Will Media Portal meet my requirements? (1 Viewer)

[jpcoh1]

I have been 15 years with WMC in Windows 7 but clearly need to upgrade. I believe that MP might meet my needs. Before I invest a lot of time and effort in trying to install MP, could anyone advise whether what I want to achieve is possible.

• I wish to operate within Windows 10 for my server.
• I have 2 dual tuner DVB-T/T2 cards (Hauppage and TBS) and 1 DVB-S card installed on my PC
• I wish to be able to watch, record and playback TV broadcast programmes
• I have a library of recorded TV programmes in .wtv and .dvr-ms which I would still like to watch
• I have 2 XBox360 units in separate rooms on my home network which were operating as WMC extenders, each connected to a separate screen
• I would like to be able to have a client service on these or other devices which will enable me to watch live or prerecorded programmes in the separate rooms
• I would like to be able to control MP from these clients to, for example, change channels and schedule new recordings
• I would like to be able to receive BBC Sounds, iPlayer or similar services on the server PC but watch/listen to them via the clients
• I do have an Android phone which might perhaps be usable to run the client part of MP

I appreciate that the list is long, but it would be most appreciated if I know, before starting, that my needs can be met by MP.
Many thanks in advance

 

[ajs]

Look - Migrating from WMC maybe help

 

[jpcoh1]

Thanks for your swift response, ajs. I have reviewed that thread and it does answer a few of my questions. However, nowhere do I find anything about the client side of MP and remote controlling the server through the client. This is one of WMC's principal benefits from my perspective. Has this been covered elsewhere or do you have a couple of specific answers for me please?

 

[ajs]

MP1 not have Server part, Only TVServer, MP2 have Server part and TV Server ... different approaches and implementations ... But as far as I know, management from third-party applications and platforms does not work in MP. But I'm not sure. Can someone tell me who knows more about this.

 

[CyberSimian]

I have been 15 years with WMC in Windows 7 but clearly need to upgrade.

I don't think that it is clear that you need to upgrade .

I used WMC for six years, and have been using MP1 for another six years. I migrated from WMC to MP because it offered more of what I wanted, and less of what I didn't want. But if you are comfortable with WMC, the obvious choice is to stay with WMC on Windows 7.

The only problem now is the lack of the Microsoft-provided EPG, but there is an excellent replacement in the form of "Schedules Direct" (they reside in the USA, but they offer a UK EPG), combined with the "EPG123" tool which is brilliantly supported by its author. Although this tool is notionally free, you should consider it to be "donation ware". See this forum.

The only disadvantage is that "Schedules Direct" is not free -- it costs around £25 per year (peanuts, really; buying the "Radio Times" every week would cost you more).

I will answer below the questions where I think that the answer may be unfavourable:

(1) WTV and DVR-MS files: MP1 can play these files, but will not display any metadata (such as the programme description). You would need to use some other tool to generate metadata files in the form that MP1 expects.

MP2 may be able to display metadata from WTV and DVR-MS files, but it will need an MP2 expert to comment.

(2) Xbox360 extenders: if you can install Windows on an Xbox360, you should be able to run the MP client application. If you cannot install Windows, then the Xbox360s are unusable as MP clients.

(3) BBC Sounds and iPlayer: MP1 has (I think) plugins that may be able to play these, but as I have not used them I cannot comment further. I don't know about MP2.

(4) Android phone: I have a recollection that there was an MP something that ran on an Android phone, but it may not have been a client -- it may simply have been a control program (e.g. to schedule a recording remotely via the phone). You would need to investigate that further to find out exactly what it does.

Two further points:

• Finding suitable media-center software is not about finding the best, it is about finding the least worst, i.e. there will be things that you dislike about every single media-center application in existence.
• You need to try a prospective media-center application seriously (i.e. as your only media-center application) for 2-3 weeks in order to decide whether its good points outweigh its bad points.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK