Why do YOU use MediaPortal? (1 Viewer)

[cheetah05]

I have always followed MediaPortal and reguarly check the forums etc, and have even worked on some plugins for it. But now I am a full-time Vista Media Center user.

I was just wondering, why do people use MediaPortal specifically, over software like Vista Media Center...?

I mean, more and more plugins are getting created for Vista Media Center, although, personally, I don't use any myself.

I have always found that TV functionality is alot quicker, fluid, better in VMC (Vista Media Center) than in MP (MediaPortal) and it has always worked correctly, right from day one. It was ridiculously easy to setup including the guide. With the new "TV Pack 2008" you get even more control over the tuners, you get interactive (red button) services, which by the way, are amazing, the Microsoft developers that worked on that deserve some praise, its instant, unlike on set-top boxes.

I have a dual tuner usb dongle (Hauppauage Nova-TD). But I run it in a special single tuner mode whereby it uses both tuners (two aerials) to tune into one channel to get the best signal. Tuning and channel changing is fast enough. I don't ever record, but I have tested its functionality and it works fine enough. The EPG is the best part of the TV, it is very easy to use, you can filter by programme category. There is also this wierd search feature which I have just found whereby you can search for a programme and it will tell you when its on, you can also set it to record a programme when it next its on - not really sure how this feature works/how it knows what programmes are going to be on? Pausing/rewinding tv works perfectly too.

The only bad thing about VMC at the moment is the fact that you can only skip through .AVI and .MKV files by 30 seconds at a time as you can't use chapters etc. But you can set bookmarks at certain places within videos and resume from that point (with the use of a plugin) - that works quite well.

Anyways, I haven't had one crash since I have started using it which is good, it does everything I need and I even created a program so I can use my Sony PS3 bluetooth remote with it.

Sorry for the rant, but why do you use MediaPortal?

 

[Ibeg]

Can VMC play HDTV?
Can VMC use own EPG Sources?
Do you like DVR-MS Files?
Movie Infos by pressing F3 in your home language?
Have VMC a web EPG like the nice TV-Server plugin?
Is the next VMC update free or only for resalers?



I have some trouble with MP, but with VMC, I have other problems.....
The VMC GUI is very nice....

 

[cheetah05]

Can VMC play HDTV?

Yes, new TV pack includes official HDTV support, although it was possible before that. I don't have HDTV capable hardware though

Can VMC use own EPG Sources?

Don't know and don't understand why you would want to - the inbuilt one is more than sufficient for me - the EPG in general is better in VMC than in MP.

Do you like DVR-MS Files?

Honestly couldn't care less. As of the new TV pack, its recorded in a different format, not that I ever record tv.

Movie Infos by pressing F3 in your home language?

Home language is english - so never had a problem myself, don't really need Movie info, but I have movie art. Movie info is possible by the use of an additional plugin, but i am happy with the inbuilt functionality and manually adding movie art. (I created a program to do it automatically)

Have VMC a web EPG like the nice TV-Server plugin?

Not aware of anything like this for VMC, not that I would ever use it. The TV Server/Client thing for MP is its strong-point, i'll give you that.

Is the next VMC update free or only for resalers?

Released to the public in september I believe, but its RTM now.

The VMC GUI is very nice....

I agree, but MP has skin ability which is nice.

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

cheetah05

Bit of a silly question, as quite a few people who have access to MCE, just do not find it does what they want, I switch back ocassionally, usually lasts for a night though before i have had enough, i actually do more remote key presses when in Vista MCE to get where i want to, than in MP, maybe i'm just lazy
As for TV, i find it very useful sometimes to be able to record more than 2 channels with my dual tuner, TV program managers can be very inconsiderate at scheduling good programs at same time
Movies under MCE do absolutely nothing for me information wise, or anyone else who comes round and scrolls through the list (nice thumbs most are black or Studio logo), MP on the other hand they love for this with its covers.

Maybe it's just me, but i am a member of both the Australian MCE and Green button forums, and i see no major advantage over Mediaportal ever posted on these sites.

As always, it's a case of WHATEVER MAKES YOU HAPPY

 

[cheetah05]

*snip*.

It wasn't really a question (yeah i know technically it was), it was more to make people aware that Vista Media Center is actually quite good (and to strike up discussion), and with the addition TV pack, become even better. I was quite naive before thinking that nobody created plugins for VMC, but there quite a few good ones out there.

