Why i no longer use MP (1 Viewer)

[alexodwyer]

So I have been using MP for around a year and a half and my mediacentre died last week, so after re installing windows i though I might check out other media centre software, in doing so I noticed XBMC had been ported to windows. So having used XBMC on my xbox I thought i would give it a shot before putting MP back on..............i didn't remove XBMC.

From my own personal point of view here's why I made the choice, I know my situation doesn't reflect everyones.

1) Ease of installation, XBMC installs and is done. I found MP to be a delicate juggling act of codecs, vobsub, halli, and various other 3rd party apps, to get subtitles, mutli audio track videos etc to work.

2) XBMC is configured directly from the the menu, no second configuration app, which means I can do all my set up off my remote on my couch. No more sitting on the floor 1 foot away from the tv with a mouse in my hand. With the exception of the fiddly network shares etc which are done out of XML.

3) XBMC is much more stable.

4) XBMC is much, much, much faster, in both loading, playing files and dealing with large video collections.

5) XBMC, project mayhem UI is much friendlier than any i have found on MP, including the PM3 port.

6) My girlfriend can use it without a lesson in do's and dont's. I never have to say ohhh yeah that happened cos you clicked on that button there.

7) Consistency between my media extenders, now my living room media centre (PC) and my bedroom one (XBOX) have the same UI.

There are other reasons, but these were standout in my opinion.


Things I dislike about XBMC that MP does better

1) Obviously TV support, I was planning to get a tv card and get set up, but since I haven't done it i can live without it.

2) MP is more versatile in what you can do with it, it offers better editing of the libraries. Better managment of codecs etc. You have control over all the fiddly bits.

3) No remote support whatsoever in XBMC. Ironically I had to get IR suite to get the remote going in XBMC. MP has remote support out of the bag.

4) Any external setup you might need to do in XBMC is done using xml files...URGHHHHHH


I hope this post didn't seem like me slamming MP, I do like MP a lot. Its just XBMC is far less work to keep running, I think MP's biggest problem is that it has two personalities, on one side its a couch friendly media centre. On the other side its a pc app you need a mouse and keyboard for, which totally defeats the software's purpose.

I have high hopes for MP2, if my dreams are realised it will be an app with the smoothness and slickness XBMC has now, with tv support and and advanced user mode for diving into the guts and doing things my own way. I hope it happens and I wish MP all the luck in the world.

 

[xanadu1979]

I used to have a modded xbox with xbmc and loved it. But I bought a HTPC and use Mediaportal because I wanted to play HD content.

I was really excited about xbmc for Windows and have been keeping up with its progress. It appears to be fairly stable now (finally), but I'm still reading that the built-in h.264 decoder isn't nearly as good as the Cyberlink or CoreAVC decoders. Some people report that even with a quad-core they can't get really high quality movies to play without dropped frames while the Cyberlink decoder will play them with hardly any CPU usage at all.

The devs say that the people who work on the h.264 decoder are working on some major improvements, but we probably won't see the fruits of that labor until next year at the earliest.

Like I said, I love xbmc. I think the application has one of the best GUI designs of any app I have ever used. It is so powerful and easy to use at the same time. Like the OP, my girlfriend could use xbmc with no problem but can't use MP the same way. As soon as the HD codecs are up to speed I will be switching immediately. I don't have a TV card so I don't care about TV support.

 

[alexodwyer]

I cant really speak to HD content, the way i see it is DVD quality is pretty damn good as it is !!!

I remember trying to play some highres (not even hd) stuff on my xbox and it was rubbish!!! In any case I can totally see XBMC falling over a bit in that area.

So another plus to MP crowd

 

[Spragleknas]

MediaPortal is a XBMC-port

History

MediaPortal's roots lie in the XBox Media Center (XBMC) project which goal was to build a media center application for the Microsoft XBox gaming console. The founder of XBMC, Erwin Beckers (also known as Frodo) concluded early in the XBMC project that there were notable limitations to the xbox platform, mainly that it is unable to support TV cards. XBox Platform limitations like these would ultimately hinder the vision of a feature rich media center application.

In February 2004, Erwin left the Xbox Media Center project to start a new project, now known as MediaPortal that would run on the Microsoft Windows platform. Initially existing code was re-used from the XBMC project but after several releases and innumerable feature enhancements there has been almost a complete re-design.

Source: MEDIAPORTAL - free MediaCenter HTPC Software - About MediaPortal

 

[xanadu1979]

MediaPortal is a XBMC-port

I knew that. It doesn't make MediaPortal better.

I don't mean any disrespect to the devs. I use MediaPortal almost every day and I'm very grateful for it. But if you don't care about TV cards, xbmc is hands down the best media center on the planet. The first time I fired it up on my old xbox was like a new beginning in my life. I didn't know that a program could be so beautiful and powerful.

MediaPortal is getting better but it isn't quite there yet. Xbmc for Linux/Windows/Mac seems to be progressing pretty quickly so I think it's only a matter of time before I switch to it.

 

[geov]

For me MP has no instability problems, whereas with XBMC I found a lot of instability in the past...including slow response in some areas....but then again I have not used XBMC in 6months so a lot could have changed. As for my wife, well a few weeks ago my hard-drive packed up and she was bugging me every day to get MP up and running again because she could not record her TV-Shows or Listen to music or show her friends photos etc. She loves it and I'm not allowed to tuch the remote because in her words "You dont know what you are doing, let me show you how to operate MP properly"...she should be a "Tester" because she does stuff with MP that I never knew was possible...and she has not been able to find a bug since "RC1"....

 

[FlipGer]

Hi,

I like your post very much. Its always good to think outside the own box. You gave detailed pros and cons. Be sure, that we will try to take care of these issues with MP2. There are much discussions about GUI and usability. We always collect good examples, to get influence on the MP project. Be sure that we will keep an eye on XBMC.

Flip.

 

[infinite.loop]

alexodwyer
good luck with XMBC, ist definitly a good HTPC application

@everyone else
keep this thread here nice and polite. as soon as i see flaming going on i will close it in an instant!

 

[alexodwyer]

But if you don't care about TV cards, xbmc is hands down the best media center on the planet.

I think this issue is what might lead to a divide in opinions, i can totally see that if I was using TV I would never even have made this post.

@alexodwyer
good luck with XMBC, ist definitly a good HTPC application

@everyone else
keep this thread here nice and polite. as soon as i see flaming going on i will close it in an instant!

Cheers mate, as i said i have a fondness for MP which i never got from using XBMC. So once i see the same level of polish in MP2 i could almost guarantee a switch back, especially as TV is something I do want to do at some point. Now, if XBMC gets TV support in the mean time, it might be a close competition indeed. Who knows, but be sure i will still be paying close attention to MP2.

And guys please no flaming, that would destroy the point of the thread. It would be great if we could use this to look at MP in comparison to other apps and what MP2 needs to do to end up ahead.

Ultimately i think MP2's future success lies in simplicity, make it feature rich without overburdening it with excessive options, which would make it more accessible to a wider range of people.

 

[rekenaar]

I have seen some pages mentioning that XBMC can now use MP TVServer. Have not tested it though.

I tested XBMC and decided that I will stay wil MP. I just felt more in control regarding the way I want my HTPC to look and feel.

But I think it is great that we have these choices and obviously taste differ.