New Review Compares MythTV to Vista MCE

Parkus writes "There's a nice review on AVS forum of MythTV (Ubuntu) and Windows Vista MCE. The author tried both back to back and explains the pluses and minuses of each system after using them for a month. Helpful if you're thinking about setting up your own home theater rig."

Driver problems in Vista, but not Linux?

FTA

Now, here's MY killer issue with this install... ready? Drivers. Yep, I said drivers as in: problem in Windows despite being rock solid in Linux.

I guess Vista isn't all it's hyped up to be...

Re:Driver problems in Vista, but not Linux?

No. He is making a very significant point. "There's lots of support for Windows, but Windows itself actually supports very little." Everybody knows that unless Microsoft sees a self serving point to support something they don't.

Re:Driver problems in Vista, but not Linux?

Ok, most people realize that the MFRs write the drivers, not MS. And yes Vista specific driver support is lacking in some areas, as moving to the new audio model, video model, network stack, etc can be tricky for native driver support in Vista.

Actually, "most people" don't really know or give a damn. If the drivers for an OS sucks, the OS sucks. Full stop.

This was the problem with Linux until recently; if you didn't have the right drivers for the hardware you wanted to use, then you couldn't do what you wanted to do -- everything else, any other benefits the OS might have, are moot. It's dead in the water.

Problems with latest nVidia drivers

I'm not sure you can lay the blame for this at Microsoft's doorstep. Maybe you can, but maybe nVidia has just been incompetent in developing drivers for an OS that has been in general release for months now. Seriously, if a graphics card company can't write drivers for a graphics card, something is wrong.

BTW, the reviewer mentioned that he had to roll back to an early-version nVidia driver because he got stuttering video with the newest drivers. I had this problem, too. What happened is that nVidia shipped the earlier versions of its drivers with the Inverse Telecine option turned off. In the new drivers, it defaults to on -- and that's what causes the stuttering video in MCE. Pull up the nVidia Control Panel, go to the "Video & Television" options, select the "Enhancements" panel, and uncheck the box that says "Use Inverse Telecine." Video will play smoothly again.

day jobs and switchers.

a lot of GNU/Linux people either are stuck dealing with Windows in their day jobs

If the author of the article was really familiar with Windoze, he would have known to use XP and third party applications for his media center. If not, he would never have made Vista work. There's a lot about this article that does not add up and I smell a switcher attack [slashdot.org].

Nice review, but...

I still don't see a reason for switching to Vista. Maybe if you're into that kind of things, but having Windows XP for my special needs and Ubuntu for the basic stuff seems to get the job done for me without spending money.

Re:Nice review, but...

I still don't see a reason for switching to Vista.

Having read TFA, my take on it is that he likes the "look and feel" of Vista MCE better. Fair enough.
Having seen the "look and feel" of TFA, I would call that a glowing endorsement of MythTV.

Puts on his flame retardant suit

I've had a MythTV box for a couple of years. It's nice, works well. However, my new Vista Home Ultimate media machine is far easier to use and 'just works'. The ironic caveat, as mentioned in the article, is that MythTV (and it's underlying Linux kernel) have *better* hardware support than Vista! On supported hardware I find the Windows Media Center experience to be far better in general though.

That being said, if I were building a quiet entertainment center PC, I'd go with a Myth box and customize it to my liking. I can do that because I know how. Most consumers do not.

Digital HDTV

I use both a MythTV DVR (64-bit Ubuntu) and a MCE DVR (64-bit Vista) at home. The MythTV machine is primary and the Vista machine is secondary.

The automatic commercial skip in MythTV is fantastic!
You watch TV shows and there are no adverts. Simple as that.

The biggest problem is resisting to urge to pick up the remote when the show is leading into an ad break :-)

Both machines can record ATSC HDTV and Digital Cable (QAM) - running a total of 4 digital tuners (2 x HDHomeRun network digital tuners with two tuner each - http://www.silicondust.com/ [silicondust.com])

Re:Digital HDTV

To get cablecard support you need a cablelabs certified PC.

