MCE Alternatives?

[techulous]

Advice on how this compares to Windows Media Center Edition...

http://mediaportal.sourceforge.net/

I am looking to set up a budget system and it seems intriguing, but could be tough to setup.

[Matthoulb]

Personally i'd just get MCE... It's ~£80? and would save sooooooooo much time when setting up.

[drummerjohn]

Time? MP only takes about 15mins. 15mins for £80!

I tried MCE but went to MP as MCE was too inflexible.

[gazzer82]

I would give MP a go to start as your are not loosing anything by trying it out. Then if you don't like it you can but MCE and give it a go.

MP is far more versatile and the speed that the project is moving at is truly amazing. Plus the technical support via the forums is very good.

I personally use Media Center, as i feel that MP still needs a bit of polishing, and i have as of yet to get it to tune in my dual DVB-T cards. But i think that's an issue with my system not the software.

Good Luck

Gareth

[JohnS]

Xlobby is more flexible if a little more trouble to get set up right.

[gazzer82]

I have tried out Xlobby, but the live tv support is a little bit complicated to get up and runnning. Plus it is more aimed i think towards multi-room audio/video and is thus really quite difficuilt to setup. I would still go with MP, then maybe give Xlobby a go later on down the road if you find MP doesn't fit your needs.

Cheers

Gareth

[Pbryanw]

I use Media Portal and MCE, though not at the same time . I have to say I prefer MCE. Media Portal is more configurable letting you use different codecs for different media but MCE seems a lot more polished and stable. I've had Media Portal crash a number of times, sometimes just when I change TV channel, (and no doubt because it is a more complicated beast) but with MCE I've had no crashes so far. Also I prefer the sound effects in MCE

[dejongj]

Never thought I would say it...But I prefer the guide data in MCE....

Xlobby is interesting, but looking at their forums it seems no development is taking place...Don't like betting on a retired horse...

[psikey]

I Use PowerCinema4

[springtide]

Originally Posted by techulous

Advice on how this compares to Windows Media Center Edition...

http://mediaportal.sourceforge.net/

I am looking to set up a budget system and it seems intriguing, but could be tough to setup.

As it's free, why don't you just try it! It doesn't take that long to setup the basics.

It's more customizable than MCE, which in my mind reduces it's appeal.
I'm just interesting in setting it up and leaving it under my TV, not spending the next 2 years upgrading/customizing. Yes, and it's not as reliable and more CPU/memory intensive (or the way it was setup by default anyway)

MCE is just an install and forget. It's very slick and just works.

MCE does have it's limitations, but these are usually solved by completely buying in "to the Microsoft way". i.e. If you are looking at playing FLAC, AAC lossless music files then from what I can gather your stuck. But there usually is a Microsoft solution that will fit the same needs e.g. WMA Lossless
You may not like the solution, but that's a problem you either live with or switch to using something else.

I have MP on my desktop and MCE in my living room HTPC. One I play with - the other I don't!

Showshifter is also a pretty good alternative, more polished that MP but with less functionality. V. Easy to setup and you get a 30 trial to see if you like it. About £30, which if I'm honest, I'd probably still say to pay an extra £50 and get MCE!

[FazerThou]

Dumb question time....Does this mean I can use the copy of XP that came with my laptop and then use one of the above progs as a front end rather than buying a copy of mce as i'm trying to keep costs of a new build down.

[springtide]

Originally Posted by FazerThou

Dumb question time....Does this mean I can use the copy of XP that came with my laptop and then use one of the above progs as a front end rather than buying a copy of mce as i'm trying to keep costs of a new build down.

Yes. Both will run on a number of Windows OS's.

[lisag]

Originally Posted by FazerThou

Dumb question time....Does this mean I can use the copy of XP that came with my laptop and then use one of the above progs as a front end rather than buying a copy of mce as i'm trying to keep costs of a new build down.

Yes

[dobbin]

Originally Posted by FazerThou
Dumb question time....Does this mean I can use the copy of XP that came with my laptop and then use one of the above progs as a front end rather than buying a copy of mce as i'm trying to keep costs of a new build down.

Err I think you mean using either MP, Xlobby etc solely on the new PC you are setting up, WITHOUT an operating system?
You have XP on your laptop but are setting up a media PC?
MP, Xlobby etc are all front ends that work UNDER Windows. You will need to purchase and operating system for the new Media PC you are building. Might as well be XP MCE as opposed to XP for the extra few quid.

[dejongj]

Or if you don't want to pay at all....Go for MythTV on Linux....