GB-PVR Over Windows Media Center

[niclarke]

Hi,

Just a little question before I jump into the world of PVR

Seeing as I would have to buy a copy of windows to run GB-PVR why would I chose this insted of buying a copy of windows media center?

Currently I'm thinking of getting freeview (UK) and sat running on the same box. Wether this is via pci cards or by using the settop boxes I don't know yet. Would like the option to watch and record on both (which I think will be 2 card for each).

Thanks in advance,
Nick

[bgowland]

Personally, from what I saw when I briefly looked at MCE, it just looked like a more expensive version of XP with a few bells and whistles that MS will probably build into future versions of Windows anyway. It's also tied in heavily with the MS mind-set - the MS ethos being that if it isn't WMA, WMV or DVR-MS then it isn't multimedia. If you're the sort of person who likes walking into PC World and buying 'off the shelf' then you're the sort of customer that MS wants to be using MCE...

...on the other hand, if you want something independent of MS, has potentially endless possibilities through skin, plug-ins and utilities, GB-PVR is the way to go. You may need to do a bit of tinkering to get things how you want them but that's true of anything to do with computers.

You mention 4 tuners - I might be wrong but doesn't MCE have a 2 tuner limit? Or did they up that? GB-PVR will happily support 4 tuners - just make sure you get ones that have been tried and tested by other users rather than something cheap'n'cheerful that looked like a good deal.

Just my two penn'oth.

Acually one more thing (not MCE or GB-PVR related) - as you're in the UK, if you're in no hurry to set this up you might want to hang on to see what happens with the new BBC/ITV satellite project which they're supposed to be launching early 2006. The idea is that it's 'free-to-air' and one reason for its launch is to ensure digital coverage for the whole of the UK when they eventually switch off analogue. This might dictate the sort of tuner cards you buy.

Cheers,
Brian

[capone]

Just buy the MCE, and if/when you don't like it, GB is free and there to pick up the pieces for you.

[niclarke]

Thanks for your replies.

I must admit I'm liking the idea more of using GB-PVR for the reseaons that you state.

I have also found some non-features of Windows Media Center:
[INDENT]

• Can't be assigned to a domain
  
• Max 2 TV cards

[/INDENT]Wether this is the new 2005 version or not I have yet to find out.

bgowland: Thanks for the tip on the BBC/ITV project. I will see if I can find out some info on the web about this and maybe some time frame.

As long as Window Media Center does not limit the hardware/setup as it is looking (need to look around a bit more) I will take this route as capone suggests, as then I have both options.

Cheers,
Nick

[zed]

Another big (to me, anyway) plus of GB-PVR is its support of the MVP box. MCE will support 'extenders' but they're lots more expensive than the MVP (and GB-PVR did it long before MCE).

Yet another plus is the support (this forum). Try to get support like this for MCE.

As someone else mentioned, MCE is really just XP with the MCE bits added in. You can still run GB-PVR on an MCE machine, you just gotta turn off the MCE services that grab the tuner(s). Get MCE and try it and then, when you get fed up with it, load GB-PVR.

[herbs]

I have also found some non-features of Windows Media Center:
[INDENT]

• Can't be assigned to a domain
  
• Max 2 TV cards

[/INDENT]Wether this is the new 2005 version or not I have yet to find out.

Nick

You can have more than 2 tuners in MCE but you need to goto the registry to bypass this, also my understanding is that they need to be the same type though i.e dvb-t or analogue but you will need to check this out.
Also I remember reading somewhere you can get it to join a domian again with a hack. But to be truthful why goto all this hassle as gbpvr does a this and is a rather fine piece of software.