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Raralith · 04-07-2009, 02:00 PM

I recently built a HTPC for my wife with a Hauppage 2250 and after playing around with different software, I settled on Vista Media Center (Ultimate or Home); I also tried SageTV and BeyondTV. Here are my personal pro's and con's:

SageTV: Not as user friendly as I would like, but highly customizable. If you like to tinker around, you can't go wrong with SageTV. They also have a good forum community with lots of helpful people and lots of additional things you can further customize from there. The user interface was "meh."

BeyondTV: Very easy to setup, and very user friendly. You get the complete package for recording and watching shows, but not a whole lot more. Don't bother with the forums, they aren't much help, and delete post that don't make them sound fantastic. The user interface is really good though, and my wife was able to pick up the remote and start using it.

Vista Media Center: It came with the OS and honestly, I feel it is the most user friendly of all. Just like BTV, user interface is great, icons are nice and large, and it's built in the operating system.

If you are computer savy, SageTV will give you the most options. If you were like me though and building it for someone that isn't, Vista Media Center if you are running that operating system, BTV if you are running WinXP.

04-07-2009, 02:00 PM	#3
Raralith Death to the Unbelievers Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Southern California Posts: 475 Trading: (24)	Re: SageTv? I recently built a HTPC for my wife with a Hauppage 2250 and after playing around with different software, I settled on Vista Media Center (Ultimate or Home); I also tried SageTV and BeyondTV. Here are my personal pro's and con's: SageTV: Not as user friendly as I would like, but highly customizable. If you like to tinker around, you can't go wrong with SageTV. They also have a good forum community with lots of helpful people and lots of additional things you can further customize from there. The user interface was "meh." BeyondTV: Very easy to setup, and very user friendly. You get the complete package for recording and watching shows, but not a whole lot more. Don't bother with the forums, they aren't much help, and delete post that don't make them sound fantastic. The user interface is really good though, and my wife was able to pick up the remote and start using it. Vista Media Center: It came with the OS and honestly, I feel it is the most user friendly of all. Just like BTV, user interface is great, icons are nice and large, and it's built in the operating system. If you are computer savy, SageTV will give you the most options. If you were like me though and building it for someone that isn't, Vista Media Center if you are running that operating system, BTV if you are running WinXP.