- #Sagetv extender alternative install#
- #Sagetv extender alternative upgrade#
- #Sagetv extender alternative software#
- #Sagetv extender alternative Pc#
- #Sagetv extender alternative license#
#Sagetv extender alternative license#
Each remote Placeshifter system requires a separate license and uses a unique Locator ID to connect to the host. Unfortunately, you cannot access the host's DVD player, so sharing DVD movies is not possible. That means you can watch live TV on your laptop without the need for an additional tuner card, watch recorded programs or video files stored on the host system, and schedule TV recordings, all from a remote location.
#Sagetv extender alternative Pc#
With the optional SageTV Placeshifter ($29.95 per license) you can access and control the SageTV application and all of the digital media stored on your host system from a remote PC via the Internet. New to this version of SageTV is support for place shifting, a concept made popular by Sling Media's Slingbox. The Video Library contains listings of all video files stored on your hard drive, and the player supports most video formats, including MPEG, AVI, DivX, and TiVo files. The DVD application provides the usual complement of player controls, including fast forward and chapter skip, subtitles, and subtitle language selection. There is currently no support for AAC files, but the folks at SageTV tell me they are working on that for a future revision.ĭigital photos can be viewed individually or in a slide show and can be sorted by date or file name. The music Playlist Manager lets you choose and create playlists from your collection of tunes, and you can perform a search by album, artist, or song title. In addition to its TV capabilities, SageTV contains a music player, a DVD player, and a photo viewer, all of which are controlled through the Media Center menu page. You can opt to keep things simple and create timed recordings by selecting a channel, recording date, and start/stop times. The Favorites Manager utility lets you create a list of shows to be recorded by title, actor, or category, and you can specify first-run showings and/or reruns. It also brought up Shark Tale, in which Scorsese had a voice part. For example, when I searched for "Martin Scorsese" I turned up listings for Goodfellas, Gangs of New York, and Cape Fear. You can search for programs by title, person, or category. Recordings can be scheduled via the Program Guide or by using the Schedule Recordings option, which provides several ways of managing your recordings. Right-clicking the mouse brings up a menu where you can toggle to full-screen mode, change the aspect ratio, stop and start playback, enter the program guide, or return to the main menu. Upon entering Live TV, a description of the show, including the title, plot, and host or star, is displayed for several seconds, along with a set of player controls and a recording-time status bar, all of which can be invoked by clicking the left mouse button. The Watch Live TV screen displays the current TV channel you're tuned to. Recordings are listed alphabetically, by category, or by the original airdate. The SageTV Recordings screen shows you a list of all TV recordings stored on your system, including information such as date, time, and channel. The menu system is pretty self-explanatory.
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This lets you view two weeks of TV listings and allows you to schedule recordings by clicking on a particular listing. During setup, you'll be asked to choose your cable or satellite TV service provider so SageTV can download your Integrated Programming Guide.
#Sagetv extender alternative software#
Setup and installation are straightforward, thanks to a series of wizards that automatically configure the software after detecting your hardware and existing media files. If you want to watch one channel while recording another or schedule two separate recording at the same time, you'll need a dual-tuner configuration.
#Sagetv extender alternative install#
Alternately, you can order one of SageTV's Media Center In-a-Box bundles, which offer a choice of single ($144.95) or dual ($209.95) PCI tuner cards to install in your system. In order to watch and record TV programs, your system (the host) must have at least one supported TV tuner installed (more than 30 cards are supported). Unlike MCE, you can install SageTV on systems running Windows versions from 98 SE on up, including the much-maligned Windows Me. And because SageTV records live TV to your hard drive, you can pause, fast-forward, and rewind programs, and skip through commercials just as you can with TiVo. It makes it easy to schedule and record your favorite TV programs and access your photos, music, and other multimedia files from within a single application. More than just a DVR (digital video recorder), SageTV is a software app that provides an intuitive interface, similar to Microsoft's Windows Media Center Edition (MCE).
#Sagetv extender alternative upgrade#
SageTV Media Center Version 5 ($79.95 direct) helps you turn your existing PC into a full-blown media center without having to upgrade your OS.