Initial impressions & rant from a faithful XBMC User

[SandmanCL]

- finally, XBMC for the PC !
- why can't I just put in my zip code and cable provider somewhere and have the tv guide automagically appear ? If it's there it must be well hidden
- damn, this is slow
- either something is seriously wrong with this setup, or I *really* need to upgrade this PC.

I've been using XBMC for two years now and love it. A large percentage of the people who come visit me end up with their own xbox within weeks of their visit

But, the xbox will always (?) lack tv tuner functionality, so I decided to buy a tv tuner card and check out Media Portal. The computer I installed this on is pretty low-key:

1.6GHz P4 (non-HT)
512MB 333 Mhz ram
Integrated video card w/ shared ram (currently at 64MB I believe)
100 GB 7200 rpm WD Caviar
Hauppage PVR150 tuner card

The card works fine and watching tv is acceptable through WinTV, but everything I try to do through MP it is sloooow. Changing channels takes 3-4 seconds, and even switching back and forth
between menus make me feel like I'm running this in on ald 486.

Am I out of luck with this PC or are there success stories with setups similar to mine ?

[Efros]

1.6GHz P4 (non-HT) oooer!

Integrated video card w/ shared ram ooooooer!

You are almost at the lowest requirements in both these areas, 1.4 GHz and 64Mb VGA card, does your card have directx 9 support? Improve those then see what happens.

[tomtom21000]

the processor and memeory will do. get yourself a cheap DX9 (hardware) capable Graphic card. this will speed things up very much.

tomtom

[gxtracker]

The integrated video card is killing you. My guess is that it isn't even Directx8 compliant. Everything else in your system is just fine. I've personally ran MediaPortal on my box with the processor clocked down to 800mhz.

With a hardware encoding TV card (like you have) and a hardware accelerated video card (like you need) your MP experience will definitely improve.

[Marcusb]

now that problem is resolved, with regards to the post code, I guess this is simply because MP is available in many more locations than MCE.

For example, in Australia there is no onine service and the tv stations actively do whatever they can to stop us simply grabbing their information. Some other countries require log ins to get the information.

Not sure what the case is with XBMC but MP has come along way to make this process automatic and most of the work is done by one volunteer named James. Country specific grabbers also are only done by a few people. AngusMann for Australia, for example.

On the other side, if you still can't get it working right, the forums have a lot of helpful people who can talk you through pretty much anything.

Welcome, by the way.

[SandmanCL]

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I won't have any choice but to invest in bit more computing power for a HTPC. It'll probably take a while until I make the jump since I'm still so damn happy with XBMC. Which, by the way, runs on a PIII 733Mhz & 64MB Ram :-)
Says a lot about WinXP and .NET...

[Marcusb]

Originally Posted by SandmanCL

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I won't have any choice but to invest in bit more computing power for a HTPC. It'll probably take a while until I make the jump since I'm still so damn happy with XBMC. Which, by the way, runs on a PIII 733Mhz & 64MB Ram :-)
Says a lot about WinXP and .NET...

Yep, you can optimise code quite well when you make the whole world use the same hardware

When you do make the jump I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Even for the PC pro, it's still a steep learning curve. The good news is that hardware makers are really now starting to actually realise that HTPC is a growing market and does need beefy hardware.

[onkl]

Originally Posted by SandmanCL

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I won't have any choice but to invest in bit more computing power for a HTPC. It'll probably take a while until I make the jump since I'm still so damn happy with XBMC. Which, by the way, runs on a PIII 733Mhz & 64MB Ram :-)
Says a lot about WinXP and .NET...

While I'm a big MP fan, maybe...maybe, in your situation, there might exist a better solution.
I understood that MythTV (for linux) used a frontend (program to watch) and backend (program to create streams, record etc.). Furthermore, I understood that some people were trying to get the frontend part running on XBox.
So, maybe, you can use this PC as a server of sorts and use the xbox as you are using it now + TV functionality.
(A small disclaimer or two
-I've tried mythtv once and wasn't able to figure it out, fairly steep learning curve for those only expirienced with Windows.
-My impression is that, would you prefer a "single box"/HTPC solution you can better stick with MP and invest a little in graphics power.

[LaTropa64]

Originally Posted by onkl

I understood that MythTV (for linux) used a frontend (program to watch) and backend (program to create streams, record etc.). Furthermore, I understood that some people were trying to get the frontend part running on XBox.
So, maybe, you can use this PC as a server of sorts and use the xbox as you are using it now + TV functionality.

I do exactly that. I run mythtv backend on an old AMD1700 and I use the python plugin script XBMCMythTV to turn my Xbox+XBMC into a myth frontend.

It works beautifully for recorded programs but not for live TV. When live TV does work, it takes way too long to buffer up and start playing the channel. It is useless if you are a hardcore channel surfer.

Still, despite the lack of live television and high definition, I have yet to see any home theatre app that comes close to the features and functionality of XBMC. The PMIII skin seals the deal too. It is 10x better than all the fisher price looking skins of other media centers.

I hope when I finally try mediaportal it doesn't disappoint. As I understand MediaPortal is XBMC for the PC, so I'm thinking it won't.

[gorman]

Originally Posted by LaTropa64

Still, despite the lack of live television and high definition, I have yet to see any home theatre app that comes close to the features and functionality of XBMC. The PMIII skin seals the deal too. It is 10x better than all the fisher price looking skins of other media centers.

I hope when I finally try mediaportal it doesn't disappoint. As I understand MediaPortal is XBMC for the PC, so I'm thinking it won't.

Sadly, IMHO, MP is a far cry from being XBMC for the PC. The interface is not up to current XBMC standards and, as a whole, it "feels" like a PC application, whereas XBMC "feels" more like a standard appliance, like a DVD player with a nice interface... I don't know if I'm explaining myself.

Admittedly, working on XP is different than working on a single-hardware console. But the Mplayer based XBMC is in my opinion far more efficient. I guess Mplayer had been ruled out for PVR needs, if I remember correctly.

All this IMHO and with great faith in future developments for MP-