You can't buy a cablecard tuner for a PC - Vista or otherwise. The only PC-based option is to buy a PC that the manufacturer had certified as a complete system (software, hardware, monitor, etc).

The fallback option is to use an analog capture card and to prioritize the digital tuners over the analog capture so you get high-def whenever possible.

Nick

Re:Digital HDTV

That one little thing you forgot is a major show-stopper for most people, and I really hope someone hacks the cablecard somehow to give us cablecard capability for mythtv.

With the way the market looks to be headed, certified systems that contain cablecard adapters will only be available at the "high-end" (same shit, higher price) of the consumer PC market. It keeps the price high enough that instead of hacking some windows box, you may as well save yourself some money and buy yourself a Tivo.

I do long for the day that I can build a media center PC that can record encrypted HD, but I don't see it happening any time soon. The distribution industry owns our legislature, and younger, technically savvy people don't vote.

Slow news day

I can't believe such a half-assed review is worthy of a link on /.

No Credibility

I can't beleive this review, I have nothing wrong with what he said objectively, but for god's sake, he just lets his obvious bias, quote "Steve Jobs gets his head out of his hole and decides to reshape the marketplace with a truly good PVR/Media Center/Super-Evolved Life Device (tm)."

He ends the review by just deciding to say all praise steve, the technological messiah, he will purge us of these heathan devices and bath us in his warm white iglow of technological perfection. At best apple TV is an overhyped reincarnation of some good technology pased on others, and more to the point why is he mentioning steve jobs in a review of two products completely unrelated to him!

Re:No Credibility

Who else is going to do it? Microsoft isn't going to make a truly good PVR, because their corporate philosophy interferes; they'd want to control it, not let you do so. The open source community may come up with 80-90% of it (and I'd argue already has), but there are some things which it can't do. Produce a _device_, for one thing, a piece of hardware that is quiet, boots (or wakes from standby; standby with Linux and the V4L/DVB drivers is still not reliable IME) in seconds, can be turned on via remote, etc. Compatibility with premium content is another. Apple is in a position to provide both; we know they can build nice, small, quiet hardware. We know they can negotiate with content producers and not compromise EVERYTHING. So it's not going to be Microsoft, it's not going to be the open source community. That leaves no one, Apple, or some unknown third party. Apple seems like the best bet.

I suppose there's the electronics manufacturers -- e.g. Sony (too tied to locking everything down), Phillips, Toshiba, LG, Samsung, a boatload of Chinese companies... aside from Sony (which has no chance) I think they're long shots.

No effect on credibility.

Afraid to log in are you?

What he said is that we'll have to put up with MCE and MythTV UNTIL Steve Jobs decides to include DVR functionality into Apple TV. And he's RIGHT. The only person on PLANET EARTH who seems to understand what people want from their consumer electronics is Steven Jobs, CEO and co-founder of Apple Incorporated.

And his obvious bias? What are you stupid? The man is a pro-Linux person. He's worked with organizations dedicated to Linux. If he's biased its towards LINUX not Apple. So care to explain your ANTI-Apple bias?

No Different to Any Other Review Really

I can't see what's different about this review to others, really:

Finally, the extras were quite nice. DVD importer looks like it could work well, but it's illegal I think to backup DVDs even for personal use, right?

You've been involved with Linux for fourteen years and you're not familiar with this? Quite frankly, so what? Anything that you do with any kind of media these days can be deemed illegal. Why are you even considering MythTV or even Vista MCE if you think this is illegal, because this is the main reason you want a PVR system - to mindlessly pick what to watch and watch it without fumbling with discs?

The solution would have required me to learn the tv_cat tool well enough to concatenate the two sets of listings and set up a cron script to do this every night. A very simple technical challenge, by my standards but I gave up after my very first try. Despite the straightforward nature of any program with "cat" in it's name, I hit an error on my first try, put the keyboard down, and thought to myself... "Wow, I've done lots of configuration on this system and it's now feeling a bit like work. Maybe I should try MCE for a while- this pictures look nice!"

