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SnapStream Beyond TV 4 Hands-On Review

By David Walker | December 23rd, 2005 - 40,109 Views


beyondtv4 boxI am a TV junkie. I’ve tried to fight it, but alas, it’s far easier to cave in and numb my mind than to fight the urges. I’m also out of the house a lot and in the past, I used to recycle VHS tapes (remember those) on 3 different VCRs to keep up with all of my favorite shows. When TiVo came out – I adopted early and haven’t looked back. Recently, I’ve switched to a Media Center 2005 PC because of dual-tuner support and more recently, support for Over-the-Air HDTV signals. However, in the midst of building my Home Theater PC (HTPC), I heard about a company called SnapStream and their product, Beyond TV. Users were enthusiastic about it and there seemed to be a good reason. With the recent release of Beyond TV 4, SnapStream has created a viable solution for us TV junkies. Read on for the final verdict.

My Hardware
Before we get into the review, here’s a quick summary of the computer I tested Beyond TV 4 with.

  • AMD Athlon 64 3000+
  • 1GB RAM
  • 300GB 7200 RPM, 8MB Cache Hard drive
  • 2 – Hauppauge WinTV PVR150 TV Tuners
  • 1 – DviCO FusionHDTV5 USB Gold OTA HDTV Tuner
  • eVGA Geforce FX5900 128MB Video Card with DVI support
  • Microsoft Media Center Remote Control
  • Panasonic 42” HDTV Plasma

Look for a series of articles in the upcoming months that cover my experiences in building my “connected” home, including the construction of the aforementioned HTPC.

Installation and Setup
If any product is going to compete in the HTPC market, they must make installation and setup easy for the average user. In this area, SnapStream shines. The installation detected the 2 Hauppauge PVR150 cards I had and recognized that the drivers were out of date. It took me to a site to download the updates before continuing with the installation. After getting the updates, the installation was painless. The setup wizard showed me all of the tuners I had on the system and helped me configure each one. Additionally, you got visual and audio confirmation by use of a small window showing the video feed from each tuner. The setup for the HDTV tuner was just as easy. Beyond TV4 recognized my DViCO FusionHDTV5 USB Gold instantly and began scanning OTA digital signals within seconds. After finding the strongest signals and doing test recordings, it added those stations that worked and I finished the wizard. Very high marks for easy installation.

Features
In the previous incarnation of Beyond TV, you had support for 2 tuners with the standard purchase. If you wanted to support more than 2, you had to pay an additional fee per tuner. With Beyond TV 4, you can put as many tuners as will fit under the general license. So, feel free to buy 4 Hauppauge PVR500s so that you can record 8 simultaneous stations.

Also, Beyond TV 4 finally added support for OTA HDTV tuners like the ATI HDTV Wonder or the highly recommended DViCO FusionHDTV5 USB Gold. SnapStream has bundles on their website that include tuners, software and the Firefly remote control. Visit www.snapstream.com for more details.

One of the really unique features included with Beyond TV 4 – and one that I fell in love with immediately – is what they call ShowSqueeze. This feature allows you to convert any show and compress it into Divx or WMV format; saving you a lot of space while maintaining video quality. This feature is sadly absent from Media Center 2005 and is quite possibly reason enough to buy Beyond TV 4. Additionally, you can schedule ShowSqueeze to take place while the system is not recording, to keep it from interfering with other recordings.

Beyond TV 4 compares well with Media Center 2005 in scheduling shows and adjusting the settings. You can specify a host of various options to ensure your favorite shows are recorded. You can specify first-run, re-run or both when deciding which episodes to record. You can also specify buffers around the show that will ensure you don’t start or stop recording too late. Smartly, Beyond TV4 will recognize potential overlaps and end the recording on-time in order to facilitate the second recording. So, you can specify the buffer without worry of not taping one of your other shows. Most of the recording options are also found in MCE 2005, so where SnapStream may not have created anything completely new, you won’t be selling yourself short either.

