Considering a switch from XBMC (1 Viewer)

Bryan Chain

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So, I'll just come out and say that I am a very long time XBMC user and I had never even considered MediaPortal in my previous builds, just to get it out of the way. The primary reason I never looked past XBMC is because I am an avid Linux/OSX user and it runs great on those platforms. I started looking around for potential alternatives once I realized I was going to pretty much have to use Windows on my new HTPC if I wanted convenient access to Bluray and online streaming services. Enter MediaPortal.

I have done a lot of google searching and forum browsing with respect to "XBMC vs MediaPortal" and I still can't really get a good idea of the true concise list of pros and cons other than subjective user preference. So I suppose what I will do is outline what my home media situation looks like, what my needs are, and allow the loyal MP users to attempt to either convince me to switch or tell me that what I need is not possible in MP. In any case, thanks in advance for reading a long post and I apologize for what is likely to be the 100th post on this subject.

So my setup at home looks like this, basically:

Media Library is on a Synology NAS as the central "Media Repository" - this runs Transmission for RSS based Torrents and Filebot to process finished downloads into my Music/TV/Movie shares. All media is shared over NFS and SMB/CIFS. The OSX and Linux box currently use AutoFS to mount NFS shares to get at the media and the library is centralized using XBMC/MySQL integration with the MySQL DB running on the NAS itself. Anything windows based would use mapped drives to windows shares based on the same NAS.

Bedroom TV is a Mac Mini connected via Wireless-N running OSX, although I am not opposed to installing Linux/Windows on this box if it makes sense though.

Living Room TV is currently a Linux box but I have just built a new replacement computer for it which is essentially the reason I am here.

Raspberry Pi is running a daemon called Boblightd which controls an LED array around my living room PC which is controlled via the XBMC Boblight plugin.

My new HTPC I built out originally as a Linux box because I like Linux but I just switched it to windows due to the headaches associated with Bluray and Netflix on Linux. As such my new HTPC is:
  • ASRock H77 Based mATX Motherboard
  • 8gb DDR3-1600
  • 128gb OCZ Agility 4 SSD
  • Intel i3 3225 using Integrated Intel 4000 graphics for HW Accelleration
  • Hauppauge Win-TV HVR-1150 for ATSC OTA Television
    • Mohu Leaf Antenna
  • Undecided DVB-S/S2 Dual Tuner Satellite Tuner Card
  • Currently Running Windows 7 Ultimate x64, Windows 8 is an option of course if MP runs well on it.
In terms of requirements from MP I suppose they are:
  • Obviously very strong base media center functionality akin to XBMC​
    • Additional filter options such as MadVR or similar would be a huge plus​
  • Support for a centralized database in a similar way to XBMC + MySQL Integration​
  • Strong Live TV / PVR Support (from a variety of backends as I need MDAPI support from my tv backend)​
  • Ability to control my LED Array on my Raspberry Pi (Doesn't need to be boblight specifically but needs to run in RPi/Linux and have a convenient plugin for MP)​
  • Native BluRay support (I understand I would need something like AnyDVD HD for this but that's fine)​
  • Major plus to have integrated support for streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Instant, Hulu, Xfinity TV, etc.​
In terms of specific questions I have:
  • So given the above, is MP an ideal solution for me?​
    • Is anything I need simply NOT an option with MP?​
  • What does MP do better than XBMC?​
  • What does XBMC do better than MP? Be honest!​
 

Lightning303

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    Hey there,
    i will try to answer your questions, however for some of the topics i only have little knowledge.

    Obviously very strong base media center functionality akin to XBMC
    MP has inbuild Music, Video, Picture, TV support. The Video section can be used to manage your movies, however most users prefer the plugin MovingPictures. For tv shows there is a plguin called MyTVSeries.

    Additional filter options such as MadVR or similar would be a huge plus
    There is sadly no support for MadVR. It has been discussed in the forum, even madshi was involved in the discussion. For more information on that subject, just search the forum :). MP is using either VMR9 or EVR, however since Vista, EVR is strongly recommended.

    Support for a centralized database in a similar way to XBMC + MySQL Integration
    The TV part of MP uses a MySQL database, however the rest of the system is using sqlite databases. Sharing these between different pcs is problematic. There however seem to be a plugin for that now (https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/...ediaportal-multi-seat-synchronization.117417/). As i am not using such a setup i cant tell you much about it.

    Strong Live TV / PVR Support (from a variety of backends as I need MDAPI support from my tv backend)
    TV and PVR are a big thing with Mediaportal. So there is good support. MDAPI is possible, however not supported, and its not allowed to discuss it in te forum.

    Ability to control my LED Array on my Raspberry Pi (Doesn't need to be boblight specifically but needs to run in RPi/Linux and have a convenient plugin for MP)
    There are projects for that. If they would work with your setup, i dont know. Search the forum for Atmolight.

    Native BluRay support (I understand I would need something like AnyDVD HD for this but that's fine)
    Yes, Bluray is supported by Mediaportal. And yes you would need additional software like AnyDVD.

    Major plus to have integrated support for streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Instant, Hulu, Xfinity TV, etc.
    There is no integrated support for it. However as far as i know there is a Netflix plugin. I dont know about the rest. Have a look at the plugin OnlineVideos, which does support a big collection of streaming sites.


    So given the above, is MP an ideal solution for me?
    I honestly cant tell you. I know that MP2 sure will be when its ready :p, but maybe you just have to give it a try. Make backups of everything and just test if you like MP. Also have a look in the plugin section to see if the plugins you would need are available.

    Is anything I need simply NOT an option with MP?
    No MadVR.

    What does MP do better than XBMC?
    TV is far better than on XBMC. Lots of configuration without hacking in some hidden xml files (at least that is what i remember from xbmc). The rest is mostly subjective.

    What does XBMC do better than MP? Be honest!
    More userfrindly. Somebody with little pc knowledge will have no problem getting the basics running in XBMC. In MP its a bit more complicated.

    Hope that helps you :)
     
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    FreakyJ

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    nothing to add :)
    Our strength is really the Tv part and MDAPI is working perfectly nice ;)
    With MP 1.4 our gui gets smoother and more responsive, this will be even improved in one of the next releases. Win8 is supported but has still some problems with MP, but some devs are also working on this.
     

    Bryan Chain

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    Thanks for the responses!

    My big hangup at the moment is the support for boblight, which admittedly I haven't looked into very much. I spent a lot of time and money setting up my ambilight and I wouldn't want to lose that.
     

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