Yes, we know, MythTV configuration sucks, especially if you're changing anything after initial set up. Anything else?

My first problem came after the requisite "Windows Update" as one of the updates had crashed my system. I finally narrowed it down to the SATA drivers for the NForce4 (I think), disabled them, moved to a basemented IDE drive out of laziness, re-installed and was OK. As a Bonus, the IDE drive ran much quieter than the previous SATA!

Yes, installing a plethora of drivers on a Windows system after you've sat there endlessly waiting for it to install sucks. It sucks even harder when one of those drivers decides to not work, or you find that you have to install them in a certain order. Then an automatic update screws things. Linux scores there.

Only one of two tuners is recognized. I've tried all the standard tricks and latest driver releases, with no success yet. Even my long distance call to Hauppauge was fruitless and I suspect that I'll be waiting for some system update or new driver release before I can watch one show while recording another. Or maybe I will fix it before then, but certainly not without a little googling, FAQ searching, or phone queueing.

So you still have to fanny about with your system even when you've spent 198 euros on a piece of software that should just recognise everything and take the head scratching out of the equation that you had to do with MythTV? I think we have a winner there to be honest, because at least with MythTV there's going to be something somewhere that will enable you to get it working - however awful that is. Hauppage and Microsoft won't fix it because it will probably be down to a combination of drivers and MCE software, and anyway, they simply won't give a toss about you or your problem until you're stumping up cash for the next version.

That's probably the single biggest reason why no one wants Windows on their TV. Microsoft just don't get how much more critical a TV is to people than a computer.

Re:No Different to Any Other Review Really

Anyone who thinks their TV is more critical in their life than a computer deserves what they get.

Sorry, but nobody gives a fuck about their computer in the same way as they care about their TV - and I'm talking about normal people here ;-). The TV simply has to work because that's where they get their news and entertainment from, whereas people unfortunately expect a computer not to work at some point and shrug their shoulders.

LinuxMCE

I thought mythtv would have been replaced with LinuxMCE by now, very nice tool, check out the videos. Far more powerful then Windows MCE, no DRM shit, focused on your media instead of giant MS logos.

MythTV is better, IMO

1: No DRM
2: Not made by Microsoft (just kidding, although that is a factor for some people)
3: No DRM

Yeah, it might be a bit harder to set up. That's obviously a downside. On the other hand, you can rip all your DVD, no problem, without Windoze being mean. His complaints about rippng DVDs being illegal are invalid because:

a) If you're watching them on Linux, (in US) you're already breaking the law.
b) I bought the DVD at my local Best Buy, and I'm not giving it to other people, so I'll do what I want with it.

Yes, Point b) might not be exactly legal, but you see where I'm coming from. Also: MythTV has seperate front- and back- ends, so you can stream media to other parts of the house.

Is there any choice at all?

Let's see... with Microsoft you do get:

• DRM,
• spyware (not the common hidden kind, Microsoft written spyware)
• fewer formats supported

. You also can't

• use it for any purpose,
• make custom changes,
• copy it for your friends who liked it very much and would like to get a copy,
• publish a modified version that, you know... removes said spyware and DRM, which everyone would like to but Microsoft and content providers don't want you to remove from Windows Media Center

Now... at the cost of maybe a little harder to use or set up, with MythTV or even Freevo which I like better than MythTV, you don't get DRM or spyware, you can play as many file formats as you want, and you have all the freedom you could ever need. Is there *any* choice at all? O Rlly?

The basic difference

I have used both, and what I`ve found to be the real difference between Windows MCE and MythTV (and really all the FOSS HTPC types) is tha MCE is simple, straight forward, and just works but is very inflexible (as said in the article, it's hard to even modify the menu, try doing something like having an extra button on you're remote control change the screen font) whereas MythTV requires a little tinkering to get running, but is very flexible. I think this is really what it comes down to with most Windows VS. FOSS situations. Windows apps tend to work well and are more intuitive, whereas FOSS apps tend to require a little tweaking, but provide more opportunity for customization. So in short, if you're someone (like me) who likes to have everything just right and doesn't mind messing around for a few days in config files, go with MythTV. If on the other hand you're someone who doesn't mind the canned generic MCE look and feel, and wants something thats just going to work, go with MCE.