Beyond TV also features SmartSkip, which indexes your shows at major scene changes so that you can easily skip through commercials. The chapter points marked were fairly accurate, although having used TiVo and MCE 30 second jumps for so long, I found that I spent more time jumping than skipping.

SnapStream, knowing that their users would likely be Internet savvy, included support for setting up show recordings and settings over the web, ala TiVo. You can login at www.snapstream.net to configure your HTPC recordings and settings.

One of the nicer features of Beyond TV 4 is the ability to specify the number of cells you want in your Television Guide grid. If you have a larger TV, you may want 10 horizontal lines displayed instead of 5. In fact, the level of customization in Beyond TV 4 is far better than anything in MCE. From customizing your Guide grid, to picking your audio and video decoders, Beyond TV 4 gives you a good bit of control over your experience.

One of the only complaints I have is in the default visuals. Whereas MCE 2005 has nice animated visuals with soft colors, Beyond TV 4 had a somewhat rigid interface. Navigation was fine, but the colors and animations are somewhat lacking. There is, however, a strong user community that constantly updates with new “Skins” for Beyond TV 4 that can really spice up the interface. This community also provides add-ons that can greatly enhance your experience with Beyond TV 4. Be sure to check out the forums at Snapstream to see what is available.

Performance
Beyond TV 4 does a great job of balancing system resources and not over-stressing the system. I tested several scenarios and came away impressed with the performance. The first scenario involved recording one show (standard tuner) while watching live TV from another. The video playback was smooth and did not stutter once. The recorded show later played back without any problems. In the second scenario, I had two shows recording simultaneously (standard tuner) while watching a previously recorded show. Amazingly, playback was smooth and I didn’t notice any stuttering or performance problems. The hard disk was definitely audible at this point, but the video performed perfectly. The third scenario involved recording one HDTV stream, recording another show simultaneously on a standard tuner and watching a previously recorded program. Again, Beyond TV 4 was up to the task with video playback remaining stable and stutter free. The fourth scenario proved to be the only potential problem. I was recording shows on both standard tuners and the OTA HDTV tuner while watching a previously recorded program. The video playback seemed to stutter at times, though it was watchable. Please keep in mind, with 3 tuners recording and one playing back, the limitation is more dependent on the hardware than on the software. If I had a RAID hard drive setup, these problems would likely have not existed. Beyond TV 4 kept a good schedule, starting and stopping shows on-time with none of my recordings suffering from being cut off too early.

Verdict
If you’re currently considering building your own HTPC, I would highly recommend Beyond TV 4 for your TV recording functionality. With features like SmartSkip and the very helpful ShowSqueeze, SnapStream has integrated features that help Beyond TV stand-out from the crowd. Excellent performance and strong customization options make Beyond TV 4 a worthy investment. Support for OTA HDTV tuners and more than 2 standard tuners rounds out an impressive package. SnapStream has a lot to be proud of in their latest release; let’s hope that future versions show equal amounts of promise delivered.

Please note: Beyond TV 4 is not a complete replacement for Media Center 2005, however. SnapStream has another product, Beyond Media, which rounds out the functionality you find in MCE 2005. We’ll have our review of Beyond Media in the upcoming weeks. So, if you’re currently using MCE 2005, you may want to wait to see what our verdict is for Beyond Media before abandoning Media Center completely.

As it stands, Beyond TV 4 gets a very impressive 9 out of 10.

Disclosure: SnapStream provided eHomeUpgrade with full versions of the software so that a full evaluation could be done. SnapStream had no say in the final verdict and did not attempt to sway the writer in any way. The review is the sole opinion of the writer without influence.

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  • mlbdude
    Hello, thanks for the review! Can you confirm if the SmartSkip and ShowSqueze features work with HDTV recordings? Your review seems to indicate that it does but I have heard otherwise. Also, can you confirm if time-shifting still only works in the full screen TV view with the 4.x version?
  • David Walker
    You know - most of the recordings I had were standard tuner recordings. I didn't think to test the SmartSkip and ShowSqueeze with the HD broadcasts. Since I still have it installed, I will go back and schedule an HD recording and see if the features are enabled and report back here. Good questions!
  • rakesh
    I can answer the question -- neither SmartSkip nor ShowSqueeze works with HDTV recordings right now.




