Why choose media portal over other HTPC programs? (1 Viewer)

coopers

Portal Pro
November 8, 2005
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Hi guys,

As a n00b, I'm trying to learn about how things work and I've had a good read of the mediaportal wiki information at this point.

Mediaportal looks pretty good, but I am left wondering about what Mediaportal offers that will "beat" the other programs attempting to do a similar thing?

myHTPC seems to just call start up other programs, so that's out, I prefer the mediaportal idea of supporting most functionality in the software itself.

Really, I could compare Windows Media Center vs Mediaportal vs MythTV.

Now, given that I don't think linux is a big issue, can anyone give me a rundown of why Media portal is thier tool of choice over the others?

cheers

coopers
 

Callifo

Retired Team Member
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  • December 7, 2004
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    There been quite a lot of threads comparing it so you may want to search. MCE isnt really in the running considering: it cant handle hdtv, cant handle analogue/digital at same time, doesnt have the amount of plugin support mp does and requires a replacement OS. And theres a lot more too.

    There was a mythtv thread if I remember correctly, as I havent used it before.
     

    coopers

    Portal Pro
    November 8, 2005
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    Fair enough. :)

    I have been having a browse, but most threads seem to say MP does this, does that (good points) and someone counters with "MP is too slow".

    There shoudl be more to the argument.

    I'm interested in an answer basically stating why you guys have chosen MP - what feature(s) does it have that you don't get elsewhere?
     

    Asmo

    Portal Pro
    March 3, 2005
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    coopers said:
    I'm interested in an answer basically stating why you guys have chosen MP - what feature(s) does it have that you don't get elsewhere?

    You know, it is faster for you to simply intsall it and try it out yourself so you can make your OWN opinion, rather then wait for an answer here form people who already know MP is the best choice for them.

    Its free, and it is installed in 5 minutes, so what is the wait about?
     

    thechad

    Portal Pro
    February 5, 2005
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    It open source
    Free
    Runs on windows (Linux drivers are a pain in the ass)
    Written in C# so even I can have a stab at coding plugins
    good following and community
    rapid development cycle
    perfect for dedicated HTPC
     

    aasmund Nordal

    Portal Pro
    June 20, 2005
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    I was looking over the features of mce and it was low on featuers compared to mediaportal.
    I want more then just the basics.

    I havel also used sage tv myth tv and so on, but I liked mediaportal much better. I think it was becouse of the gui and tv support and speed.

    I think there wil be a lite versjon of mp for the basics that can run on older/cheeper computers. Nice for bedrooms, cars and so on.
     

    Danno100

    Portal Member
    November 3, 2005
    5
    0
    Canada
    Biggest pain with MCE is that it is a special version of Windows XP. Whereas MP is just an application that runs on XP (or other).

    Therefore, MCE is much harder to install. MCE has fewer plug-ins, but it is more reliable than MP. MCE has much greater demands on hardware, especially how it handles video cards (the issue is beyond my understanding).

    I also purchased Meedio, but the TV application is separate and I don't think it should be. Meedio is harder to configure, but has a lot more plug-ins and skins.

    Having all three on one computer, I prefer MP because it has TV integrated, and is easy to configure and flexible. MCE has a slightly better interface. MCE makes EPG easy.
     

    sgryd

    Portal Member
    November 2, 2005
    7
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    Stockholm, Sweden
    I installed MCE at first. But after trying to join the machine to my domain with no luck I gave up. Since then I have learned that MCE does not support joining a domain.

    Yesterday I installed a trial version of Meedio (I think this is a commersial version of MythTV). Meedio seems really nice and somewhat more responsive (subjective feeling) than MP. But the over all feeling of the man-machine interface logic is that Meedio is more "geeky" and somewhat more cumbersome to control. But there are very nice skins available for Meedio (I think they are much nicer than the MP skins I've seen). And the Meedio/MythTV plugin community seems to be huge.

    I like "geeky". But I want my whole family to be able to watch TV in a simple manner. So I'll go for MP. The hardware support also seems to be better in MP.
     

    samuel337

    Portal Pro
    August 25, 2004
    772
    0
    Melbourne, Australia
    Nope, Meedio and MythTV are two different programs. MythTV is linux-based, Meedio is windows-based.

    I agree Meedio is great, works, doesn't crash very much, and is configurable. However, I don't like the music interface very much (maybe its because I'm use to MP)... And their TV component is a seperate one.

    They have a free Meedio Express version out there for people to try out.

    Ultimately, I prefer MP because I can tinker with it :lol:

    Sam
     

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