Why not EPG123?

[adam1991]

I admit, I resisted for a long time--generally because the Rovi guide data always came through enough for me. Plus, my many years of experience told me to wait until something like EPG123 had some time under its belt. As well, I didn't want to set everything up again.

But last year's Rovi issue, where it came down to pretty much the last day, made me switch. All is well.

I see that between the time change and the Thanksgiving holidays, MS's guide has yet again crapped the bed pretty seriously.

I have to imagine everyone over there knows about EPG123 by now; what makes people continue to deal with the MS guide like that? Any insights?

[choliscott]

IMO, there are 2 overall answers, too lazy and/or too cheap/can't afford it.

I've asked the same question and the general response I got was "it would take too long to set up". I have done multiple setups with EPG123, and the whole process took an hour at the most, including selecting the channels, I wanted to include and removing the duplicate channels from the channel guide (Xfinity)

I say cheap because people don't want to spend the $25 per year, but have no problem with buying cigarettes or buying $6 coffee on an almost daily basis

[garyan2]

IMO, there are 2 overall answers, too lazy and/or too cheap/can't afford it.

I wouldn't go so far as to attribute it to either lazy or cheap. I think it has more to do with stubbornness. We used to have a good guide provided by Microsoft free of charge and some expect that to last forever. They are still getting a free guide, but boy is it in shambles even after 3 1/2 years. So I think a majority of those that haven't moved over to an alternative would rather scream at the heavens insisting MS fix it than to actually take control of their own destiny and wellbeing.

Also, there is still quite a bit of misinformation out there as to how difficult it is to setup WMC with EPG123. I've tried to handle most of those concerns and make it as automated as I can, but there is still some trepidation about messing with WMC. So I guess there is a little fear as well.
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[adam1991]

I say cheap because people don't want to spend the $25 per year, but have no problem with buying cigarettes or buying $6 coffee on an almost daily basis

yeah, that "but it's $25/year!" thing always stuns me, for the same reasons.

Some people hang on to that "but MS promised it was free" thing way, way too tightly.

[adam1991]

I had the fear thing to, to some degree. But it was more around having to set everything back up again.

When I did it, I was on OTA programming. I imagine if I had hundreds of channels to worry about, maybe I'd be a little more stubborn.

In the end, I simply took screen shots of my series recordings and set them back up again. Yes, it took some time.

[adam1991]

sigh...

viewtopic.php?p=129208#p129208

[garyan2]

sigh...

viewtopic.php?p=129208#p129208

Yah, I saw that too.

[bros]

For this I would have to re-set my series recordings, right?

if so maybe i'll do it around christmas

[garyan2]

For this I would have to re-set my series recordings, right?

if so maybe i'll do it around christmas

Yes, but I created the Transfer Tool to make that task much easier. On the epg123 website, go to the 'Install' page and watch the video at around the 5:45 mark. You will see me open a backup of the Rovi series recordings then convert and transfer them back into WMC with the new IDs. The left side is the backup file and the right side is the recording requests in WMC.

The video is pretty dated and there have been quite a few improvements in the installation method since v1.1.19, but the basics are the same.

[Scallica]

viewtopic.php?f=99&t=11581

[dugepg793]

When it comes to WMC, the best thing that ever happened was Gary's EPG123. Since I switched in July 2017, my guide issues have essentially disappeared. Plus all the tweaking options he added made WMC rock. OT but still deserves good mention, 2nd place goes to Mike W10MC's ModernUI+ project. Gary made it work, Mike made it pretty.

[garyan2]

When it comes to WMC, the best thing that ever happened was Gary's EPG123. Since I switched in July 2017, my guide issues have essentially disappeared. Plus all the tweaking options he added made WMC rock. OT but still deserves good mention, 2nd place goes to Mike W10MC's ModernUI+ project. Gary made it work, Mike made it pretty.

Thanks. This reminds me of the best compliment, in my mind, EPG123 has gotten was when a user notified me that the guide suddenly stopped updating . It didn't stop updating because something was wrong, it stopped updating because it was so reliable that he forgot he needed to renew his membership to Schedules Direct in order to continue getting the updates. The ultimate goal is to provide something that is so reliable and accurate you can forget you even have it.

And I second what Mike has done with UI+... definitely pretty.

[sorahl]

I"m just like dupepg793.. i switch over last year and haven't regretted it for an instant. happy to contribute $25 yearly and when ever i have an issue (invariably USER error..) Gary is right there helping. Seriously.. when was MIcrosoft EVER there helping with a WMC issue???
now... if only one of you had beat me over the head with a couple SD Cable card tuners last year i'd be sitting pretty!!

[CoteRotie]

But last year's Rovi issue, where it came down to pretty much the last day, made me switch. All is well.

That's what made me switch too. Setup was easy, and I have never had an issue where I needed support, it just works. I do wish Schedules Direct had an auto-renew option so I wouldn't have to worry about getting into the situation where I forget to renew, but they do send you a reminder email. Not too bad if it doesn't end up in your SPAM folder.