    SmartSkip support for HDTV recordings will be added in Beyond TV 4.1, the first point release to Beyond TV 4. I don't have a release date for Beyond TV 4.1, but it's safe to say it will be out in the next couple of weeks.





    And there isn't a schedule for ShowSqueeze of HDTV recordings at this time.





    Rakesh @ SnapStream
  • keith
    I used to use BeyondTV but gave up on it when the management became fascist about censoring their user forums, as well as being non-responsive to customer requests for new features. The UI isn't customizeable, and most importantly, it lacks many features a true fully featured DVR or Media Center should have.




    I also paid for the full version of Beyond Media - believing it would be better than what came free with my Snapstream Firefly remote control - it wasn't. In fact the full version of Beyond Media is *less* functional, in terms of playing music, than the "lite" version I got free with the remote.





    I gave up and switched to Sage. The interface took some getting used to, but I never looked back. Unlike BeyondTV, Sage *is* a complete Media Center solution, "in my opinion". Not only that but Sage tech support was extremely helpful resolving an issue with MP3 tags. All I ever got from Snapstream tech support was the run-around.





    Plus, with the current version, Sage ships "Studio" for people who want to develop their own UI. Unlike BeyondTV, which only lets you do very basic minimal "skin" changes (and they pretend that the version 4 Skin is a new UI), Sage lets you design totally new interfaces. I like their default one fine for now. But just knowing the feature is available is nice.





    With Sage I can *finally* have a Favorite that will record a show regardless of the channel, so if "Wanted" or any of my other Favorites ever move to a new channel, I won't miss any shows.





    Also as far as I know there was no upgrade fee to go from the Sage 2.2 to Sage 4, and in addition, I liked the fact that betas were public, as opposed to Snapstream which treats customers like criminals if they talk about betas in public.





    Media Extender functionality is built in, and I get the same functionality with Sage Client, as I do on the main Sage machine, right down to music and photos. I had the BeyondTV Client, and it was worthless, all I could do with it was watch recordings.





    So I hope this site doe a review -and full comparison vs BeyondTV- of Sage. When you add up all the costs, you pay less and get more with Sage. And no, I don't work for them, I'm just happy to finally have a smartly designed PC based DVR, and I'm enouraged that they have a Linux version as well even though currently it's not available as a software only product (you have to buy a 3rd party hardware box, so I'll stick with the Windows version until/if they unbundle it).
  • David Walker
    It's my hope that we can offer several reviews, including one of Sage. To be clear - I am a Media Center 2005 user and have not made a full switch yet. If BeyondMedia can present a clear reason to switch, then I may just do so. I also plan on evaluating Sage to make sure I have the best PVR software for the money.
  • Everyone is entitled to their opinion... thanks for your feedback Keith. Personally, I've had good experiences dealing with the company and still believe they are one of the better PVR software developers out there (hence the reason why we approached them to participate in a giveaway for our readers). I look forward to reading other users experiences regarding Beyond TV 4.




    Side note: I've actually asked Rakesh about porting Beyond TV to Linux. Unfortunately, he told me that they have no plans for going in that direction at this time -- possibly OS X in the future, though.
  • toodreel
    Fantastic review David !

    Looks like it could be the snapstream bundle in my future HTPC build.
  • Justin Thyme
    I have a Winbook 410 MCE, a Linkplayer2 and some Tivos.




    Although the MCE and LinkPlayer have significant advantages available to them (including ability to access over 1000 Divx files on my server....





    No one except myself and my brother (when he visits) use them.





    I have explained over and over and although they understand it, it is either too much bother, or they take a dislike to them. This set of people includes young and old- 3 girls 10-15 YO, 3 adults in their 50s, (2) 30 somethings, (3) 40 somethings, and (1) 70YO. Me I look at the UI concepts and say- big deal- who cares. But it is a big deal to them.





