The Dark Corner (I'm using other media centre software!)

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holidayboy

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The Dark Corner (I'm using other media centre software!)

#1

Post by holidayboy » Sun Aug 10, 2014 1:58 pm

OK, I can't stand the guilt any longer.....

I'm currently trying out MediaPortal as a possible replacement for Media Center in our house! :thumbdown:

I have it running on my main HTPC box and have also set up several "extender" PC's and laptops, plus I use it on my Nexus 7 tablet via an app.

It's been doing all TV recording for 2 days now and I'm amazed at how well we've adjusted to the new setup.

Obviously I'm keeping Media Center as well for now (we are watching any TV recorded by 7MC using 7MC as it's just easier that way) and will go back to it at the first sign of stability / missed recordings. If it's less stable for us out of the box than 7MC then it'll have to go.

I honestly don't know if we'll be going back to using MC as our main HTPC software, but I don't plan on abandoning this great place either way :mrgreen:

I'm glad I got that out in the open, it felt like a dirty secret :lol: !
Rob.

TGB.tv - the one stop shop for the more discerning Media Center user.

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spanner

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#2

Post by spanner » Sun Aug 10, 2014 4:32 pm

This sounds like a great test. Would love to here how it goes. Am I right that this won't work for cable card tuners?

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Crash2009

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#3

Post by Crash2009 » Sun Aug 10, 2014 4:41 pm


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CyberSimian

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#4

Post by CyberSimian » Sun Aug 10, 2014 5:19 pm

holidayboy wrote:I'm currently trying out MediaPortal as a possible replacement for Media Center
Me too! (I have actually been playing with it on and off for over a year.)

What skin are you using? I place great emphasis on legibility, which is why I was less than impressed with the re-designed panels in Win7 MC (compared to Vista MC). An MP skin that gives very good legibility is "aMPed".

For WMC users, another factor is the EPG and the recording options for filtering which programmes are actually recorded. DVB-T has the broadcast EPG, which is always present, even for HD/new/minor channels. But it contains less information than the Microsoft downloaded EPG (e.g. no "Repeat" flag). But I think that you primarily use satellite? I would be interested in hearing about the EPG solution you adopt in the fullness of time.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

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holidayboy

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#5

Post by holidayboy » Sun Aug 10, 2014 5:22 pm

spanner wrote:This sounds like a great test. Would love to here how it goes. Am I right that this won't work for cable card tuners?
It certainly can't deal with CableCARD stuff, I haven't checked if ATSC etc is covered.....
Rob.

TGB.tv - the one stop shop for the more discerning Media Center user.

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holidayboy

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#6

Post by holidayboy » Sun Aug 10, 2014 5:23 pm

Crash2009 wrote:You heretek

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Heretek
:oops: :D
Rob.

TGB.tv - the one stop shop for the more discerning Media Center user.

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holidayboy

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#7

Post by holidayboy » Sun Aug 10, 2014 5:39 pm

CyberSimian wrote:
holidayboy wrote:I'm currently trying out MediaPortal as a possible replacement for Media Center
Me too! (I have actually been playing with it on and off for over a year.)

What skin are you using? I place great emphasis on legibility, which is why I was less than impressed with the re-designed panels in Win7 MC (compared to Vista MC). An MP skin that gives very good legibility is "aMPed".

For WMC users, another factor is the EPG and the recording options for filtering which programmes are actually recorded. DVB-T has the broadcast EPG, which is always present, even for HD/new/minor channels. But it contains less information than the Microsoft downloaded EPG (e.g. no "Repeat" flag). But I think that you primarily use satellite? I would be interested in hearing about the EPG solution you adopt in the fullness of time.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK
I'm just using the default skin that came with the latest 1.8 build at the moment, it was really a quick set it up out of the box and see what it can do experiment to begin with!

I'm still using 2x DVB-T2 tuners and 3 DVB-S2 tuners, but in theory I can now record multiple channels on a transponder using a single tuner (I haven't actually tested the theory yet).

I'm actually using the mc2xml program to grab the MS guide data and create a tvguide.xml file that gets imported every time it changes (I have the donator version that can access the latest MS guide data, rather than the legacy one), I've not even looked at the DVB EPG grabbing functions yet.

I know that there is a plugin that will monitor satellite transponders etc and watch for moving channels, as well as grabbing Sky or Freesat data - that's for another day though!

I'm sad to be (possibly) moving away from MC on a day to day basis, but at the end of the day, if there's a better option (for us at least) out there, it's silly to ignore it.

One thing that does get boring is setting up the video and music libraries on each machine separately! The TV setup is great being a true server/client one though.
Rob.

TGB.tv - the one stop shop for the more discerning Media Center user.

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