[mythtv-users] MythTV and the "average" user...

[Mike Perkins]

James Orr wrote:
> On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 10:05 AM, Mike Dent <mcdent at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 2008/5/19 jedi <jedi at mishnet.org>:
>> Does there exist a Tivo-esque theme for MythTV?
>>
>> I've had a Tivo in the UK (which is a few version behind the US stuff) for
>> about 5 years now, as others have said it 'just works' and the UI, although
>> now very slow in comparison to Myth, is simple to use and navigate, and
>> causes little confusion to the wife :) which is a good thing.
>>
>> The standard Myth themes seem to make almost too many functions available
>> to the average user, and choice of wording for some of the menus may be
>> considered confusing to some?
>>
>> I guess what I need is a very simple theme which allows watching and
>> recording shows and all the other stuff is hidden behind an 'advanced' menu.
>>
>> I love Mythtv and think all involved have done a really great job, my goal
>> when building the mythtv box about 18 months ago was for it to replace the
>> Tivo, which I just know will fail, up to now my wife still insists on using
>> the Tivo for day to day use and calls me in to record something on the
>> Mythbox if she needs it! :)
>>
> 
> I agree, a lot of the scheduling could be trimmed off in a basic view.  Most
> of the time the only option I set is whether it's record any time/any
> channel (for series) or record one showing (for movies).
> 
> It could just display a few filtered options based on what kind of show it
> is (record any time is unlikely to be used for a movie for example) with a
> button to go to the "advanced" (current) screen.
> 
> I do use recording groups, stuff my wife watches that I am not interested in
> goes in hers, similarly for stuff I want to see she is not interested in and
> stuff we both want to see goes in the default group.  The basic view could
> check to see if any groups are defined, and if they are display an option
> for it, if not it doesn't show it.
> 
I almost never use the menu route when scheduling stuff. It is usually more 
convenient (and a da*ned sight easier) to do it through the Mythweb interface.

-- 

Mike Perkins