| SnapStream Beyond TV 3 REVIEW DATE: 04.20.04  
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Konstantinos Karagiannis | ||||||
If your PC already has a TV tuner card, then SnapStream Beyond TV 3 is the cheapest way to a robust DVR. And even if you have to add a tuner card, the Beyond TV 3 software is still the way to go, considering how close it comes to the TiVo or Media Center PC experience. Forums on the company's Web site even have some useful hints for getting the software to control set-top tuners with additional cables that SnapStream offers (with the disclaimer that not all devices are supported). The bundle's software has a terrific, slick-looking interface (called ViewScape) that does not resemble a standard Windows app—which is a good thing. While all the other offerings here look like PC media players with add-ons for channel guides and like, Beyond TV 3 features easy-to-read menus that fade in and out. The channel guide is particularly stellar, letting you record all episodes of a show with a single click on the pop-up menu. Beyond TV 3's SmartSkip feature lets you avoid commercials in shows you've recorded by marking chapter points at scene changes. It didn't miss a mark in our week of torture testing, and it was the only product to remain glitch-free over this period of time—a major plus if you want your DVR to record and do its job while you're away. The server-like nature of the program is both liberating and impressive. You can easily log into the program (assuming it's accessible in your network) and stream a recorded file. Also, you can log on via the Web to schedule a show to record, which is great for travelers or those who somehow seem to hear about shows only while at work. In addition to streaming files, Beyond TV 3 let us make good-quality portable files using built-in DivX and Windows Media support. These were a cinch to transfer by network to a laptop for a train ride, and you can even make Pocket PC–friendly files. The only downside is that when saving to MPEG formats, you need to use a third-party burning app to make, say, an SVCD.
We tested Beyond TV 3 paired with the wonderful Hauppauge WinTV PVR-350 tuner card ($199 direct, www.hauppauge.com). It outputs directly to a TV, and video quality is very good for a PC-based solution (the image quality is still shy of dedicated set-top boxes like TiVo). Note: While the Hauppauge WinTV PVR-350 does output directly to a TV, Beyond TV doesn't support this feature. In our testing, we used an nVidia 5200 graphics card to output the image to the television. If you're looking for a PC-based DVR solution but don't want to buy a whole new Media Center PC, the SnapStream Beyond TV 3 is the way to go. Just be sure to pair it with a top-quality tuner card. | ||||||
Member Ratings
jsathomson
November 14, 2004 Member rating: 
You can't reach anyone at the company. I decided to switch from the electronic download to a retail copy. I can't get anyone from the company to pick up the phone or reply to an e-mail. Even tried contacting one of the founders.
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I think this review has missed the main draw of the BeyondTV program: that as far as I know it is the only program of this type that will let you stream LIVE TV over your WIRELESS network. The review mentions only being able to network recorded programs - not nearly so exciting, and not something I would care about doing anyways. With my 2 year old ATI Radeon All in Wonder 7500 card, there is no doubt that the TV picture using ATI software on my desktop is much better than the BeyondTV picture. But I was thrilled beyond belief to find that it could stream live TV to my laptop over my 11g network, in essence giving me a completely wireless (no network cable, no power cables) CABLE TV I can watch anywhere in and around my home (front porch, kitchen while cooking, etc.) How this important fact failed to get in the review is rather surprising to me. The full screen picture on my laptop isn't as clear perhaps as regular TV, but it is NOT bad at all. While streaming Live TV, the only downside is you can't flip channels fast, a small price to pay for not having to buy a portable TV, and being able to watch CNN on my front porch or in the backyard. |
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I have been a user of Snapstream since version 1.1. Back then, the company was pretty good about responding to problems and complaints. Today, you have a better chance of being struck by lightning than getting a timely or quality response from their customer support team: a well-meaning but ultimately useless group of evangelists and fans. If you use their bundled video card, it just may work; if you use anything else, it's anyone's guess if it will work. I've sent log files, DirectX dumps, screen shots, all of which have gone unheeded. Try even getting a phone number for these guys! It's next to impossible -- and I see why -- if they had to answer all the phone calls they'd be buried. I'm trying Sage TV next -- I'm tossing Snapstream to the Recycle bin. |
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I have been using Snapstream Beyond TV since it 2.5 release. I find that it is an excellent recorder. The only issues I see with it, is it is a little more complex to install than your average consumer piece of software, but as a saving grace, it has a large community of dedicated supporters to help out incase of problems. |
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I agree with other reviewer - SageTV is the best, with more options such as multiple tuners (tivo can't do that, can it??); and this article was poorly researched. Besides SageTV, there is myHTPC (freeware) and Showstream. PC versions have a leg up over tivo in that you can easily expand your storage so you can save lots of shows (including burning them to dvd). Also, it's actually very easy to control cable boxes with an infrared blaster. There are even versions that can control a cable box almost 50 feet away (www.mytvstore.com - works great with SageTV) |
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