NextPVR

[mark1234]

I'd not heard of this before, so thought I'd share: NextPVR.

Obviously no cable card for our American cousins, but it looks a decent PVR option otherwise. The ability to record multiple channels from one tuner's stream is a definite winner, and one of the few things I think would actually improve 7MC.

http://www.nextpvr.com/

[holidayboy]

Looks interesting.

I think that DVBLink will eventually add the ability to record several streams from one tuner, it would be great if MC handled it natively though.

[lovemyram4x4]

I'm currently setting it a server/client setup w/ my Ceton on NPVR.

[gpatlanta]

This used to be called GB-PVR, its been around for a while, but glad they are still working on it, i have looked around a few times and checked this out and never liked the interface when i have.

[mark1234]

I think that DVBLink will eventually add the ability to record several streams from one tuner, it would be great if MC handled it natively though.

If anyone can, DVB Logic can. But I can see some practical issues with this. Media Centre just isn't geared up to handle the variable number of tuners that this feature would imply. The automatic conflict resolution would go to hell, and that's one of the best things with Media Centre at the moment.

There are user issues as well in that explaining to my wife/kids why they can record channels A, B and C but not D, yet another time they could record channels B, C, D and E would be a painful experience. I haven't memorised what channels live together on which mux; Have you? There is a simplicity to one tuner=one channel, and to be fair to them I can see this being one of the reasons why MS haven't built (and won't build) this feature into Media Centre. To work reliably you would need to have a physical tuner for each mux.

[Fleadh]

had a look at this over the weekend and the user interface is horrible. Its a shame really If they could get a plugin for XBMC to interface with the server part they'd be onto a winner.

[lovemyram4x4]

had a look at this over the weekend and the user interface is horrible. Its a shame really If they could get a plugin for XBMC to interface with the server part they'd be onto a winner.

The UI does have different skins, but non are much for eye candy. Aside from the UI, I wasn't to happy the video library(I haven't tried any of the available library plugins yet) w/ my large movie collection I was really missing the sort by added I have My Movies set as default(since we're more likely to watch something recently added), I know NPVR has sort options for recorded TV but I have found anything for the other libraries, hopefully one of the other plugins is better or someone will make a My Movies plugin for NPVR like they did for SageTV. It has a really nice guide, I think it's actually better than the one in 7MC, though it's missing cover art for the shows in the info plain(maybe possible to add as I'm still new w/ NPVR) it's much easier to customize it's size, it also allows you set how min it covers(one of the things that makes 7MC guide so good is it has 120min, you can set NPVR to have more, on my installs it was defaulted at 180min) transparency of the guide is better than 7MC and no 3rd party apps are needed for channel logos(though being a MC user form the start I have all that stuff already). PC clients work great, I haven't tried any extenders as I don't any support devices that can be ran as NPVR extenders and don't plan to buy any until I decide NPVR is something I'm going to use. I'm not sure how well tuning multiple streams on a single tuner works as that's something not available to me to test.

[Beerman]

I'm a bit late to this thread but thought I should post my thoughts. I've been using this (along side of MC) since 2006. And, it has really changed a lot since then (what hasn't). I have a number of systems I record and I use NPVR to back up my local QAM channels for recording from the major networks. It's simple and just works and, sub and the crew on the forum are some of the most helpful folks around. It's free (I donate $25 a year) and he will try to accommodate new ideas wherever possible.
Some new users are out since Sage is no longer Sage and it has brought in some new ideas which may be seen in future versions. One thing that has happened is that by using some of what SageDCT offerend, user mvallerand has made it possible to use the Ceton tuners in NPVR. Of course, only copy freely works and it's a bit slower than MC but it's a great start.
All in all, having watched it grow, I am a bit biased but it's been a workhouse for me for 5 years.

[soccerdad]

I also am a longterm gbpvr/npvr user. It has grown and become much better over the years. It is programmed by one guy, and that is amazing considering the recent changes to HD and digital tuners. AND, he supports standards all over the world. That said, I am now starting to use WMC7 since it is the only thing that can use a cablecard on copy flagged programs. The WMC interface is pretty nice, but for any advanced items, it is not so friendly. NPVR has the earlier mentioned multi-record, and using the same technology, it can do back to back recordings on the same channel, with padding on both ends of each show, on ONE tuner. Really slick. It also is great to be able to ask the developer why something does not work, or ask for a feature that would make the system better. It really is pretty easy to use, but not lots of eye candy. Config is flexible and troubleshooting is a lot easier since it is so much more open. At the moment I am using both, and trying to find some middle ground. I have to say WMC is growing on me. If I can get the DCR-2650 on it, it might be a keeper for me.