[mythtv-users] MythTV vs. Windows Media Center

[Kevin Kuphal]

On Wed, Feb 9, 2011 at 11:51 AM, Reynolds, Brian
<Brian.Reynolds at fiserv.com>wrote:

>  OK,
>
>
>
> So I’ve found this cool tuner card that has four tuners that use a single
> CableCARD to receive everything the cable company has to offer, except VOD.
> It’s the Ceton InfiniTV (www.cetoncorp.com).  It’s $399.99 and available
> now (with a 3 month backlog on orders).
>
>
>
> Of course, copy protected content is only supported in Windows MCE, with a
> supported HDCP compliant video card.  I don’t know if the card has drivers
> for Linux, but if I can’t watch copy protected content on Linux, why would I
> want to do that?
>
>
>
> Also, with an X-Box or a D-Link or Linksys media center extender (found on
> e-bay for $100), I can watch live or recorded TV, Blu-Ray movies, DVD’s, and
> just about anything else that Windows can decode on as many frontends as my
> MCE server can handle, which depends on how many tuners I install, how much
> I/O the machine can handle, and CPU power.
>
>
>
> So... I’ve put together a list of hardware that would be required to handle
> four extenders and also to be able to play 3D content on the MCE server.
> The components I’ve selected will enable me to configure the hard drives in
> a Raid-0 so that I can maximize I/O throughput and will even include two
> Blu-Ray drives that can be shared with any of the extenders.
>
>
>
> It’s a pretty beefy machine using high end parts that should be very
> reliable, quiet and stable.  The parts will cost me around $1500.00.  This
> includes 2TB of storage, a BluRay reader, a BluRay writer, four tuners with
> cableCARD and two more tuners that will receive ATSC/NTSC/Clear QAM.  I can
> get my hands on Windows 7 with MCE for around $100.00 through a program my
> employer has with M$.
>
>
>
> Now to my question... what’s the advantage of MythTV over Win MCE?  Why
> would I want to go this route instead of MCE when I can get copy protected
> content in MCE?
>
>
>
> Please understand that I mean no disrespect.  I understand the benefits of
> open source software and the fun that goes into a project like that.  I just
> don’t understand why I would choose MythTV over MCE.  Please help me out.
>

The only word is customizability (is that even a word? :) ).  With Myth you
have the optoins to change themes, change menus, make changes in the
software to allow for it to behave more the way you want to use it
(commercial skip being a notable example).  With MCE, you're locked into
whatever MS provides and you likely won't get any updates/changes until the
next version of Windows and then you get what they choose to give you.
 There are some plugins that add additional functionality (Media Browser
being a great example).  You also are required to use and are limited by the
feature set of the extender as your "other room" options.  Not all plugins
work across extenders.

I, myself, am considering a move to MCE from Myth after having recently
purchased my first Xbox360 and HDHomeRun.  It is a very good DVR system and
does alot of what I want.  I'm not sure I'm in love with the interface
choices which I either have to live with or I won't make the change.

Myth will likely never be the cheapest and it will not likely provide the
best copy-protected content path because of the resistance to Linux in the
copyright world.  Other than that, it offers a very good alternative with a
very flexible solution.

Kevin
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mythtv.org/pipermail/mythtv-users/attachments/20110209/73ef96a7/attachment.htm>