TV Tuners

I would have rather seen a comparison between different TV tuners. The article pretty much concluded to what I would have thought: Linux is pretty solid, but a challenege for somebody not techical savvy, and windows quick and simple to set up, with a few glitches in hardware/UI.

DVD backup illegality?

FTA:
"DVD importer looks like it could work well, but it's illegal I think to backup DVDs even for personal use, right?"

When assumptions like this are made, even with slight question, it's clear that the author is misinformed and the MPAA has won.

For the record, at least in the United States, it's not illegal to create backups of any of your owned media, DVDs included. Doing so is protected as Fair Use of the copyright of which you have purchased a license. Selling or otherwise distributing your backup copies is not protected, however, and backups must be destroyed or transferred when the ownership of the original media license is transferred.

Of course, Fair Use goes out the window if you sign an agreement stating that you will obey certain provisions that work against Fair Use. But you'd never agree to such terms, right?

Right?

::Colz Grigor

Re:DVD backup illegality?

For the record, at least in the United States, it's not illegal to create backups of any of your owned media, DVDs included. Doing so is protected as Fair Use of the copyright of which you have purchased a license.

Your argument would be correct with the minor exception of that pesky DMCA. Currently in the US, backing up a DVD that you've purchased involves bypassing a digital encryption algorithm, which is explicitly prohibited by the DMCA. This renders the rest of your argument moot. Repeatedly seeing these same incorrect things spouted over and over and over again as gospel around here is really making me want to go to law school for copyright law. It's clear that many of you have no interest in actually understanding the law and what is and isn't legal. How do you expect to actually bring about the necessary changes when you can't be bothered to understand the underlying problems?

6 of one, half dozen of the other

I've tried both MythTv and Windows MCE. And quite frankly, at least for the near future, I think they are both a pain in the ass to use when compared to my TiVo or Dish Network DVR.

Vista Media Center Horizontal Menus

He complains about the new menu system in Vista Media Center which uses horizontal scrolling. This is not the first time I've heard this and I agree it does seem to be quite wasteful on a 4:3 display but on a 16:9 plasma/LCD (which people building HTPCs should seriously consider), it's fantastic. The same can be said about the vista wall of music [microsoft.com] interface which is an easy and visually impressive way to navigate music and movies if you have a 16:9 display.

MCE is probably the best product microsoft has written. It has a pretty interface reminiscent of something apple would design and it suprisingle stable. It does it it's designed for and it does it well.

What's The Point?

Okay, so maybe this is asking for trouble, but I read stuff like this and my first impulse is to ask "what's the point?"

I can understand wanting to download stuff to a local computer and use it. No big deal there. I can understand modifying my DirecTivo to let me pull stuff down and save it for later.

But really... why do I want to save it for later? Why do I need to buy a gigantic HD and store hundreds of DVDs? (Really, why ever bother buying a damn DVD at all?)

I want to do a MythTV box, I really do. If nothing else, I'd love to put a server in my basement and use terminals elsewhere to get at it (or wireless laptops).

But in the end, I'd rather just go outside and play in the garden, or go canoeing, or do a little woodworking, or staying on the machine, go argue with people in my favorite forums.

I just don't see the need to DO a central media server. Is that wrong? :)

How about a good hardware review?

Such as, capture cards/encoders that support CableCard or CableCard2? That's one of two reasons why I havn't put together a media center yet; because I'm afraid that I'll lose analogue and have only digital right after I purchase a TV tuner card that doesn't have CC(2) support yet.

The FOSS solution wins everytime

As long as proprietary/closed software from companies (ie. Microsoft) who have a long known history in restricting consumer's rights, but will bend over backward to please their own special customers (the content makers), I'll choose FOSS (MythTV) everytime without hesitation.

