After almost two years of MP and Windows experience I decided to take a look around and see what is there else..
I bought a mac mini with no final decision whether I will run it under OSX (Frontrow+EyeTV) or via Bootcamp with Win XP (MP).
So, I thought to give back the forum some of my experience (maxbe usefull to someone).
First lets start with my systems/setups.
System A:
------------
My "old" Athlon 64 3000+, 1GB, 300GB, FloppyDTV DVB-C+Alphacrypt light, BIG Silverstone LC13 case, Thermal Balancer Fan controller, 120mm fans, Nvidia 7600GS passive cooled, XP Pro SP2, stripped down by disabling unneeded services and hardware, Sconi remote, Girder remote.
Money spent: approx. 1500€ (!! see remarks)
Remarks:
-----------
I had to replace the GFX card (FX5200) because it did not support DX9.0c, I had to replace fan control, replaced MB (because it had problems with my previous TT-Budget card), than I had to replace the TT-Budget by a floppyDTV because of the bad recipietion quality.
Status now / suggested fix by forum:
-----------------------------------------------
1. Still noisy
>>> Answer: "need to rework case or switch to other case/setup"
2. TV playback freezes from time to time
>>> Answer:" seems because of stream errors/bad antenna that are than not tolerated my codec or renderer.. seems to be a system/MS/driver issue... replace antenna plugs/cables etc (already done), might also be a broken Quart.dll in DX"
3. Sconi remote not very responive, but can wakeup from hiberantion (what Girder could not do)
>>> Answer: "maybe witch to other remote"
4. System slow. Hangs/stutters from time to time, though background tasks disabled. Windows seems to decide to do something in the background.
>>> Answer: "Bad setup, reinstall clean base, install all patches/fixes.." (Remark: I reinstalled in total 10 times to no luck..)
5. Newest drivers for Nvidia 7600GS cause black screen, so reverted to older driver, thus worse picture quality..
Ok, these are the main issues and believe me: I read the forum well, spent hundreds of hours working on that system .. followed each hint and often changed hardware when there were indications that it might fix the problems. From the forum I understand that (some of) these are quite common problems, also I understand that MP is in development and it is not Mp fault if MS (or a driver) is causing a problem. So I am not blaming MP at all..!!
System B:
------------
After this "journey" I bought a Mac Mini and an EyeTV 310 (DVB-S + Alphacrypt).
Spend Money: approx 920€!!
Remarks: I used it out-of-the-box with preinstalled OSX, just the sofware that came with it. I used the alphacrypt+Premiere smartcard from System A.
Info: The software is just a plain TV application which allows a simple OSD, a simple timeline EPG (powered by OTR-data or tvtv.de webservice), it has PIP, it has an archive and video editor in inside which allows easy deletion of commercials or cutting video clips and export to AppleTV, Ipod, PSP.. ect...
The other "Mediacenter" features like music and fotos have to be done eith external applications. So unfortunatly you have to switch from one to the other application, which is acceptable as you can do it via the given remote control (but it is not that perfect integrated like MP at all).
On the other hand the "Mediacenter"-part (Frontrow) automatically is synchronised with any media on that MAC: Itunes music, photos, (video) podcasts, Apple trailers.. thats quite neat...
Status now
--------------
1. Runs very(!) smooth. No hick-ups at all, no freezes, almost never ever seen a stutter, no freezes.
2. Nice picture quality (compared to what I am used to with purevideo and ffdshow postprocessing)
3. Remote is (too) simple, only 5 buttons but works like you are used to with things like TV sets or radios (instanteous response)
4. No signal drop-outs, freezes anymore, live-TV runs smooth no matter if you navigate the menu or switch fullscreen/windowed. rewind and fastforward with no hassles.
5. Hibernation and wake up from powered off(!) for recording works with no problem.
Comparison:
.............................................................System A................................................System B
.............................................................------------...............................................---------------
price.......................................................1500...........................................................920
stability.................................................marginal.....................................................robust
Noise...................................................acceptable (20db?)....................................not audible (<20db)
smoothness/Responsivness.................acceptable.................................................very good
WAF......................................................currently 10-40.....................................currently 70%-100%
Powermanagement.................................got it ..................................................great, no-brainer
Client/Server architecture......................YES, GREAT....................................................NO :-(
Only one frontend?...............................YES, GREAT ....................................................NO :-(
Channel switching (unscrambled)......2..3sec (FloppyDTV).......................................1..1,5 secs
Channel swithcing (scrambled).................3sec .........................................................2 secs
Channel switching subjective opinion..."not really zapping"............................"acceptable for zapping"
Design (gfx, OSD, EPG)............................VERY nice...............................................poor to moderate
Integration with TVTV.........................via power scheduler............................included, works out of the box
Power consumption..................................115W..........................................................62W
Extendability...........................................Very good.....................................................poor
Time to wake up from hibernation.............5sec...........................................................4sec
Dont get me wrong, I do not want to say prefer one or the other. This is just some feedback fro other users. As you can see the Apple stuff "just works", but it is not that advanced in terms of features, design etc.. In that area MP is my absolute favorite.
On the other hand I had (and still have) lots of trouble with Windows or the PC hardware/drivers, many problems are not directly MP related. I started the Apple journey to see how it works..
I still have not made any final conclusion which path to go. I might use the Mac mini as a MP client (XP) and put my System A in the attic as a TV server.
Conclusion: This reflects only my experience and some people might say that I was not able to maintain and setup a windows system correctly. they might be right, but when reading the forums and talking to colleagues working on HTPC , they share parts of my experience..
I will use the Mac fro a while as it runs without problems and has a very good WAF.. That will give me time to work on the XP box and think where to go..
