Goodbye MediaPortal (1 Viewer)

[nvrusemp]

Hello

I used Media portal without a TV card when it was in the early stages and liked it very much and couldn't wait to use it when I had a computer with that capability. I have been using Vista Media Center for my recent foray into HTPC usage and have enjoyed it very much. The set up was completed in minutes with no fuss, no headaches and no ranting of expletives at the computer.

For me the most important part of any HTPC is watching television and as stated this was a breeze in MC. Unfortunately this process is far too complicated and filled with potential errors and complications in MediaPortal. If later build are to be improved there should be an automated TV setup where it would ask simple questions such as location, tv provider etc.

I tried twice to get the TV to work, failing and doing complete uninstalls in frustration. I consider myself fairly competent computer-wise, but with SQL databases and TV Service not running problems and finding no relavent help on the mediaportal forums, site as a whole or indeed the world according to Google I have given up permanently.

It is so unfortunate as I love the skins MP has and many updates, but perhaps the setup needed to be made more idiot proof for the likes of people like me.

To all who have mediaportal working, well done and I envy you.

Goodbye MediaPortal.

 

[Swooosh]

Same for me, I sold the HTPC, now I'm using a DVB-Receiver with upscaling and the WD TV with 500GB external HDD. Took <1h to set up and costed <300€

The HTPC costed more money, muuuuuuch time, had bugs and was slow. I think nobody will use a HTPC anymore when Sony or another company releases a all-in-one-device

The HTPC left me frustrated, while the 2 devices just work like a breeze

 

[kellizer2]

Well - I would say au revoir (see you again) and not good bye. I left mediaportal for 2 year but when I rebuilt my HTPC it was my only choice of mediacenter; mainly due to the TV support.

Take care,

Ian.

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Great first post, why bother

Did that sound sarcastic, then sorry, but you do need a understanding of basic pc concepts and what your ultimate, end system looks and feels like to your satisfaction, not the likes of M$'s pre-configured.

With a bit of time and reading, also asking for help when you hit a brick wall, does help you get things going.

I do not think any of us, think that MP is a out of the box solution, it has just to many options, if I found it today, would most probably run it alongside MCE, and then sort out the TV side after wards, most people just try and get EVERYTHING working at once, 9 times out of 10, this is the wrong thing to do, especially if a particular issue is happening with plugin\skins (people always want the latest, whizziest), always get basic MP working for a couple of days, just make sure its stable.

But if you are happy then all ends well

 

[etheesdad]

Seems to me that about every 3 weeks there's a post on this forum, from someone who has given up and walked away. Which is understandable as I think few people here would have been lucky enough to get MP working (with all of their favorite plugins and features) 100% without a lot of perseverance and hard work.

As Ray points out, its probably not an 'out of the box' solution (with all features enabled). Yet. MP 1.0 is pretty close to it though in my experience using just the defaults.

My experience as been that the RC's were a lot of hard work, but that 1.0 was pretty much a breeze in comparison.

Two things occur to me when I read these posts.

1. There's a great community here and if you ask for help with *proper support-request posts*, it will get you over the humps. There's also a significant body of knowledge in the forums if you take some time to sift through and read.

2. Plug-in support is something I think many new users jump into too soon. Ideally, MP should be set up MP with the defaults, and just get the TVserver up and running, install codecs, make a disk image, and then gradually work from there. If something goes wrong, go back to the image and start from what worked. Seems to me that jumping straight in to all the appealing fun stuff/features mediaportal has to offer without getting the basic features working first, may trip a lot of people up when they're starting out.

The thing that kept me at it is that I really dont like Microsoft software, because its so rigid, and had gone the very-hard route of MythTV prior to MP (vowing never to go back to it after 3 full weeks of hell typing arcane commands into the Terminal). My penchant against MS is firmly affirmed by MCE and Vista Ultimate because their media centres are so limited and dont offer anywhere near the configurability of MP.

So for TV, as I understand it, you have GB-PVR, Sagetv, MythTV, ChrisTV, Linux MCE and the MS Media Centre offerings (including Windows7 which admittedly is very easy to set up, and very good, notwithstanding its current issues with subtitles). For features MythTV and LinuxMCE are closest to MP. Neither are a walk in the park, though.

I wish you luck with whatever option you go for.

 

[tourettes]

For me the most important part of any HTPC is watching television and as stated this was a breeze in MC. Unfortunately this process is far too complicated and filled with potential errors and complications in MediaPortal. If later build are to be improved there should be an automated TV setup where it would ask simple questions such as location, tv provider etc.

Thats all about money. MS has huge amounts of money that they can spend on updating the database to reflect the real world situation.

 

[lordarcane]

I believe that HTPC is and forever will be an enthusiasts choise. You simply have to be interested and have a vision to to get everything to work out. If you like preconfigured software without any options. Then go ahead, use WMC, and be like everybody else. But, if you like the tweaking, the community that is other users, and the satisfaction that comes with solving a problem and sharing it with others then use a HTPC with, say MP.

All in one box solution from say sony or recording tv boxes will always lose when it comes to variaty and compability (and coolness) that is a fully functional HTPC.

MP FTW!

 

[tig3r025]

Windows media center even doesn't have support for DVB-C here in Europe... Mediaportal rocks, it has some bugs, but developers solves problems very quick.

 

[jsimmons]

Same for me, I sold the HTPC, now I'm using a DVB-Receiver with upscaling and the WD TV with 500GB external HDD. Took <1h to set up and costed <300€

I just dropped $1100 for parts for a HTPC, a MCE remote, and a new A/V receiver (I needed more HDMI in ports). Back in the day when I built fast cars, we had a saying - "Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?" Those of us that wanted the speed spent the money - there's simply no way around it. You'll find a lot of parallels in life, and building/maintaining a HTPC is one of thise things. We have it much easier in that regard than the peioneers of the hobby did even two short years ago.

The HTPC costed more money, muuuuuuch time, had bugs and was slow. I think nobody will use a HTPC anymore when Sony or another company releases a all-in-one-device. The HTPC left me frustrated, while the 2 devices just work like a breeze

Everything worth doing takes time to do. If it had bugs, you didn't do enough research or preparation before assembling the system.

As far as waiting for Sony (or someone else) releasing a HTPC-in-a-box, you're wasting your time - there's no money in it for them. They're selling the crap outa standalone A/V receivers and DVD players, and at an extremely high margin of profit. Selling pre-assembled PCs simply doesn't make money.

In essence, building a HTPC takes some knowledge of hardware AND software, and how the two work together. There's certainly no shame in admitting that you simply don't have the chops for the task at hand, because not everybody does.

The original poster's message should probably be deleted (I mean seriously - look at his user ID).

 

[SpudR]

Some people just want an easy option - it's too easy for someone just to say "It's too hard!!"
#sigh#
"Nothing of value ever came easy" - that's what I learned on day one of engineering school, it's a good lesson to learn

In essence - f**k 'em
lol