There just hasnt been anything appealing on the WMC side for that.

 Im heavily invested in WMC at the moment, but i have been quite aware of the limitations when it comes to custimizations and such, although i have to admit with my recent build, i had a real easy time setting it all up.  Codec support seems to be a breeze now with WMC and proper apps.  But anyway, Ive been wathing Sage for a long time, i just havent been motivated to make the change since things have been relatively stable for me and working the way i want.

 It wasnt until I got to the point where I wanted to access my media from a couple different rooms that I started heavily considering Sage and this extender is perfect for that.  Im acutally waiting to here more impressions for this and the upcoming Netgear NTV550.  The netgear is more expensive than the HD300, but it does give you all the bluray menu support, etc, so there is real value to that.  Id really like to know if the HD300 is worth it even if you dont use Sage.  Lets say I just want to use it with my existing WMC htpc to stream media before I decide wether to change everything over to Sage.  I know thats what the netgear is all about, but im not so sure about the HD300.

trooper11

Ive been following the announcement for this extender very closely.  I love the idea of a single, low powered device that i can connect around the house to share all the media from my central htpc.  There just hasnt been anything appealing on the WMC side for that.

 Im heavily invested in WMC at the moment, but i have been quite aware of the limitations when it comes to custimizations and such, although i have to admit with my recent build, i had a real easy time setting it all up.  Codec support seems to be a breeze now with WMC and proper apps.  But anyway, Ive been wathing Sage for a long time, i just havent been motivated to make the change since things have been relatively stable for me and working the way i want.

 It wasnt until I got to the point where I wanted to access my media from a couple different rooms that I started heavily considering Sage and this extender is perfect for that.  Im acutally waiting to here more impressions for this and the upcoming Netgear NTV550.  The netgear is more expensive than the HD300, but it does give you all the bluray menu support, etc, so there is real value to that.  Id really like to know if the HD300 is worth it even if you dont use Sage.  Lets say I just want to use it with my existing WMC htpc to stream media before I decide wether to change everything over to Sage.  I know thats what the netgear is all about, but im not so sure about the HD300.

It is usable without sage but the ui is not very friendly without sagetv IMHO. I also don't care for netgears UI though ;)