Is MP the BEST HTPC Program? (2 Viewers)

[pepsi_max2k]

hmm... well... i've only tried this and mythtv so...

mediaportal isn't as stable as myth, i've not tried the very latest version but all the others i've had problems with tv skipping or cutting out or not starting or the whole thing crashing or slowing down when i ctr-alt out of it...

myth has a few external scripts to easily convert recorded files to whatever you like. last time i tried to xvid something in mp it didn't wanna know.

i don't know if there's a reliable backend/service that can be run for MP to have it record stuff even when you don't have the program open. with myth you don't even need to open the thing, just use it's web interface to schedule stuff then forget about it.


but, if you've not tried mythtv yet then good lord, don't bother. a good estimate would be 2 MONTHS to get it installed (assuming you need to get a linux os running too, and haven't done either before).

scanning is terrible. it just doesn't. and when it does it misses so many things. radio isn't supported. there's a quite a few features missing, you can add them but after the time it takes to get the basics working, you don't even wanna consider a plugin. myth feels a bit clunky to use. that said, at least it doesnt crash when it starts doing weird things.

mediaportal's install is easy. around 20 seconds (compared to, in my case, 2 months with mythtv). scanning for channels scans for channels. configures them, installs them, and they work. it's got games. it's got a nice little video image in the corner that stays in all the menus. you don't have to worry about configuring anything.

and being windows based, it does look nicer, though that's mainly a graphics driver issue.


all in all, media portal has more features, and they're nicer, they just don't always work. if they did, i'd use it as my main pvr software. as it is, i use myth. can't trust mediaportal not to put weird skips in it, or not record it at all. when you go v1, you may have a myth beater on your hands, but being linux based may just be too much of an advantage for myth, reliability wise...

 

[davej00]

Lets separate out a few things.

Media Box/Library/Server -- for me I want a box as a media library. Rip my CDs, copy my DVD library and away I go. MP is brill for that and I have had no problems with this functionality. The eye-candy, using IMDB etc is neat extra, as well as easy inclusion of album art. Even the commercial competitors are only just catching up here.

TV/Timeshifting etc -- If you have an analog capture card -- plenty of options. If you use DVB-C or DVB-S then really there is only MP. I know this has been a troublesome area -- but hey, its very complex. I work with large software systems every day of the week. I think the devs do a great job, especially as most of these folks are doing this in their "spare" time.

Keep up the good work guys. I think MP is brill !

- Dave

 

[gxtracker]

I guess it depends on what your needs are. Im not aware of any other HTPC program where i can use (dual) DVB-C tuners, neither gallm or MCE support even one of those.

Agreed. In North America the primary TV tuners are analog, and many other programs out there support multiple tuners: MCE, sagetv, etc.. I look at MP as more then just a TV box. If I wanted to only watch TV I would be using something like BeyondTV or sageTV.

What I like about MP is that it IS the very definition of a HTPC. I can do movies, music, pictures, DVD's, etc... any kind of media I want. I can play games, emulators like MAME, etc... it has now turned my box into an entertainment unit. plug a few xbox controllers into the USB ports and grab some buddies and some drinks. I can integrate it into my home automation if needed. Now im able to control my living space through the same box I also watch my television from.

To me, this is the power of MP - it was designed around the concept of plugins. It has the potential to do it all. Like the old cliche: if you build it, they will come.

Create the base, prove how good a base it is, and soon developers will start writing plugins to make it great.