    I don't know how you measure UI frankenstein reactions- it is a lot of little things I suppose, like forgetting the last left off place, lag time first going to FF in divx files, controls that were counter intuitive in different modes.





    If I were going to spend $3000 again, I know how I would build a dream HTPC. The problem is, other folks in my family have to use the thing.





    So we all use the Tivos and the other digital video devices sit around taking up cabinet space, largely unused for their intended purpose. I don't really care what the UI concepts or theory is, but I'd like to know that after a week of using the thing, everyone in the family will be able to use the thing just fine.





    Otherwise, it is a nonstarter for me. Like I said, I don't know how you measure that in a review because it is so subjective, but at least some wife acceptance factor type comments would be helpful.
  • keith
    Do yourself a favor - download demo versions of *both* BeyondTV AND Sage. Don't worry - they can happily co-exist on the same machine. Removing one won't hose the other.




    Then decide for yourself. Don't be a sheep and let some reviewer decide for you.





    Make sure you throughly test 3D (VMR9) vs Overlay rendering with different codecs, as I could never get decent VMR9 performance in BeyondTV ("tearing" of the image during any panning shots).





    Speaking of codecs, I haven't used BTV4, I gave up on version 3, but as far as I know you still can't use a seperate audio codec. Sage lets me use AC Filter for audio rendering and Nvidia codec for video. That rocks.





    It plays DVDs. Out of the box. You don't have to pay extra. Unlike Snapstream where you have to buy two seperate programs to get Media Center functionality.





    If you're feeling adventurous, email Snapstream's Richard Kuo, and ask point blank about Beynd Media integration - i.e. will they ever include Beyond Media so you don't have to pay extra (unlike Sage, where you get a complete Media Center app). If you get a straight answer, let me know, because nobody else I've talked to ever has.





    One thing I seriously disliked about BeyondTV was a *requirement* to do the setup via a web browser. You simply can't make any advanced settings from the 10 foot UI. With Sage I can change any setting I want with my remote. From the sofa. Snapstream just doesn't get the concept.
  • keith said: Don't be a sheep and let some reviewer decide for you.


    Keith, obviously you're new here... please give us and the community the respect we mutually share.
  • keith
    OK, I had a bad choice of words. Sorry. What I meant was he should make up his own mind. Nobdy should buy any product based on a review when there are full featured "test drive" versions. Just like you wouldn't buy a car based solely on one article in Car & Driver. That's all, and there's nothing disrespectful about that. No disrepect was intended to the reviewer or anyone else here.
  • David Walker
    I'd also like to add that the review simply covered the merits of the application itself, without consideration for competitors. True - I did reference Media Center 2005 several times because that is the defacto standard in PC-based DVRs - but the review was intended to cover whether Beyond TV 4 lived up to the functionality it was professing. And, to me, it did.




    Snapstream has decided, for whatever reason, to not create an all-in-one product. Whether they're looking for a different market, or feel that their business strategy is better in the long-term, is irrelevant to the review. I rated the product based solely on its merits.





    We will also be reviewing BeyondMedia based on its merits. If it works as a front-end, it will review well. If I feel the two products together represent a bargain, then I will say so. However, that conclusion does not also mean that other products are not good or worthy of your purchase. It will not mean that Sage is not as good as the Beyond Suite or Media Center 2005 is not worthy. These reviews simply show whether the individual product is worth buying on its own merits.





    Simply stated, there CAN be multiple good products out there. I believe Beyond TV 4 is one of them. As for consumers, it can only be a good thing when there is plenty of competition.
  • toodreel
    keith said: OK, I had a bad choice of words. Sorry. What I meant was he should make up his own mind. Nobdy should buy any product based on a review when there are full featured "test drive" versions. Just like you wouldn't buy a car based solely on one article in Car & Driver. That's all, and there's nothing disrespectful about that. No disrepect was intended to the reviewer or anyone else here.





    Hello keith


    I have tried both software demo's & I think for me the BTV4 was easier because I am not very technical. I think if I took the time to check into each one there would be alot more features. Just for me I like to just plug it in and let it work default.