The new TV pack has made control of tuners and recording and things like that alot more powerful, but I don't record and I only have one tuner, so I don't know much about it.....but I've read of people on the forums using 5 different tuners to do different things, but I haven't a clue why they have 5....:/

As for movies, I don't need info, but there are plugins for that, I am happy with the inbuilt vista functionality and getting movie art manually (through my program), although it has to be in a weird aspect ratio :/

Images below are of my setup, I don't use any plugins. Click on them to enlarge them.

 

[stax]

I prefer it over VMC because it's .NET and open source so it's easy to write a plugin or to contribute some code for some fixes or features I like. I think MediaPortal has serious efficiency issues, that's why I hesitated years before adopting it, spending a lot time examining all the alternatives. I still have a lot doubts but for me there is no turning back unless a project comes up giving the same power with more efficiency. I'll likely to spend a lot time writing a plugin and I hope I can contibute to the core as time goes by.

 

[Ibeg]

first, sorry, english is not my home language....

Zitat von Ibeg Beitrag anzeigen
Can VMC play HDTV?
Yes, new TV pack includes official HDTV support, although it was possible before that. I don't have HDTV capable hardware though

not in germany, the hdtv stream can not displayed by vmc - you need other codecs.

Can VMC use own EPG Sources?
Don't know and don't understand why you would want to - the inbuilt one is more than sufficient for me - the EPG in general is better in VMC than in MP.

in germany, we get EPG by the TV-stream. Even this epg is better than the MS-EPG. And for 1€ / month you can get a very good EPG for the next 14 days. with VMC EPG, I'm missing some channels.

Honestly couldn't care less. As of the new TV pack, its recorded in a different format, not that I ever record tv.

I dont like DRM. I'n the next vmx release, the format will change. I hope, some programms can read and convert this new DRM-Files or it's time to say "Hello commercials...", because you can't cut & edit the files.

Have VMC a web EPG like the nice TV-Server plugin?
Not aware of anything like this for VMC, not that I would ever use it. The TV Server/Client thing for MP is its strong-point, i'll give you that.

very strong point for me. with this plugin, i can read & mange the epg from my notebook. I can search films and tv series very efficient.

Is the next VMC update free or only for resalers?
Released to the public in september I believe, but its RTM now.

many people saying, the next VMC release is only for OEMs. Read greenbutton homepage.

Don't ge me wrong, I like !!! the look and feel from VMC. But i like the MP features more atm.

Hm, terrible spelling.... sorry

 

[trevor]

The new TV pack has made control of tuners and recording and things like that alot more powerful, but I don't record and I only have one tuner, so I don't know much about it.....but I've read of people on the forums using 5 different tuners to do different things, but I haven't a clue why they have 5....:/

The above may fix the reason I use MP (not that I would change)

VMC had a major flaw that made it unusable for the configuration I have here, ignoring that fact the DVB-S was not nativily supported (is it now?)

The flaw was that all tuners had to have the same channels and EPG...find if you only have one card but unusable if you run a sky STB and a DVB-T card as you were unable to assign channels/epg to an individual source.

I run 2 Sky STB's feeding into to a PVR-500 card, FireDTV card with CAM and 3200-s2 card....the Sky is main channel source (160+ channels mapped), the FireDTV has a subset of these channels and the 3200-s2 a subset of them.

MP is the only software I have come accross that allows me to map channels to sources (next to MythTV and thats a nightmare to get working 100%)

The upshot is that VMC would quiet happily try and ture to/record channels from sources which that channel was invalid - hence unusable - even talked to the developers about this and admited it was a little shortsighted of them., things may have changed.

What I will give VMC is stability, as great as MP is I still get at least one crash/lockup a d\ay for one reason or another.


Trevor

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

VMC had a major flaw that made it unusable for the configuration I have here, ignoring that fact the DVB-S was not nativily supported (is it now?)

Only if your OEM supports it .

What I will give VMC is stability, as great as MP is I still get at least one crash/lockup a d\ay for one reason or another.

Logs, most crashes i can get down to drivers\codecs, unless there is a known issue with a MP update (everyone shots themselves in the foot occasionally ).

The main reason for most people using Mediaportal, is still its configurability compared to MCE, this in some cases scares people away from it, as it can look so complicated, but not if you are conversant with using windows and its protocols.

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

As for screenshots, these are amongst the best reasons for using MP.