Windows Media Center Restricts Cable TV [slashdot.org]

my mythtv experience

I used a MythTV machine for a while, before I had HDTV. I set up whatever release of KnoppMyth was the latest in the spring of 2005 on an Asus Pundit with a Hauppauge PVR350 board. Setting up KnoppMyth was far from a plug and play experience; I had to update almost everything to make it work, and had to go hunt down patches to things like LIRC to get it working with the rest of the system. The choice of which video-out to use was a study in compromises: I could either use the Asus' built-in ATI S-Video out, which had no video acceleration and thus suffered from visible speed issues during playback; or I could use the PVR350 output, which had excellent TV playback, but had a terrible navigation and recording interface since the framebuffer X server could only render video fullscreen. I wound up choosing the PVR350 out, since I preferred to schedule recordings using the web server interface. Once I got it fully running, the system was pretty nice. The basic menu interface looked good and was intuitive, and the picture quality from the PVR350 over S-Video was outstanding. I really liked being able to connect to its web server to schedule shows, because the scheduler interface was awful when viewed on the TV. On the whole, when it worked, it was brilliant, but it definitely had its fair share of bugs -- the two worst being that it would occasionally just produce a black screen when you rewound a show to the beginning, which you could usually revover from, and the wifi (a usb dongle) would sometimes just up and stop working due to a buggy driver, requiring a reboot to get connectivity again. But on the whole it was pretty nice, the TV interface was OK but the selling point for me was the excellent web interface. Once I got HDTV in December of 05, the MythTV box really wasn't an option any more. Since then I've had HD digital cable from two different providers (Comcast and Optimum) both with the Scientific Atlanta SA8300HD DVR (though Comcast and Optimum load different firmware onto the DVR). Frankly, there's no comparison between the commercial DVR and MythTV. The commercial system does everything faster (powering up, changing channels) and never, ever crashes. Sure, I can't transfer movies to my laptop or whatever, but I guess that just isn't something I feel the need to do. I took the PVR350 out of the Pundit, upgraded it to Slackware, and keep it in my entertainment center as a MAME box. Bottom line, if you have a 4:3 CRT TV and basic cable, MythTV is probably fine. If you have a nice widescreen TV and digital cable, MythTV just can't do the things you need, and you can get a DVR from your cable company for so cheap even MythTV can't compete (since after all you still need hardware to run the thing).

dvbstream for me.

After investing in a Hauppauge card, I tried using MythTV. While I understand why the interface is as it is, as it's primarily designed for use via a remote, I have to say I found the experience infuriating. Driving it with a keyboard & mouse, nothing ever did what I expected it to, or worse, frequently doing the opposite. Overall, I found window's Team Media portal a much more pleasurable experience.

Except the reliability of the hardware under windows is fairly woeful, TMP outputs in the annoying MS-DVR format, and (for me) TMP's terrible sync issues.

So now I use dvbstream, mplayer and a few perl scripts I knocked together. It all just works. I've happily traded the ability to channel hop, and the fancy EPGs, for a recording reliability of near 100%.

Question about the install process...

The reviewer states that the Vista install took a long time because, since he had bought the upgrade version, he had to install XP first.

I know for a fact that upgrade versions of eariler windows iterations did not require you to install an older version first. You could boot from the upgrade disc and install the OS, but you would be ask to insert the older versions disc at some point during the install process, just to verify you actually owned it. Is this no longer possible in Vista?

bttv: tuner=-1

Well, it may be slightly off-topic, but this is probably the best place to ask the question. Installing mythTV, I can't get the tuner to work. It uses the bttv module, but when it loads reports that it uses tuner -1, and only gives video from the composite and s-video inputs. Anyone got any ideas?

Good Sound Card

I have a 40" LCD and a mainly Polk Based 5.1 setup with a Denon receiver and I was thinking about hooking up my PC to the whole thing. I was wondering though. What are my options for outputting sound from my PC into the Denon? What solution would give me the best possible sound? A High end sound card? Or Something I don't even know about?

