I currently use GBPVR to record TV shows from my PVR500, and a D-link DSM-520 to watch the shows on our TV (wired ethernet connection). This generally works fine, except fast forward and rewind don't work at all, and there's no way to delete a show after I've watched it other than go to the PC in the other room.
So, I'm thinking of switching to a Media MVP, but I have a few questions:
1. How is the video quality of the MediaMVP? Just standard TV, not HD or widescreen.
2. Do the audio and video remain in sync, even with long movies?
3. Do pause, fast forward, and rewind actually work? Any weird problems?
4. Can I delete shows I've watched from the MediaMVP?
5. The DSM-520 requires navigating through multiple screens to watch the shows I want ("My Media", "Video", "My Video", "Folders", "Video", and finally the list of videos). The "Video" button on the remote only skips the first screen, not very helpful. Does the MediaMVP allow easier access to the show list?
I have no interest in viewing pictures, music, live TV, or DVD files. I just want to watch MPEG2 shows I've recorded on my PC.
What advantages/disadvantages does GBPVR provide compared to the Hauppauge server?
Thanks!
Anthony
You could find any answers with a quick search. There must be 100s of comments about MVP's. Here are mine.
Anthony Wrote:So, I'm thinking of switching to a Media MVP, but I have a few questions:
1. How is the video quality of the MediaMVP? Just standard TV, not HD or widescreen.
SD video quality is great. I find the tv picture is better on my MVP than my PC connected to the TV. It's designed for that and it does a great job.
Anthony Wrote:2. Do the audio and video remain in sync, even with long movies?
I have never noticed a sync problem unless I was watching a low res mpeg1. And that was most likely a bad file.
Anthony Wrote:3. Do pause, fast forward, and rewind actually work? Any weird problems?
FF and REW work well. Not perfect. Sometimes If I FF then stop, then FF again and again then try to play it keeps going on FF. I acutally like the short skip better its faster and doesn't confuse the MVP.
Anthony Wrote:4. Can I delete shows I've watched from the MediaMVP?
If you can do it in GBPVR you can do it on the MVP. (except DVD's, unless you rip them to MPG first). You get the same GBPVR menu you see on the computer with only a few plugin restrictions. DVD being one of them.
Anthony Wrote:5. The DSM-520 requires navigating through multiple screens to watch the shows I want ("My Media", "Video", "My Video", "Folders", "Video", and finally the list of videos). The "Video" button on the remote only skips the first screen, not very helpful. Does the MediaMVP allow easier access to the show list?
As I said above its as easy as GBPVR itself. Depending on your video plugin's you can make it more or less complicated. If you trying to playback stuf actually recorded with GBPvr your all set. Just go to "Recordings". If you looking for other videos you just need to pick a video plugin and set up your video folders.
Anthony Wrote:I have no interest in viewing pictures, music, live TV, or DVD files. I just want to watch MPEG2 shows I've recorded on my PC.
That's what it does best.
Anthony Wrote:What advantages/disadvantages does GBPVR provide compared to the Hauppauge server?
Use GBPVR as I said above you get all the GBPVR features and the full GBPVR interface. You cant beat it.
A_Brass,
Thanks for answering my questions. I appreciate the feedback!
Tipstir,
> buy the Media MVP and try it out for yourself?
I just put one on order... I was originally going to buy the MediaMVP a few months ago, but no one had them in stock. I didn't want to take a risk with a discontinued product, so I went with the DSM-520 instead. I've mostly been happy with that decision, but there are enough glitches that I'm giving the MediaMVP another chance. Thankfully, it's widely available now.
Anthony
One small word of warning about the MVP. Probably best to stick to the dongle.bin provided with GB-PVR. Most of the dongle.bins I've tried have been iffy in some respect - Hauppauge make good hardware but are pretty useless at writing drivers.
You also may find the video on your MVP to be a little dark depending on what revision you get.
Having said that I find that the video quality is very good and motion is very smooth and much better than most TV-outs on graphics cards.
I got my Media MVP yesterday (Revision H2) and installed it easily.
The Good: Menu's were easy to use, fast forward and rewind worked well, the skip functions were handy to bypass commercials, and it seemed very stable overall.
The Bad: Video quality is terrible. The picture is really dark and the colors are overly saturated, especially the reds. I know it's not an issue with my TV, MPG files, or cables, because I simply swapped out my DSM-520 which has a beautiful picture. After a little research, I find that this is a common problem for many users, and there's no easy fix.
So, I will be returning my Media MVP tomorrow afternoon. Unfortunate, but I'd rather sit through commercials with the DSM-520 than suffer the terrible video of the Media MVP.
Anthony