I bought a mac mini with no final decision whether I will run it under OSX (Frontrow+EyeTV) or via Bootcamp with Win XP (MP).
So, I thought to give back the forum some of my experience (maxbe usefull to someone).
First lets start with my systems/setups.
System A:
------------
My "old" Athlon 64 3000+, 1GB, 300GB, FloppyDTV DVB-C+Alphacrypt light, BIG Silverstone LC13 case, Thermal Balancer Fan controller, 120mm fans, Nvidia 7600GS passive cooled, XP Pro SP2, stripped down by disabling unneeded services and hardware, Sconi remote, Girder remote.
Money spent: approx. 1500€ (!! see remarks)
Remarks:
-----------
I had to replace the GFX card (FX5200) because it did not support DX9.0c, I had to replace fan control, replaced MB (because it had problems with my previous TT-Budget card), than I had to replace the TT-Budget by a floppyDTV because of the bad recipietion quality.
Status now / suggested fix by forum:
-----------------------------------------------
1. Still noisy
>>> Answer: "need to rework case or switch to other case/setup"
2. TV playback freezes from time to time
>>> Answer:" seems because of stream errors/bad antenna that are than not tolerated my codec or renderer.. seems to be a system/MS/driver issue... replace antenna plugs/cables etc (already done), might also be a broken Quart.dll in DX"
3. Sconi remote not very responive, but can wakeup from hiberantion (what Girder could not do)
>>> Answer: "maybe witch to other remote"
4. System slow. Hangs/stutters from time to time, though background tasks disabled. Windows seems to decide to do something in the background.
>>> Answer: "Bad setup, reinstall clean base, install all patches/fixes.." (Remark: I reinstalled in total 10 times to no luck..)
5. Newest drivers for Nvidia 7600GS cause black screen, so reverted to older driver, thus worse picture quality..
Ok, these are the main issues and believe me: I read the forum well, spent hundreds of hours working on that system .. followed each hint and often changed hardware when there were indications that it might fix the problems. From the forum I understand that (some of) these are quite common problems, also I understand that MP is in development and it is not Mp fault if MS (or a driver) is causing a problem. So I am not blaming MP at all..!!
System B:
------------
After this "journey" I bought a Mac Mini and an EyeTV 310 (DVB-S + Alphacrypt).
Spend Money: approx 920€!!
Remarks: I used it out-of-the-box with preinstalled OSX, just the sofware that came with it. I used the alphacrypt+Premiere smartcard from System A.
Info: The software is just a plain TV application which allows a simple OSD, a simple timeline EPG (powered by OTR-data or tvtv.de webservice), it has PIP, it has an archive and video editor in inside which allows easy deletion of commercials or cutting video clips and export to AppleTV, Ipod, PSP.. ect...
The other "Mediacenter" features like music and fotos have to be done eith external applications. So unfortunatly you have to switch from one to the other application, which is acceptable as you can do it via the given remote control (but it is not that perfect integrated like MP at all).
On the other hand the "Mediacenter"-part (Frontrow) automatically is synchronised with any media on that MAC: Itunes music, photos, (video) podcasts, Apple trailers.. thats quite neat...
Status now
--------------
1. Runs very(!) smooth. No hick-ups at all, no freezes, almost never ever seen a stutter, no freezes.
2. Nice picture quality (compared to what I am used to with purevideo and ffdshow postprocessing)
3. Remote is (too) simple, only 5 buttons but works like you are used to with things like TV sets or radios (instanteous response)
4. No signal drop-outs, freezes anymore, live-TV runs smooth no matter if you navigate the menu or switch fullscreen/windowed. rewind and fastforward with no hassles.
5. Hibernation and wake up from powered off(!) for recording works with no problem.
Comparison:
.............................................................System A................................................System B
.............................................................------------...............................................---------------
price.......................................................1500...........................................................920
stability.................................................marginal.....................................................robust
Noise...................................................acceptable (20db?)....................................not audible (<20db)
smoothness/Responsivness.................acceptable.................................................very good
WAF......................................................currently 10-40.....................................currently 70%-100%
Powermanagement.................................got it ..................................................great, no-brainer
Client/Server architecture......................YES, GREAT....................................................NO :-(
Only one frontend?...............................YES, GREAT ....................................................NO :-(
Channel switching (unscrambled)......2..3sec (FloppyDTV).......................................1..1,5 secs
Channel swithcing (scrambled).................3sec .........................................................2 secs
Channel switching subjective opinion..."not really zapping"............................"acceptable for zapping"
Design (gfx, OSD, EPG)............................VERY nice...............................................poor to moderate
Integration with TVTV.........................via power scheduler............................included, works out of the box
Power consumption..................................115W..........................................................62W
Extendability...........................................Very good.....................................................poor
Time to wake up from hibernation.............5sec...........................................................4sec
Dont get me wrong, I do not want to say prefer one or the other. This is just some feedback fro other users. As you can see the Apple stuff "just works", but it is not that advanced in terms of features, design etc.. In that area MP is my absolute favorite.
On the other hand I had (and still have) lots of trouble with Windows or the PC hardware/drivers, many problems are not directly MP related. I started the Apple journey to see how it works..
I still have not made any final conclusion which path to go. I might use the Mac mini as a MP client (XP) and put my System A in the attic as a TV server.
Conclusion: This reflects only my experience and some people might say that I was not able to maintain and setup a windows system correctly. they might be right, but when reading the forums and talking to colleagues working on HTPC , they share parts of my experience..
I will use the Mac fro a while as it runs without problems and has a very good WAF.. That will give me time to work on the XP box and think where to go..
Netherlands