    PS: I have noticed that on the Sagetv website they have a notice about the Free program guide (have they ever charged for it do you know ?)


    Quote**Currently, SageTV provides electronic programming guide service (the "EPG Service") to End Users in the U.S. and Canada at no charge. SageTV reserves the right to discontinue provision of the EPG Service or to separately charge End Users for provision of the EPG Service.
  • keith said: If you're feeling adventurous, email Snapstream's Richard Kuo, and ask point blank about Beynd Media integration - i.e. will they ever include Beyond Media so you don't have to pay extra (unlike Sage, where you get a complete Media Center app). If you get a straight answer, let me know, because nobody else I've talked to ever has.


    This is a valid question, and it's one that I asked Rakesh in our SnapStream Beyond TV 4 Audio Pitch segment. From what he tells us, SnapStream will be combining Beyond TV and Beyond Media into one product in the near future.





    As for media extenders, SnapStream already has a very innovative product called Beyond TV Link -- it works similar to an extender product, but it's an app that you can install on any PC (no tuner card required) and stream either live TV or previously recorded programs from your main PC running Beyond TV.





    Beyond TV Link gives you the power to….<ul><li>Watch live television on computers without TV tuner cards</li><li>Enjoy the Beyond TV experience on your wireless laptops</li><li>Get the Beyond TV experience on older, less powerful PCs</li><li>Enjoy all of Beyond TV's features like SmartSkip™ and instant replay</li><li>Watch the same recorded or live show simultaneously in different rooms</li></ul>


  • keith
    There's nothing innovative about BeyondTV Link. Every PC based DVR has something similar. At least with Sage I can also listen to my MP3 collection and see photos with their media extender (Sage Client). And they have a MediaMVP server that gives the same experience with a $99 client box - no PC required. BeyondTV can't match that.




    So tell us how BeyondTV Link qualifies as "innovative" when it has 1/4 the functionality of other products that sell for less money.





    It sounds to me like you have some kind of vested interest in selling BeyondTV. Either you're very simple minded and plug one product without evaluating any others, or theyt're paying you. You need to be a lot more objective if you want "respect". Respect has to be earned. It's not freely given. The way a tech site gains respect is by being objective. I've seen no objectivity here. You're coming accross as a marketing arm of Snapstream. You want respect? Be objective. Cover all the products in a head to head review. Then award one of them an Editor's Choice. But you've only reviewed one. You can't call it an Editor's Choice with any kind of credibility if it's the only product you're willing to talk about. That's a joke.
  • keith
    toodreel said: 
    PS: I have noticed that on the Sagetv website they have a notice about the Free program guide (have they ever charged for it do you know ?)

    Quote**Currently, SageTV provides electronic programming guide service (the "EPG Service") to End Users in the U.S. and Canada at no charge. SageTV reserves the right to discontinue provision of the EPG Service or to separately charge End Users for provision of the EPG Service.





    Both Snapstream and Sage have free guides. As far as I know you can also use a third party guide with both.





    Actually, from that perspective, I think Snapstream wins that one - for me, their setup more easily allows you to customize a third party cutom EPG.





    I had lots of problems with the Snapstream guide. I'm not sure what the deal was but sometimes I'd have "no data" for the entire guide and all my scheduled recording queue would be empty and I'd have to manually set up all my recordings again. If you read their user forums you'll find occasional posts by others having similar problems. I think it's a sporadic thing that only afects a few people occasionally but it happened far too often to me, at least once a month, it seemed like. All I know is that since I switched, I stopped having problems. Also, Sage runs a time server so I can sync my PC's clock automatically and always have the right time down to the second. I liked that feature a lot. That's actually one of the reasons I switched - I had been begging Snapstream for a feature like that.





    The other thing that bugged me about Snapstream's EPG was their recording engine isn't smart enough to figure out if your show moves from one channel to another one. I've missed shows because of that, at least with version 3. I haven't tried version 4.





    Anyway, I do agree with you that the Snapstream interface does seem easier for newbies than the Sage one.





