[mythtv-users] Considering MythTV, curious about relative WAF.

Daniel Segel mythtv at archer-segel.com
Fri Jun 10 14:22:02 UTC 2005


James Alexander wrote:

>I concur with what has already been said. I don't own, nor have I ever
>had a DirectTV Tivo but my cousin has (you may also have a different
>version, provider, etc. so this may not be true in your case) but he
>said that he couldn't watch a recorded program and record a new
>recording at the same time. This is something that I do constantly
>with mythtv.
>
>  
>
Your cousin is doing something wrong. You can record a new program and 
watch a pre-recorded one on *any* TiVo; a DirecTiVo allows you to watch 
one recorded program and record *two* new ones at the same time.

I've had a TiVo for several years and just started playing with MythTV 
both as a hobby and because I wanted the ability to record two shows at 
once (you can do that on DirecTiVos but not on standalone units like I 
have.)

My thoughts after about two weeks with MythTV:

o Some of the MythTV features are quite a bit more advanced than TiVo

o The MythTV UI is not a smooth nor as easy to figure out

o MythTV doesn't FF or Rewind as smoothly as my TiVo does, nor are the 
controls as quick to respond or as intuitive to use (maybe this is due 
to my using a PVR-350?)

o MythTV doesn't support closed captions on a PVR-350 as of now

Overall, I'd say it's a trade off between ease of use and 
flexibility/power. I personally love some of the recording features of 
MythTV and commercial skip (of course), but my wife isn't quite so 
enamored because the core functionality of the MythTV is buried in with 
a ton of options. For her a PVR is a tool, and she'd rather have a pair 
of pliers than a Leatherman.

Daniel

>My mother uses mythtv all the time. She is moderately adept at using
>computers. All she needed was a quick once over what the buttons do,
>and the menu structure (where to go to watch recordings, create new
>recordings, etc.) and she was good to go.
>
>
>On 6/9/05, Robin Smith <1canuck2 at gmail.com> wrote:
>  
>
>>My MythTV box is rock solid stable (unless I mess with stuff - but
>>that's personal choice).
>>
>>My 8 year old can use it, my wife loves it, Who can ask for anything more.
>>
>>Robin
>>
>>On 6/9/05, Garry Cook <garrycook at gmail.com> wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>On 6/9/05, David Asher <david.asher at caviumnetworks.com> wrote:
>>>      
>>>
>>>>Our household is currently all DirecTivos (2 series 1, 1 HDTivo).
>>>>
>>>>My wife LOVES her/our tivos.  (As do I)
>>>>
>>>>Unfortunately, DirecTV ticked me off recently with the NFL Sunday Ticket
>>>>pricing, and I've always loved the convergence possiblities (realities?)
>>>>of MythTV, so I'm thinking of using it as an opportunity to bring in MythTV.
>>>>
>>>>Once MythTV is working, is it as stable as the tivos?  Is it as
>>>>trustworthy as the tivos?  I haven't had a chance to play with it yet,
>>>>is it as easy to use as the tivos?  I know it can do things that the
>>>>tivos can't, but I'm not sure my wife will be interested in those things.
>>>>
>>>>Anyone with experience using both directivos and MythTV please chime
>>>>in.  I really,really,REALLY don't want to lose the WAF of the Tivos.
>>>>
>>>>Thanks,
>>>>
>>>>David.
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>I have no experience with Tivo's, as I never saw the value of paying
>>>for them. But when I thought about the possibility of building my own,
>>>it was easy to shell out a couple of hundred bucks for some capture
>>>cards and a big hdd.
>>>I believe the WAF is very high with my Mythbox. About the only time
>>>she gets upset is when I start fiddling around and break it. And even
>>>then it's not too bad, because when I am done and it's back online, it
>>>usually works better than it did previously (new features, plugins,
>>>etc.).
>>>The wife is actually sitting right next to me now, on her *cough*
>>>windows box. Let me ask her to rate it on a scale of 1 - 10...
>>>She says it would rate a 7 if it were not sitting in a tower case
>>>beside the TV. The fact that I don't have it in a compact type case
>>>drops it to a 5. She also adds that because I now am in front of the
>>>TV a lot more than I used to be, perhaps it's a 4.
>>>However, she never misses an Oprah anymore, so I'm offended by her rating of 7.
>>>--Garry
>>>_______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>      
>>>
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>>    
>>
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