GBPVR vs Media Portal vs Mythtv

[meksta]

I have used MythTV for the last 2 years. It worked very well and was full of features - not to mention it was stable and reliable. You can pretty much do anything on mythTv provided you had the time and correct setup (i.e Linux drivers).

But here are my main gripes about it:
-Updating linux was a pain, because MythTV has so many dependencies. I am familiar with linux so it's no big deal.

-The initial install was painful. Took me about 3 weeks to get the system to do what I wanted it to do. Once up though, you don't need to worry much.

-LiveTV on MythTV was pretty laggy and not as smooth as gbPVR's "pass-through" way.

-Drivers in Linux is a pain in the butt. The graphics drivers are not as optimised as the XP ones. Not to mention WiFI support is close to non-existant.


I have since moved to another country...tried to get MythTV working. But now I have to use WiFi on the box and Linux support is pretty limited. So I trashed it all and moved to gbPVR. So far I have enjoyed it except for a few minor flaws:

-The scheduling in gbPVR is not as robust as Myth. It may record the same show over and conflict resolution is more hands on. MythTV has this priority system in case of a conflict, and then if you disagree you then override.

-one man show. Only so many features can go into a release. But thus far it's amazing what one man has done.

-support for more cards. I have a lot of cheapo tuner cards sitting around.

[stu8080]

and also pleasantly surprised that there didn't seem to be any obnoxious comments or trolls that seem to inhabit virtually every net community with more than 3 people.

A major winner, nothing is more frustrationg that petty bitching on forums. Everyone has a lot of respect for what sub has done here.

[danIrl]

I too tried the MythTv, MediaPortal and GBPVR route.

When I tried MythTv with PVR-150, the drivers were not mature enough. Did not mind Linux too much... but in general video/graphics drivers will always be delivered quicker and more tweaked on a Windows platform.

MediaPortal looks very nice. But damn it is slow... plus never quite got it to work fully. It 's minimum requirements is a VMR9 card now too.

GBPVR is more basic in appearance, but funtionality it is great. Very stable and works well. Easy to setup. Plugin wise it is lacking a little compared to MediaPortal (the trailer plugin in particular is nice).

This software is a credit to you Sub. Thanks for your hard graft.

[McBainUK]

After upgrading my gaming system I wanted to use the old box for something cool. First thoughts where MP3 jukebox and DVD playback using 5.1 PC speakers. After much 'googling' came across byopvr.com and then gbpvr. Never looked back .

To be honost I watch next to no live TV. Tend to record films to watch later, watch DVD's and play music. After a fairly simple setup process I've been using GBPVR for nearly 6 months and never had one crash.

Best thing in my opinion is the support for plugins. Been coding for a while but never in C#, so writing plugins is a great way to practice and learn new things. It's also nice to be able to give something back to the community.

So to conclude, "LONG LIVE GBPVR"

[shodap]

If we want to compare the free windows PVR systems, we must include "Got All Media" GALLM.com. I've used "GALLM" in the past and my experience was that it was faster and cleaner than GBPVR... especially with LIVE TV. The big thing that GALLM lacks is the media extender functionality similar to what GBPVR offers with the mediamvp. That IMHO is a deal breaker, and that is why I prefer GBPVR in the category of free windows based PVRs.

That said, I haven't set up a GBPVR box yet. I'm wating for the wireless mediamvp. I currently use the DVR that my cable company provides to do basic LIVE TV and recording tasks.

On a side topic, I've seen where people have labeled "Open Source" development as a negative attribute. I would place "properly managed" open source development over "one may shows" any day of the week. It's all about being properly managed. For instance, if SUB opened the GBPVR code and became the manager, he could approve all bug fixes and updates to the core along with doing his own work. It's not like we'd have an application where people are dumping in conflicting code without any scrutiny. SUB could be the approver.

In addition, if something happens to SUB (he moves to Egypt to the pharos), the project would not die.

My two cents.

[KingArgyle]

-The scheduling in gbPVR is not as robust as Myth. It may record the same show over and conflict resolution is more hands on. MythTV has this priority system in case of a conflict, and then if you disagree you then override.

You can get advanced scheduling support by using the CDK Scheduler add in, and the XRecord suite of plugins. That combination should give you almost all the features that Myth had, plus some extras.

[ddrawley]

I know Linux and Unix. I tried MythTV. I fought with drivers for the PVR-150MCE for days. What a pain.
I tried BeyondTV, the interface is clunky in my opinion.
I loaded GB-PVR. I had it running well in under 30 minutes. It is loaded with features, has plugins, and records standard mpeg files I can use in most any program.
I will live with the occasional bump in the road. I see no better build your own product out there.
Long live GB-PVR.

[BoomerBrian]

The problem I found with Got All Media is the support. The GBPVR forum by far more active and helpful.

[dfdario]

Since I've tried almost all of the software mentioned herein (not GALLM because it doesnt support MediaMVP like others I'm going to mention indeed) I would like to add something more.

MythTV
I’ve tested both the Fedora + MythTV and KnoppMyth.
In my experience I completely agree with phantastic, but I would add some cons.
If XMLTV is not in the available list (like Italy) you got troubles.
Recording schedule is not available on MVP.

Freevo
Tested with Debian

Pros:
All of MythTV plus
Very fast
Very easy configuration

Cons:
Almost all of MythTV plus
It doesn’t support MVP

Mediaportal
I do agree it’s the slowest I ever seen
Cons to add:
Doesn’t support MVP yet (they are still thinking about)

I’ve also had a look to MCE but has not been enough
What I can say is: a bit faster than Mediaportal and of course you should pay for it.

GBPVR
The fastest under windows and if you permit me a comment it’s free (not like GALLM which is kicking on both sides: first free than on pay now free again) who cares if it's not GPL.
It takes a little to tune it up but once finished it worth the effort.

Thanks sub

[sub]

On a side topic, I've seen where people have labeled "Open Source" development as a negative attribute. I would place "properly managed" open source development over "one may shows" any day of the week. It's all about being properly managed. For instance, if SUB opened the GBPVR code and became the manager, he could approve all bug fixes and updates to the core along with doing his own work. It's not like we'd have an application where people are dumping in conflicting code without any scrutiny. SUB could be the approver.

Sorry, but I've very clear about this since the beginning of this project... GB-PVR will never be open source. (a) I'm not a big fan of open source, and (b) I've signed many non disclosure agreements, so I couldnt make the code available even if I wanted to.