[mythtv-users] MythTV vs. Windows Media Center

[Reynolds, Brian]

________________________________

From: mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org on behalf of Michael T. Dean
Sent: Sat 2/12/2011 7:39 PM
To: Discussion about MythTV
Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] MythTV vs. Windows Media Center



On 02/12/2011 05:15 PM, Reynolds, Brian wrote:
> > IMHO, people who want a cheap DVR should go with the
> > cable-/satellite-company-provided DVR. People who want a DVR with a
> > good user-interface and a plug-and-play-and-forget system should go
> > with a TiVo. People who want to be able to tinker a bit should go
> > with Windows MCE. People who are looking for a hobby and a chance
> > to learn--and a great DVR, but at a time and money cost greater than
> > most other DVR solutions--should consider MythTV.
> >
> Mike,
>
> You've done a good job of putting my thoughts into words here.  I do see
> the learning opportunity here, and I love to learn new things.  However,
> with my current situation, I don't know if I have enough time to mess
> with the thing in the long term.  That's actually part of why I'm
> leaning toward Win MCE.  I'm sure it will take some time to setup
> initially, but once setup... I can just leave it alone and it will work.
>
> I don't think the TiVo offers what I want.  The MCE solution gives me
> MOST of what I want.  The Myth solution does too, with some added
> complexity.
>
> I'm still open to fact that I don't know a lot about any of them... and
> I welcome input from others with experience... especially those who can
> give me un-biased opinions... and I can't get un-biased opinions from MS
> haters.  However, I will still consider information you present to me,
> even if you're one of those haters.

This is not meant to be any kind of statement about you or your
abilities, but based on what I've seen in this thread, I think you will
be much happier with Windows MCE, because:

a)  You have a lot of experience with Windows in general.
b)  You seem to enjoy working in Windows and making it do what you want.
c)  And, most importantly, you want to do things that are impossible
with GNU/Linux--things like recording premium channels using CableCARD
(no cable-company set-top-box rental) and NetFlix streaming (which we
can't do because the NetFlix DRM is Windows/Mac OS X).

So, I really think you'd be happiest with Windows MCE, since on that
Windows MCE system, you could use the CableCARD and NetFlix streaming
and all the other things that service providers and vendors support only
on Windows or Mac OS X.

In other words, I think you want something that GNU/Linux and MythTV
cannot provide.

Mike
_______________________________________________


Mike,

Sorry that this message doesn't have ">" characters in front of previous messages... I'm using the WebMail client... and it doesn't appear to have that option.

 

I tend to agree with you.  However, I am not 100% decided yet... so I still appreciate hearing from you guys about features I haven't considered.  As well as tips, tricks, pitfalls, and other stuff to make it easier to use Myth.  I still plan to play with both of them... probably next weekend when I don't have any kids around.

 

I just read that Windows exposes some name spaces that I can use to write my own code to interact with the EPG and to schedule recordings.  So, if the already-available (free) software doesn't do what I want to do, I can always setup my own webserver, Windows program, or even an automated Windows Script to do whatever is possible in those name spaces.  It appears that I could use these built-in API's to search, sort, schedule, or whatever.  I could even write a program/script to schedule programs based on rules like Myth... if that's not already available in somone else's program.

 

Basically, the only thing I'm missing in MCE is the ability to have some ATSC tuners hooked up to my cable... and other ATSC tuners hooked up to an antenna.  However, if I MUST have that feature, I could run two virtual machines... one with cable-connected tuners and the other with antenna-connected tuners.  Even if I can't define which PCIe card is accessible from each virtual machine, I can use Windows to disable the un-used Cable cards on VM1 and disable the un-used OTA cards on VM2 so there will be no conflicts.  They could both share the same storage space, which means that the un-encrypted OTA content from VM2 would be available for playback in VM1.  This is kind of a kludge, but OTA tuners isn't a must-have for me.  I could live with what the cable company supplies... even though those are compressed and therefore don't deliver the full resolution available on OTA tuners.  Again, I'll have to play with these options.

 

I already have an NTSC card that will allow me to test the analog cable channels in Win MCE (it's an ATI card).  I'll probably be going out to buy some ATSC/NTSC/ClearQAM tuners in the very near future so I can test both platforms with those.

 

Brian

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