Best GBPvr remote solution.

[ubu]

BTW - the problems of the A/V transmitter/receiver interfering with WLAN devices only applies to those using 2.4 gHz RF. Although these are the most widely available, you can also get 5.8 gHz ones which don't interfere with anything, give better range and a much higher quality video signal.

I use one from RF-Link which gives very acceptable, trouble-free results despite transmitting through a wall and a ceiling (both wood-framed sheetrock with lots of insulating material). It includes an IR passthrough for your remote control which works fine for GB-PVR with my Hauppauge remote. You can get them for around $100. The advantage over MVP is that you get a full featured GB-PVR setup at the remote location.

Of course, if you really want different content at the remote location, then the GB-PVR client/server set up seems the right choice. For me, it's the "I really want to go to bed but I also want to watch the end of this show" problem, so the RF-Link fills the bill nicely.

[wtg]

BTW - the problems of the A/V transmitter/receiver interfering with WLAN devices only applies to those using 2.4 gHz RF. Although these are the most widely available, you can also get 5.8 gHz ones which don't interfere with anything, give better range and a much higher quality video signal.

Mostly... 802.11a (54a) uses the 5.8 GHz band, but anyone using 54a probably already knows enough to not get a 5.8 GHz phone. Of course, that doesn't keep your neighbor from getting one. =)

I use one from RF-Link which gives very acceptable, trouble-free results despite transmitting through a wall and a ceiling (both wood-framed sheetrock with lots of insulating material). It includes an IR passthrough for your remote control which works fine for GB-PVR with my Hauppauge remote. You can get them for around $100. The advantage over MVP is that you get a full featured GB-PVR setup at the remote location.

Actually, the MVP does give you a full-featured gb-pvr interface, just nothing more. The RF-Link will give you the full PC interface so it can be used for more, but if it's only gb-pvr you're after, it's hard to beat the MVP. While the MVP is in use the gb-pvr PC can still be used for something (e.g. watching a different video or surfing the web) which you can't do with the RF-Link. The MVP extends your PC to have another gb-pvr interface, and you can have up to four of them. The AV transmitter extends the one, full PC interface to be accessible in another location, something the MVP can't do.

Just trying to clarify for those that find this thread searching later. Your needs really dictate which is the better solution.

[Spartan]

Instead of transcoding on the fly (from divx to mpeg2 for my MVP), I generally manually transcode the files on the server before watching them on the MVP. I get superior results that way (using the trans2mvp.bat script found elsewhere in these forums).

It is a bit of a hassle, but very doable.

[ubu]

Actually, the MVP does give you a full-featured gb-pvr interface, just nothing more. The RF-Link will give you the full PC interface so it can be used for more, but if it's only gb-pvr you're after, it's hard to beat the MVP. While the MVP is in use the gb-pvr PC can still be used for something (e.g. watching a different video or surfing the web) which you can't do with the RF-Link. The MVP extends your PC to have another gb-pvr interface, and you can have up to four of them. The AV transmitter extends the one, full PC interface to be accessible in another location, something the MVP can't do.

Minor clarification for anybody getting confused by this discussion:

If you are only interested in watching broadcast TV with GB-PVR (or any videos recorded in mpeg format) then the MVP is undoubtedly the way to go. In order to watch DVDs or non-mpeg video recordings (Divx, Xvid, etc.) the recordings must be transcoded to mpeg in order to watch them on the MVP. This task proves inconvenient for many (myself included).

Also, you can't watch streaming internet TV with an MVP unless you record the stream to mpeg first. Since I am the author of the UbuStream plugin and UbuRemote (an application that lets you control multiple stream player servers from a single PC - see my signature) this is quite a big issue for me.

The most powerful aspect of an MVP solution (IMHO) is if you have multiple capture cards in your GB-PVR PC supporting multiple MVPs. The downside is that this does require stringing a lot of ethernet cable around the house, unless you go with a wifi solution (but then we're back to the 2.4/5.8 ghz discussion. )