[left]If you've got a stable SageTv system currently with no major issues then I would recommend to sit on the bench a while,
I believe that in the near feature some things will clear up a bit,
Here few of my thoughts on the matter, I find it hard to recommend, 'cause pvr support in xbmc in still under development, I don't think it's ready to enroll as production system.
Also keep in mind that I don't have a dvb-s pvr system running or experience in this niche (part of dvb-t).
I do plan (Oct-Nov) to do some experiments with yes hd in linux environment.
Server side:
I'm guessing you're running Sage server on ms windows, better to stay with the ms platform.
Xbmc addon for Mediaportal known to be working on linux clients, so I would go with Mediaportal as the pvr server.
Best approach would be to do some experiments with Mediaportal (initial setting on Mediaportal is a b****), I would go with maybe trying Idan+ dvb-t service as a beta before rolling for a full scale dvb-s system.
I plan to run VDR as a pvr server on linux (archlinux), with oscam reading the keys from the card.
Advantages: steady, very mature software, no need for external db (as mythtv does), lots of plugins.
Disadvantages: Client plugin for xbmc is developed independently, outside the main branch.
Another pvr server for linux is Tvheadend, real easy to set, lacks timeshifting and got few quirks, major improvement are planed for the near feature as the project known to be supported by the head developer adding pvr support in xbmc.
Client side - hardware:
You can go with cheap atom ion pc, but even at 200$ this isn't cost effective.
Currently the price for suitable android arm client for xbmc (based on AMLogic 8726-M SoC) is about 120$, there's no reason why this price wouldn't cut in half, personally I would wait for It to fall under 80$.
[Viral rumor: a camera module will be added to the Raspberry Pi, but it lacks a license (allot of A/V codecs are properties of the MPEG group) for a hardware h.264 encoder (that's a fact), so a new license will be purchased and may include a mpeg2 decoder (h.264 decoder already available). making the RPi at 35$ the most affordable system to run xbmc with no compromise on video playback (works great with h.264)
also keep in mind that the cpu is slower than the AMLogic 8726-M family.]
Client side - software:
Xbmc for android is great for running xbmc on mobile device like a tablet, but I don't believe this is the best approach for a device that is permanently connected to the tv, still, it may be the easiest and cheapest way to get xbmc clients.
I think it would be better to have OpenELEC installed on the device, it includes xbmc with it's own custom linux os.
Few of its advantages: very fast, easy to installed, small footprint, updated constantly, custom build for each platform.
Because OpenELEC is tailored to each platform it can include some hardware specific features, for example the Raspberry Pi includes support for hdmi-cec, meaning it includes the proper software to utilize this protocol and thus enable to use the original tv remote to control xbmc (with no need for an ir receiver and another remote).
I believe we will see more OpenELEC arm builds (currently only RPi exist), probably for the AMLogic 8726-M family.
You can find more about xbmc android suitable clients in xbmc's forums at
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=136114
You can use margro's xbmc pvr beta builds for windows as test clients
http://www.scintilla.utwente.nl/~marcel ... build.html
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