Retiring MediaPortal - Passing on my code (2 Viewers)

[WileECoyote]

Hello All,
A few weeks back I started researching a PlayOn plugin for MediaPortal, which ultimately led me to try other Media Center software (XMBC & Sage TV specifically.) I intially loaded XBMC to see how the UPNP worked with PlayOn and discovered a whole new world of Media Center software. I've heard raving reviews about XBMC, but never really 'tried' it. One of the biggest reasons I had never looked at it was the lack of TV tuner support, and more specifically for the HD-PVR.

After loading XBMC I found myself captivated by the super smooth animations. I was also amazed that the Movie & TV Series plugins were built into the software. I added a few of my shares and it started pulling the metadata & fanart immeditately. I started digging a little more and found plugins (or scripts) that allowed the XBMC client to talk to a MediaPortal TV Server for Live & Recorded TV (XBMC is in the process of adding support for MythTV, MediaPortal and a few other PVR 'backends'.) In less than an hour, I had a fully functioning Media Center with XBMC installed from scratch (other than the MP backend that was previously set up) complete with Hulu, NetFlix, Youtube, Tv.com and all the other goodies PlayOn provides. (I wanted to also note that not only does PlayOn provide access to your Netflix instant queue, it plays the movies natively within XBMC.)

I was even futher astounded that all my media played without having to struggle with codecs. In fact, there is no place in XBMC to modify the codecs (Im guessing they are all built into the software.)

All this seemed too good to be true, so over the weekend I decided to load XBMC on one of my client machines (ZBOX HD-ND02). XBMC has a 'Live' version that runs on Ubuntu and is packaged to give the 'appliance' feel. I popped the DVD in the external drive and walked through the prompts and within 20 minutes it was loaded to the hard drive and running. From boot to Home page is less than 20 seconds. It's really cool that it boots directly into XBMC (I know this is possible with MP, I just never took the time to set it up.) The only issue I have is it will not wake from standby.

Anyway, all that to say.... I am going to depart from MediaPortal (at least the client) and would like to hand my plugins off to someone who would like to take them over. Please PM me if you are interested in coding any of the following plugins...

1. My Netflix
2. My Email Manager
3. X10 Home Automation

Please know this email is not meant to be condesending, just observation on my part. I just found XBMC to be more 'polished' and easier to configure, and although the TV Server plugin is not complete I have decided to assist in developing/testing the scripts to make it feature complete (for me anyway.)

I have had a great time working/playing with you guys and will keep up to date with the goings-on with MediaPortal, as I will still use the MP backend for XBMC.

Good luck and keep up the great work!
Wile E.

 

[jmvaughn]

Thanks for all the hard work you have done, especially on the NetFlix plugin.

You are going to be missed as part of the community.

Good luck with XBMC.

 

[WileECoyote]

Thanks for all the hard work you have done, especially on the NetFlix plugin.

You are going to be missed as part of the community.

Good luck with XBMC.

Thanks jmvaughn. I appreciate all the support and help testing you provided for my plugins over the past few years. I will miss the MP community, but I think XBMC is a better fit for me at the moment. Time will tell....

Wile E.

 

[fmulders]

Good luck, and thanks again for your hard work!

Perhaps I wil take a peek at XBMC too...

 

[vrm]

That's sad
MP has lost a great contributor.

Thanks again for your hard work, especially on email plugin which is essential to me.

All you wrote about XBMC is true, I tried that last year, it's pretty smooth and handy, but it's just not enough... cool.
I have several problems with MP day by day because of its stability, some plugins, some codec settings but I see nowhere else to go

 

[geov]

I have also thought of trying XBMC....I'm sad to say this, especially because I've spent a lot of time with MediaPortal
Good luck with XBMC, and please come back and let us know how it goes after you have used it a bit longer.

 

[MrLobster]

I too have moved onto XBMC, but I know its only a stop gap until MP2 is ready. The Current MP1 GUI Engine is pretty old and is very limited.

I now use skyHD for all my TV shows, but still use xbmc to house all my ripped DVD/BD shows from my collection (still hate disc swapping).

That also makes me wonder if anyone has created a BD/DVD Jukebox for all the discs.....

 

[Dadeo]

Hey WileCoyote - a big thanks - on behalf of the MP Team (if I can be so bold!) for all your wonderful contributions to MediaPortal over the years. I wish you every success in your future endeavors. I hope you learn lots at XBMC and come back to MP or MP 2 with even more creativity!

 

[Spragleknas]

^ What he said!

Best of luck and hope to see you again!

 

[winterescape]

WileE,
Wow! Thanks for the fantastic Netflix plugin and you great support of it. It has been a blast to use and learn about… all your work has been greatly appreciated…