Whats the attraction to xbmc over nextpvr?

[stustunz]

I feel like i am missing something xbmc in my eyes sucks once you get past the flashy stuff.
For everyday use its sucks compared to how simple and easy to use nextpvr is.

What am I missing that Draws people to it ?

[Jaggy]

Thanks for asking this as your summation is almost exactly the same as my thoughts were after I tried it out & I also feel "I must be missing something"??????

[psycik]

Being able to put it on a $35 raspberry pi is the main attraction.

So it helps push next pvr onto smaller playback devices since xbmc is one of the most common htpc software out there.

[mvallevand]

I dislike XBMC's PVR interface intensely, but prefer just about everything else about it. The biggest draws for me other than looks

- buffering player is great with wifi
- Android remote with UI can be used with the TV off.
- much faster UI with 3D Graphics
- has watched/resume with backend powered off (ie NextPVR server suspended)
- cheap clients are available
- runs really well on linux and other platforms
- icon modes actually work
- 7 second rewind
- position by exact time
- better a/v sync (I have regularily rewind to sync in NextPVR)
- much better memory mgt, NextPVR can consume 1GB and more
- Favourites, for quick access
- CEC support
- easier basic client installation
- 10' interface to add media sources
- many active pluggins

It looks like a long list but you wanted attractive features, and NextPVR has them too but you know them

I was working on an RPi interface like I did for the MVP/NMT but people seem to prefer XBMC so I figure why fight it.

Martin

[reven]

xbmc pvr is no where near as good as nextpvr. theres no contest there, however xbmc has more developers (can be a negative at times, lots of debate) but things are added quickly and works on so many platforms.

just because pvr is primitive on xbmc now, doesnt mean it will stay that way. timeshifting has recently been added, advanced recordings will be worked on after frodo is released (not sure if they will be in 12.1 or v13 though).

if you just want PVR, then no, xbmc isnt the best solution for you.

however, if you're like me, and pvr is not your main use, and the media centre part is, then xbmc blows nextpvr out of the water. mostly due to
- platforms it runs on (ATV, linux, openelec, raspberrypi, android, PC, OSX etc).
- the addons (hulu, freecable, iplayer) sure theres addons for nextpvr, but theres no streaming apps for hulu etc, and if they were made they would most likely be launched as external apps (like the external netflix app). its nicer having one common interface, makes using a remote a lot easier too, since same keys etc, no extra configuration.
- the GUI, nextpvr has come along way but xbmc and all their skins look a lot nicer
- the video library is far superior to nextpvrs built in one and with the smart playlists you can do some pretty cool things
- really great remote apps for android, ios and windows phone letting you browse your library and play directly from there (without having to navigate library on the actual client)
- changing subtitles, audio streams etc in xbmc is very easy.
- changing audio offset/delay in xbmc is possible (ive had to use this no occasion for lipsync issues, rare but nice its easy to do)
- supports lots of protocols, upnp etc, so you can stream netflix to it via playon.tv over upnp.

what makes me really interested in android is
- cheap clients
- ouya
- netflix app for android will be available on that device, so will be able to easily watch netflix
- more and more google tvs are coming out, so tvs will have this built in, and likely one day get xbmc on those platforms, so smart tv becomes xbmc smart tv

tl;dr; nextpvr is currently better at tv (most likely will always be better/faster at this), xbmc is better at everything else and will get close to nextpvr for tv in coming versions. but you still need nextpvr as a tv server (which is nice having this outside of xbmc)

[donschjr]

The main reason I use XMBC right now is the client freezes in Npvr, otherwise I prefer Npvr on a windows machine. I hope to be able to run XMBC on android but so far no joy for me on any of the android devices I own.

[ACTCMS]

I was working on an RPi interface like I did for the MVP/NMT but people seem to prefer XBMC so I figure why fight it.

Martin

I hope this means that you have just put it on the back burner and not abandoned it altogether... I for one was very excited about the idea of an unobtrusive and low cost NPVR extender which could be scotch-taped to the back of the TV...

Alex

[mvallevand]

Not sure Alex, steeb's posts about getting OpenElec running really raised a lot of old concerns. I once posted that I didn't want to support a linux version of mvpmc because I didn't want to support linux, lircd etc, and the RPi is ultimately just a low end hobbyist linux PC that will need a lot of hand holding more suited to communities like Raspmc and OpenElec. If it was great and not just cheap, I'd probably bundle up a distro.

Martin

[stustunz]

Does the Rpi actually have good video playback ?

[mvallevand]

The base player (omxplayer) is not bad and easy to interface too. It is about the same as A100 (because it can't even downmix DTS) but I personally find the colour a bit duller.

Martin