    Good luck - do use the Snapstream user forums, if you buy BeyondTV. There are some really smart helpful users. Just be careful what you say or they'll censor you for no apparent reason. The censors are pretty heavy handed (and random). You'll get much better help on the forums than you will from "Tech Support".
  • keith said: There's nothing innovative about BeyondTV Link. Every PC based DVR has something similar. At least with Sage I can also listen to my MP3 collection and see photos with their media extender (Sage Client). And they have a MediaMVP server that gives the same experience with a $99 client box - no PC required. BeyondTV can't match that.




    So tell us how BeyondTV Link qualifies as "innovative" when it has 1/4 the functionality of other products that sell for less money.





    It sounds to me like you have some kind of vested interest in selling BeyondTV.


    You're kidding right? If anyone comes across pushing an agenda it's you with your SnapStream bashing. So you think Sage is superior to all apps out there... we got it.





    Here's why I think Beyond TV Link is "innovative":


    1. It works on any Windows 2000/XP-based PC


    2. It requires no additional adapters/extenders of any kind


    3. Multiple users can stream live TV, including different channels, all at the same time and have access to Beyond TV's electronic programming guide





    There's other reasons, but those are my top three. I wish MCE had an app like this that would work with XP Home & Pro machines. That way you would really only need one MCE server and all the other XP machines could just tap the server's TV feed and control things remotely.





    -----





    <font size="3">For the last time... can we please stay on point?</font>


    This is not a comparative review on PVR applications. It's a hands-on with Beyond TV 4 -- nothing more nothing less.
  • keith said: Either you're very simple minded and plug one product without evaluating any others, or theyt're paying you. You need to be a lot more objective if you want "respect". Respect has to be earned. It's not freely given. The way a tech site gains respect is by being objective. I've seen no objectivity here. You're coming accross as a marketing arm of Snapstream. You want respect? Be objective. Cover all the products in a head to head review. Then award one of them an Editor's Choice. But you've only reviewed one. You can't call it an Editor's Choice with any kind of credibility if it's the only product you're willing to talk about. That's a joke.


    I didn't see this part of your post earlier... goodbye. You were privately warned once... now you're banned. And if anyone else feels like getting on their high-horse, feel free to follow Keith out the door.





    Note to everyone with a similar mindset to Keith: We treat this site like a radio talk show, where the writer who posted the story is the host, and all who comment on them are the guests. If you have something intelligent to say, go for it (we highly encourage it). If you want to be rude and start insulting people or flame, you'll be booted without hesitation (see FORUM GUIDELINES).
  • physterenator
    Doesn't seem like bashing to me. Seems like he was simply expressing an opinion that differed from yours. Obviously the guy had a bad experience with Snapstream. And for that he's banned? Geeez, you guys don't tolerate dissent much, do you? Guess I'll stop reading this site.
  • physterenator said: Doesn't seem like bashing to me. Seems like he was simply expressing an opinion that differed from yours. Obviously the guy had a bad experience with Snapstream. And for that he's banned? Geeez, you guys don't tolerate dissent much, do you? Guess I'll stop reading this site.


    I was guessing the same thing. He must of had a bad experience with the company, but that's no reason to talk smack about the review or how we run the site (both here and in private messages). We like to keep things here professional and lively. If people can't keep their emotions in check and have a rational discussion, this is not the forum for them.





    Final thoughts: Simply put... I don't want the eHomeUpgrade forums to be a free-for-all where everyone thinks they can spew mental vomit as they do on other sites. In the real world, you wouldn't sit down at a meeting with your peers/superiors and act irresponsibly? So, we expect members to extend that courtesy to others in the community. Yes, this site is strict with its policies, but I make no apologies for wanting to create an environment where people can discuss things intelligently and feel confident that they will be able to communicate with like-minded individuals.
  • physterenator
    Mental vomit?




    You bashed the guy for disagreeing with you, and he had some valid points. Maybe he had a point about the way you run the site.
  • physterenator said: Mental vomit?




