Options for OS + front-end for HTPC

strumpusplunket

strumpusplunket

strumpusplunket

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Thanks to the help of a number of OcUK forumites I've got my HTPC spec pretty much sorted (pending budget negotiations!)

I'm now trying to source and collect together the software I'll need to get it functioning in the most effective and user-friendly way possible. There seem to be a lot of options and my head is spinning from the various permutations.

Bearing in mind I want the system to do the following (in order of importance):
Stream music and video files over home network
Play DVDs
Play music CDs
Browse, watch, pause and rewind live digital TV
Provide EPG and PVR functionality
Access internet AV content (e.g. Spotify, LastFM, Youtube, Miro, etc.)
Allow web-browsing

The combinations I'm considering at the moment are:

1. Windows 7 Media Centre (and buying it in August), Media Portal, XBMC.
Using XBMC for browsing film collections, MP for playback and W7 MC features for PVR. Possible?

2. XP, Media Portal, XBMC

3. Linux media centre edition, XBMC

4. Ubuntu, MythTV, XBMC, Boxee

Which of these option would people recommend for good UI layout, ease of use, and functionality? And any others I should consider?
 
Ooh, media browser is another to add to the mix, then. Just Googled it and it looks nice. Thanks for the heads-up.

So you would say that combination would do on its own without extras like Media Portal and the others?

Would that combination work well for automatic playback of DVD and CD content? And would it provide an EPG for TV browsing?
 
Excellent!

So I could expect pretty seamless set-up, tuning and TV browsing/channel switching with the WinTV HVR 1300 I plan to buy?

Thanks for the responses. This project might just be nearing completion! :)
 
Ah, well, I had some difficulties with choosing a TV card.

Having started from knowing next to nothing about them, I was confused by the amount on the market. Reading reviews seemed to reveal a fair few ropey ones, and Hauppage looked to me like the most respected brand.

I chose the HVR 1300 because it was said to work reliably, and in both 64- and 32-bit operating systems (some Hauppage cards don't look like they work in 64-bit OSs).

But... as I really don't know TV cards very well, I'd be grateful for a better recommendation.

It should be one that will produce good, strong reception and be able to switch between channels rapidly. A hardware encoder would be a plus too. If there's better than the HVR 1300 for around £60 I'll swap that cards over in my plans.
 
Well there's the WinTV-NOVA-T-500 but I'm not sure if it has a hardware encoder. My gut feeling is that all of the Hauppage cards do. Their website doesn't mention that my HVR-4000 has it but I think it does.

There's also the WinTV-HVR-2200 MC but that's PCI-E so I don't know if that suits.
 
No, it being PCI-E isn't a problem. The mobo I will be getting has a x16 and a x1 PCI-E slot.

It's a bit on the expensive side, though. I'm already pushing my budget with my core components, and punting over £100 on a TV card is bit more than I can stretch to right now.

The WinTV Nova-T 500, though, looks to be available for around £50, which is cheaper than the HVR 1300, so that could be a good choice. It does have a hardware encoder by the looks of it, and it tends to get really good reviews as well. Seems I overlooked it for no reason - or at least for one I can't remember now...

Thanks for the tip. Looks like this is the card I'll need, then, and looking forward to teaming it up with 7MC and Media Browser.
 
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Vista/W7 + MediaPortal with StreamedMP skin works tremendously well with movies/music/tv series ....lots of control over codecs and configuration but with the impressive visuals found in XBMC.

can't speak for it's TV capture/replay values because i don't use that part of the engine.

i must say though VMC + Mediabrowser looks pretty impressive so that's definitely worth checking out - XBMC is solid but it just doesn't have enough control for me personally, i like to use external codecs etc and it's music playback section feels like a forgotten afterthought because it's pretty weak unless you want a basic player.
 
Cool. Thanks for the info. So many options.

Still, looks like I've narrowed it down to W7 MC (or VMC if I decide to get everything sorted before August or W7 is too expensive) and then having a play around with Media Portal, Media Browser and XBMC and seeing which set-up I like best.

I'm presuming also that LM Remote KeyMap will be the best thing to setup the MCE remote with any of these apps?

I am determined to get everything configured in the best-looking and most user-friendly way possible so that my wife is suitably impressed with what an HTPC can do!
 
Yeah, I'd heard that. What I was hoping to do was install Media Portal on W7 and setup my remote so that the button for TV watching/recording went straight to the W7 media centre TV browser, and that for media/file playback went into MP's menus.

Is that possible? Or would it be a simpler matter just to use the Media Browser plug-in in W7?
 
I'm using Media Browser on Win7 RC and it works like an absolute charm. I've tried Mediaportal and while being good for a free alternative, I've found Win7MC+MediaBrowser to be better. The only problem I've had is codec issues as Win7 comes with all its own codecs and getting it to use a 3rd party (such as FFDShow for Vobsub) can be a bit tricky. I'd give it a try though as it really is awesome.
 
Yeah, I reckon you're right that W7 MCE + Media Browser is a better combination. My only problem with it is the metadata scraping and manual metadata editing.

I've tried a whole bunch of metadata add-ons for 7MCE and Media Browser, but none of them allow the simple editing that MP offers. Plus, with the IMDB English-title preferred scraper MP was pulling at least 80-90% of even my most obscure foreign films correctly by itself - and it's a doddle to edit manually those it doesn't.

By contrast, Media Browser pulled maybe 20% of the metadata for my foreign films correctly, and it's far more fiddly to edit it myself.

So, yeah, that's the only reason I went with MP in the end. I agree that 7MCE is a better front-end in most other respects, but this issue was a total deal-breaker for me, unfortunately. :(

I'll await new developments with the Media Browser scrapers, though...
 
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