Media Portal is just one amazing piece of software

Lenny100 · 2005-12-13, 21:54

Hi All,

I must say this twice!

Media Portal is just one amazing piece of software!!!
Media Portal is just one amazing piece of software!!!

Iâ€™ve now used MP for over a year and still havenâ€™t found a better HTPC software. Last week I had some time off work and I decided to give MCE and Meedio a go. Just to see how they compare with MP.

The conclusion was obvious.

Meedio has an impressive media library tool, but thatâ€™s it. The TV section is light years away from MP and the GUI looks â€œoldishâ€ and static. And it costs about 60 dollars.

MCE looks and feels much like MP due to the similarity in GUI, but I find MCE is lacking the level of user influence that MP has. Works well, but isnâ€™t better than MP and costs around 140 dollars.

MP is the KING of HTPC software . Amazing how the delevopers have the talent to beat the competion to such a great lenght and if I was Mr. Gates I would start the job interviews right away!!!

Regards,

Lenny100

PS: Just tried the latest version of the CVS builds and I must say it just makes MP stand out more. Teletext is working, Trailers is workingâ€¦

pepsi_max2k · 2005-12-15, 14:00

yeah, i've just been giving a few others a try and it seems media portal is the best of the bunch. just incase anyone important reads this though, here's some of the stuff that makes it not so good:

1. crashing lots, especially when on a second monitor or in a window. just generally all the time, doing anything - compressing, changing channels, navigating menus...
2. lack of start bar when mazimized on second monitor. i still dunno what time it is.
3. everything else going slow when it's in a window or on another monitor which isn't set as primary.
4. navigation in general, it's a little complicated but anyway...
5. little skips in sound/video when changing volume/channel/recording, it would be nice to have it all smothed out (my comp's half the problem, but it's just all the stuff various between different software).

gb-pvr is the only other decent thing i've tried on windows, and only then mainly because it has a great option to open it fullscreen on a second monitor automatically (and not make the start bar dissapear), and all other programs still run smoothely. that's about the biggest improvement i recon could be made. that and the crashing thing. i've not tried 0.2.0.0 (what's with all the 0's?) yet though, maybe it's better...

Callifo · 2005-12-15, 14:21

Quote:

1. crashing lots, especially when on a second monitor or in a window. just generally all the time, doing anything - compressing, changing channels, navigating menus...

You cannot use it on the second monitor, thats most likely the reason behind these problems. DirectX acceleration is only enabled to work on the primary monitor.

Quote:

2. lack of start bar when mazimized on second monitor. i still dunno what time it is.

Again cant use second monitor, and the hiding of the startbar is an option that you can enable/disable in setup.

Quote:

3. everything else going slow when it's in a window or on another monitor which isn't set as primary.

As specified above

Quote:

5. little skips in sound/video when changing volume/channel/recording, it would be nice to have it all smothed out (my comp's half the problem, but it's just all the stuff various between different software).

Your not using Overlay as the renderer are you?

Maschine · 2005-12-15, 14:22

Pepsi, you are referring here mostly to things related with using MP on a secondary monitor. This is clearly stated as NOT supported by MP. This is mostly a DirectX limitation if I remember correctly. Do a search on the forums for further information. Though you are welcome (if you have any dev skills) to improve support for running MP on a secondary display device.

Maschine

pepsi_max2k · 2005-12-15, 15:08

oh sorry, hadn't noticed it wasn't supported, but it does work. and all the crashing problems are the same just using a single monitor, just not as much, basically anything from switching menus to turning tv or timeshifting on and off, recording, selecting videos, can all cause the whole program to either freeze up or dissapear altogether, regardless of settings (sometimes it's fine, others it's not). it just doesn't stirke me as the most stable program in the world, though i appreciate the number of different hardware/software configs you try to cater for and how much of a problem it must be.

so yeah, secondary monitor support would be good. and no, VMR9 windowless (i forget if i had any problem with renderless, i dunno, it's on windowless anyway, prolly for a reason).

>>Again cant use second monitor, and the hiding of the startbar is an
>>option that you can enable/disable in setup.

aahh, thankyou, i'd looked for an answer earlier but couldn't find one.

oohh and all these folder.jpg's i just found all over my comp

is there a way to stop that? and is there not a better way of displaying a folder preview without having those things up... i guess i should search for an answer to that...

EDIT: my appologies and congratulations. 0.2.0.0 has not crashed once

volume control's not making stuff skip, only navigation. it really is much much better. not a single thing has crashed it, including videos/music/navigation/tv... the stuff it couldn't handle it just didn't play instead of bugging out. the only downside is the screen aspect ratios have changed a bit so everythings squidged thinner on my tv screen :shock: (strech aspect ratio + some screen config has mostly fixed it). and i know what time it is!!

Marcusb · 2005-12-16, 10:06

You can use MP on a second monitor, but there are some conditions. You have to make the MP monitor the primary display and use your other monitor as secondary. As has been said, this is the way Windows does things...

You can move everything across to the secondary monitor (start bar etc) with the only exception being the shut down dialog. This has to always appear on the primary monitor.

Also, VMR9 Windowless was only really for testing purposes. You should never use it. It's been removed in v.2 anyway, but that may have been some of your trouble too.

