Best third party software

[jba6511]

is there any good third party software that can allow for recording and playback? Preferably free. Thanks

 

[madmurph]

Look up MythTV, BeyondTV, and SageTV. I think MythTV is linux based, and it's free. The others have trial periods that are pretty long, so you can check them out.

 

[dsidious]

I heard good things about GB PVR. It's free. I'm going to install it one of these days.

http://www.gbpvr.com/screenshots.htm

BeyondTV is rather expensive, US$ 70 if I remember right from their Web site. At this price we're better off waiting for a FutureShop or BestBuy sale and then buying a PVR card with software included. A few months ago they had a Hauppauge 150 PVR on sale for CDN $70 and it included BeyondTV.

------- I don't really know what I'm talking about, just reading from other forums, so take this info with a grain of salt, OK? Good luck, and please post what you find out -------

 

[danbutter]

http://www.team-mediaportal.com/

is a good one with a lot of features.

Windows based only for this one.

 

[bliq]

I picked up BeyondTV last black friday for $30 with $30 rebate (aka $0 AR).

I'll report on it as soon as I find a suitable PCI-E video card that's not expensive to use with DVI...

 

[AdamBomb42]

MythTV is a linux app and can be very difficult to install and configure, but is well worth the time and effort.

 

[dsidious]

http://www.team-mediaportal.com/

is a good one with a lot of features.

Windows based only for this one.

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

I've got a question though: MediaPortal says it creates dvr-ms files. Can you record shows with it on a computer and then watch them on another (a laptop, for example)? I'm reluctant to record my favourite shows with Windows MCE because I'll lose them all when I change computers or move to Linux. Can MediaPortal create mpg files without any of the DRM garbage?

 

[madmurph]

You can convert those types of files with a program like DVRMS Toolbox:

http://babgvant.com/files/default.aspx

 

[dlmac]

I have used Beyond TV and think it is ok, I personally only use playback of movies and shows that I already have so use orb for that, which is free.

http://www.orb.com

I think it does have recording features but I can't remember atm.

 

[jba6511]

I have a cheap ATI All-in-Wonder 200 PCI Bus card. Unfortunately media portal does not support my card. I did get it working with sagetv but was having audio issues. Right now I am using InterVideo's WinDVR and it does the trick, but I would like a program with a Tivo like EPG interface. GBPVR also does not support my card as well as Windows MCE. Does anyone know of a program that does support the card and offers a TIVO like interface for recording? Also, wanted to try beyond tv but it says the trial has expired even though I have never used it before. Any way to fix this? tried redownloading but same thing.

 

[illuminatirex]

i have a tv wonder 650 and the media center that came with it is ok, but it takes nowedays longer to load up after i recorded couple shows, and i cant pause teh recording, so that sux