    You bashed the guy for disagreeing with you, and he had some valid points. Maybe he had a point about the way you run the site.


    Keith getting banned had nothing to do with his opinions on the products. It had EVERYTHING to do with his behavior and allegations (both posted here and sent to me in a private message). I don't know how to make this more clear. Moreover, if you look at my responses to his criticisms about Beyond TV, I made an effort to address his concerns (i.e. porting Beyond TV to Linux, combining Beyond TV and Beyond Media, Beyond TV extender functionality) with details I knew about. Where do you see the differing of opinions? And for my efforts, we get accused of not being objective, credible, and even having "some kind of vested interest in selling BeyondTV?" Give me a break.
  • aperry
    Alexander Grundner said: Here's why I think Beyond TV Link is "innovative":

    1. It works on any Windows 2000/XP-based PC


    2. It requires no additional adapters/extenders of any kind


    3. Multiple users can stream live TV, including different channels, all at the same time and have access to Beyond TV's electronic programming guide


    While I don't have any personal experience with it, SageTV has a product called SageTV Client which addresses these same concerns, no adapter/extender needed (although you need a PC like with Beyond TV Link), not sure about the specific system requirements but I bet they're pretty similar, and in addition to streaming TV and having access to the EPG, you can also stream music on the clients.





    Overall, it seems that Link and Client are very similar products.





    Now, back to the review, I think David gave a pretty fair review. I'd like to see some follow-ups and updates as he goes to see if there are any adjustments he has to his findings.





    Regarding the Beyond TV/Media integration, I hope that they do put them together and offer them in a package. I think having an all-in-one solution would be more appealing to the masses.
  • mlbdude
    I would also like to add that I thought the review was fair. It is a little slim on the details side (day to day usage features) but just fine for a general overview. An update on the new SmartSkip and ShowSqueeze findings would be good too.




    While I agree with the other poster that BTV is pretty far behind MCE and SageTV, it does not make BTV a poor product. Perhaps what he was intending on getting across was since the review is just a general overview without comparisons new users my take it to assume that BTV is the best they can get? However, shame on the new user for not looking deeper.





    I do think that SnapStream should get a slap on the hand though for censoring their forums :).
  • mlbdude said: I would also like to add that I thought the review was fair. It is a little slim on the details side (day to day usage features) but just fine for a general overview. An update on the new SmartSkip and ShowSqueeze findings would be good too.


    I like that idea! David, maybe if you have time, after about a week or two you could post an update of your day-to-day experiences. But, I'm still looking forward to our bundle winners giving us some input :D
  • aperry said: While I don't have any personal experience with it, SageTV has a product called SageTV Client which addresses these same concerns, no adapter/extender needed (although you need a PC like with Beyond TV Link), not sure about the specific system requirements but I bet they're pretty similar, and in addition to streaming TV and having access to the EPG, you can also stream music on the clients.




    Overall, it seems that Link and Client are very similar products.


    Thanks aperry for chiming in. I contacted Dan Kardatzke, Co-Founder


    SageTV, and asked him to contact us about possibly doing a review for his product or at least sitting down with us to talk about SageTV and its related products in a future "Audio Pitch" segment.
  • cfaslave
    Thanks for a nice, well written review. About a year ago I tried out Meedio, Sage and BTV3 and decided on Beyond TV (BTV) due to it's ease of use. It had the best WAF for me which is always important. I have recently upgraded to BTV4 and am very happy with the new features and continued stability. I also use Beyond Media which is not integrated with Beyond TV, but works well with it. The word is that this integration will happen on one of the upgrades to BTV4.X - probably not BTV 4.1.




    Most important to me was the ease of use (a guest can sit down and use it with no guidance needed), picture quality (very good and stable), and the beyond media features that allow you to play dvd's and video files from your hard drive. The product has improved consistently over time.





    I've always been open to other products and will be in the future although I would rather not be tied to the Microsoft product because I feel they are so focused on content protection that the user will eventually dealing with the same silly DRM stuff you are beginning to see with TIVO.
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