Beyond TV 3.5 - SnapStream's Bread and Butter Undergoes a Minor Facelift

Final Words

SnapStream makes a good impression with Beyond TV 3.5, though it seems like it is something being done in baby steps. We would have liked to see them take the new UI design to the rest of BTV. We would attribute this to SnapStream knowing that a UI change is either a dud or a win. Personally, we like the new look, but we understand that some don't like change or share our preference. This "layout problem" can easily be resolved by a skin function. MCE is still the gold standard in the PVR's GUI department, but Meedio Essentials comes in as our choice for those looking to customize their layout, thanks to Meedio's Theme Designer and community skin development. SnapStream needs to implement this for the future, and I will still contend that we need manual channel tying options (channel 32 on antenna and channel 3 on cable are the same for us).

The concept for BTV still remains - to allow anyone (new or seasoned) to use the program easily, according to our last talks with SnapStream. While they have the out-of-box experience down, SnapStream needs to provide the enthusiast with some more options (i.e. skins). Perhaps, this will happen once Beyond Media hits the stage.

As for Frey's, they have a good base to make their software solid on the UI side, but they need to focus on two things:

1. More skin support like Meedio Essentials
2. Less blocky TV viewing UI panels/lower profile information panels

We previously cited that the price for Beyond TV 3.5 was going to be $69.99. This is not going to change. Unfortunately, the price for Beyond TV Link 3.5 has been updated to $39.99, a $10 increase over what was previously reported. This is compared to SageTV 2.0 at $79.95 and SageTV client 2.0 $29.95. To make a PVR/HTPC network, SageTV 2.0 is priced less, which is why we were disappointed that SnapStream couldn't bring the cost of BTV Link down a bit.

If you can wait, we say that you should hold off till Beyond Media makes its way out, as BTV only brings the PVR side of things. Then again, we also hear that Meedio TV is around the corner, which might give both SnapStream and Frey's enough reason to bring their prices down a bit. If you need to settle on a PVR solution now, SageTV and Beyond TV both offer trial periods, so we highly recommend trying both out before you settle on either of the two. However, SageTV 2.0 still has a leg up over Beyond TV as a PVR and HTPC solution, being the only true MCE replacement in the full feature sense.