MediaMVP, or popcorn hour with gbpvr or other media extenders.

[Andrewh]

So my other pvr just died. Since I have gbpvr running on a main machine, I was thinking about using either popcorn hour or MediaMVP.

I thought there was something about one or both being able to be over written as a gbpvr client, but can't find anything on it again.

Barring that, is one better than the other for view files I recorded through gbpvr?

I am leaning to the mvp only because popcorn hour is twice the price.

Also there is a WD media player, it has ethernet, but seems to require a hd to play anything.

I don't want to build another machine, and if I can play back over the network, I will be happy.

No HD, just regular cable.

[martint123]

I would have though the popcornhour device would be more than twice the price of an MVP.
People are moving from MVP's to PCH's for HD and there seem to be plenty of MVP's around on ebay and the like.
For SD, I would have been happy to keep using MVP's but upgraded to a PCH for HD and the LCD TV I bout to replace an ailing CRT.

An MVP is easier to install with GBPVR - more or less just plug it in for basic GBPVR usage, although the PCH installation is now much easier than it used to be.

Others will be along with info on other devices, but they will probably be HD ones and certainly more expensive than an MVP.

[Sheik Yerbouti]

With the latest mvpmcx2 updates from Martin the PCH can do everything the MediaMVP can and a lot more. A few pro's here:
- Faster GUI speed;
- Better picture quality (the MVP is too dark);
- Future proof (HD).

I'd go for a PCH. There are some cheaper alternatives for the PCH but I have no experience with them.

Chris

[mvallevand]

I think of it this way, would I recommend someone buy a used obsolete computer for $75 because they only wanted to play SD vs $400 for a better new PC? Definitely "No". Interestingly I might for a server where there was no client but SATA would be a must.

A PCH which is $235 shipped in the States will play more standard video than the $400 PC with much less hassle. In the rest of the world the shipping costs make new computers potentially more attractive but still the PCH is popular on its own (non GB-PVR users) world-wide.

On the other hand the MVP is obsolete, and if you can afford $50 you can try. Remember SD in terms of the MVP does not include DVD, digital SD or xvid/divx so it is not just an SD/HD question.

Martin

[pz1]

Remember SD in terms of the MVP does not include DVD, digital SD or xvid/divx so it is not just an SD/HD question.

It does not do xvid/divx natively, but I thought with GBPVR it can display those with on the fly decoding. I have most of my recordings compressed. don't remember if which one of the two I used.

[mvallevand]

It does not do xvid/divx natively, but I thought with GBPVR it can display those with on the fly decoding. I have most of my recordings compressed. don't remember if which one of the two I used.

MVP users are typically comfortable with the limitations of on-the-fly transcoding because they can indeed watch alternate formats, but the transcoded files usually are of lower quality, the aspect ratio could be lost and I think most importantly file navigation is lost.

Martin

[Andrewh]

Ok so pch is the prefered. I didn't know till now that a-100 was gone, so it is almost 3 times the price of the mvp.

Alright, I will consider it, but I guess I figured it would be several years before I bothered with an HD set, so by then something better should be out.

Anyone heard of EGreat M34A Full 1080p HD Networked Media Tank Player?
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-eGreat-M34a-Popc...7C294%3A50

[mvallevand]

Ok so pch is the prefered. I didn't know till now that a-100 was gone, so it is almost 3 times the price of the mvp.

Alright, I will consider it, but I guess I figured it would be several years before I bothered with an HD set, so by then something better should be out.

Anyone heard of EGreat M34A Full 1080p HD Networked Media Tank Player?
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-eGreat-M34a-Popc...7C294%3A50

The reality of media in 2009 is it is more expensive, (bigger disks, faster machines etc), the good news is that the price of a complete solution is probably lower because of the drop in PC prices.

As for the EGreat, it is the product I'd love to support it has the most features at the lowest price, but because of lack of support from the vendor I can't endorse it. There is more of a discussion here http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?t=42092

Martin

[Andrewh]

Thanks. gives me some more reading to do.

[Andrewh]

decided to go ahead and order the pch.
Thanks for the input.