In future, don't put up with the problems, post using the support template and we could have saved you a lot of grief ;-)

pepsi_max2k · 2005-12-16, 10:36

that's alright, i'd figured out the primary/secondary thing and any major problems i had i search for, that was just a general list of things that were probably affecting everyone and seemed to need improvement, didn't know where it would fit really and a "media portal is great" post made most sense, as it is. 8)

2005-12-13, 21:54	#1 (permalink)
Lenny100 Portal Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 13 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Media Portal is just one amazing piece of software Hi All, I must say this twice! Media Portal is just one amazing piece of software!!! Media Portal is just one amazing piece of software!!! Iâ€™ve now used MP for over a year and still havenâ€™t found a better HTPC software. Last week I had some time off work and I decided to give MCE and Meedio a go. Just to see how they compare with MP. The conclusion was obvious. Meedio has an impressive media library tool, but thatâ€™s it. The TV section is light years away from MP and the GUI looks â€œoldishâ€ and static. And it costs about 60 dollars. MCE looks and feels much like MP due to the similarity in GUI, but I find MCE is lacking the level of user influence that MP has. Works well, but isnâ€™t better than MP and costs around 140 dollars. MP is the KING of HTPC software . Amazing how the delevopers have the talent to beat the competion to such a great lenght and if I was Mr. Gates I would start the job interviews right away!!! Regards, Lenny100 PS: Just tried the latest version of the CVS builds and I must say it just makes MP stand out more. Teletext is working, Trailers is workingâ€¦ __________________ /Lennart

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Media Portal lastest relase - nice fix	warwon	MediaPortal 1 Talk	0	2006-12-28 21:39
Problem with forward and rewind in Media Portal Audio	icemanguru	General Support	4	2006-10-27 19:57
The Top Reasons why Media Portal is the Greatest HTPC App	Steve Warner	MediaPortal 1 Talk	37	2006-08-02 03:00
MediaPortal left the competition behind	TimmyT	MediaPortal 1 Talk	17	2006-06-10 01:18
Cant get Media Portal to function with the Adaptec videOh!	WilliamTell	Installation, configuration support	0	2005-11-23 23:21

2005-12-15, 14:00	#2 (permalink)
pepsi_max2k Portal Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 22 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	yeah, i've just been giving a few others a try and it seems media portal is the best of the bunch. just incase anyone important reads this though, here's some of the stuff that makes it not so good: 1. crashing lots, especially when on a second monitor or in a window. just generally all the time, doing anything - compressing, changing channels, navigating menus... 2. lack of start bar when mazimized on second monitor. i still dunno what time it is. 3. everything else going slow when it's in a window or on another monitor which isn't set as primary. 4. navigation in general, it's a little complicated but anyway... 5. little skips in sound/video when changing volume/channel/recording, it would be nice to have it all smothed out (my comp's half the problem, but it's just all the stuff various between different software). gb-pvr is the only other decent thing i've tried on windows, and only then mainly because it has a great option to open it fullscreen on a second monitor automatically (and not make the start bar dissapear), and all other programs still run smoothely. that's about the biggest improvement i recon could be made. that and the crashing thing. i've not tried 0.2.0.0 (what's with all the 0's?) yet though, maybe it's better...

2005-12-15, 14:22	#4 (permalink)
Maschine Portal Developer Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Germany Posts: 514 Thanks: 13 Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts Country:	Pepsi, you are referring here mostly to things related with using MP on a secondary monitor. This is clearly stated as NOT supported by MP. This is mostly a DirectX limitation if I remember correctly. Do a search on the forums for further information. Though you are welcome (if you have any dev skills) to improve support for running MP on a secondary display device. Maschine

2005-12-15, 15:08	#5 (permalink)
pepsi_max2k Portal Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 22 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	oh sorry, hadn't noticed it wasn't supported, but it does work. and all the crashing problems are the same just using a single monitor, just not as much, basically anything from switching menus to turning tv or timeshifting on and off, recording, selecting videos, can all cause the whole program to either freeze up or dissapear altogether, regardless of settings (sometimes it's fine, others it's not). it just doesn't stirke me as the most stable program in the world, though i appreciate the number of different hardware/software configs you try to cater for and how much of a problem it must be. so yeah, secondary monitor support would be good. and no, VMR9 windowless (i forget if i had any problem with renderless, i dunno, it's on windowless anyway, prolly for a reason). >>Again cant use second monitor, and the hiding of the startbar is an >>option that you can enable/disable in setup. aahh, thankyou, i'd looked for an answer earlier but couldn't find one. oohh and all these folder.jpg's i just found all over my comp is there a way to stop that? and is there not a better way of displaying a folder preview without having those things up... i guess i should search for an answer to that... EDIT: my appologies and congratulations. 0.2.0.0 has not crashed once volume control's not making stuff skip, only navigation. it really is much much better. not a single thing has crashed it, including videos/music/navigation/tv... the stuff it couldn't handle it just didn't play instead of bugging out. the only downside is the screen aspect ratios have changed a bit so everythings squidged thinner on my tv screen :shock: (strech aspect ratio + some screen config has mostly fixed it). and i know what time it is!!

2005-12-16, 10:06	#6 (permalink)
Marcusb Super Moderator Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,932 Thanks: 67 Thanked 28 Times in 28 Posts Country: My System	You can use MP on a second monitor, but there are some conditions. You have to make the MP monitor the primary display and use your other monitor as secondary. As has been said, this is the way Windows does things... You can move everything across to the secondary monitor (start bar etc) with the only exception being the shut down dialog. This has to always appear on the primary monitor. Also, VMR9 Windowless was only really for testing purposes. You should never use it. It's been removed in v.2 anyway, but that may have been some of your trouble too. In future, don't put up with the problems, post using the support template and we could have saved you a lot of grief ;-)

2005-12-16, 10:36	#7 (permalink)
pepsi_max2k Portal Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 22 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	that's alright, i'd figured out the primary/secondary thing and any major problems i had i search for, that was just a general list of things that were probably affecting everyone and seemed to need improvement, didn't know where it would fit really and a "media portal is great" post made most sense, as it is. 8)