MythTV for n00bs?

What I really want to see is a review of MythTV by someone installing it with no clue about linux. Has anyone ever tried starting their linux experience with MythTV? I find linux gurus referring to "a bit of tinkering to get it working" unhelpful, as a bit of expert tinkering can be years of failure for a n00b.

the best vidoe playback device

is an xbox (original) with mythtv or some equivalent on it. I don't have one personally (I don't actually have a tv right now), but I've seen friends with one and it's pretty nifty.

Basically, all anyone wants is a handy way to play the divx files they have on their big tv... Instead of making a set top box with a hard drive that plays divx, companies like microsoft and apple keep making over complicated devices that stream off of another computer, and don't run divx. Both of them are so afraid of stepping on the toes of copyright holders, and both of them have too much vested interest in promoting their own file formats to actually put together a good movie player...

This is one area where a smaller manufacturer who doesn't have a vested interest in protecting intellectual property or promoting their own proprietary media format, that no one uses, would stand a better chance in the market. As it is, clumsy custom solutions like hacked xboxes, or laptops with s-video out end up working better for solving practical problems than the solutions from microsoft and apple...

I don't know how they can generate so much hype over the crappy encumbering solutions they have out right.

Mediaportal

If you want the ease of use of MCE and don't want the fiddlyness of MythTV.

Try the open source Mediaportal: http://team-mediaportal.com/ [team-mediaportal.com]

They're certainly doing some interesting things over there and they are always open to suggestions/improvements.

MythTV wins?

Can't read TFA because of a work web filter, dammit - hope this is relevant.

Have run MCE and currently run MythTV. I have a Dish setup and have ordered an IR Blaster to complete tha package and skip the need for a second DVR on my home network.

I have only one gripe about MythTV. There's no way I can see to switch from fullscreen to windowed operation and back again - which is something that's pretty easily done in MCE or even in plain old Windows with standard Hauppauge software. As it stands today I have two links to MythTV - one with "--geometry 704x480 --windowed" switches and one that just runs fullscreen. I run them on different workspaces since there's no way to switch between the two modes.

Well, two gripes - mythweather quit working when MSNBC moved their weather site. Rather than patch the application to fix this can't we just stick the location of the web feed in a config file? Please?

Makes one wonder

I'll be honest about my bias, I've been involved with Linux for about 14 years and love it! I held an officer position at a US LUG and have made my Linux machine my main home system (with a little OS X on my G5 for diversity). In addition, as are some Linux users, I'm usually a Microsoft-hater but am forced to use Windows and associated bloatware at work so I try to see the best in it- sigh." ...
In the end, though impressed with MythTV, I'm going to stick with Vista for a while.

If someone who is already biased for MythTV thinks Vista MCE is marginally better, what will an unbiased person think? Or, someone who is just used to Microsoft operating systems?

I believe that if this were a review from anyone who is not a Linuxophile, everyone would be screaming that MS paid for the good review, that it was astroturfing, etc.

He pretty much summed up my experience.

With one exception. I rolled with a knoppix based setup. KnoppMyth. It did auto detect a lot, but there were some minor issues.

The problems were not in the backend, but in the frontend.

I switched out and tested MCE on top of WinXP (i.e. older, not the Vista version). Everything autodetected and ran out of the box, including tuner card. And it was easier to integrate with the other parts of my home network and media.

When it came down to it the deciding factor was which my wife could use easiest. People need to remember TV's are not "tinkering technology", they are simply supposed to work. And , in my case, the MCE option simply worked better and easier.

I don't agree with his flagrant fellating of Mr Jobs as the technological messiah. I have yet to test LinuxMCE, but also that one very nice looking video of it lost credibility with me when I realized it was just a fanboy of the thing evangelizing.

Right now, the MCE box does everything I need, and does it well.

Re:dumbest review ever

He didn't review HDTV because he was overseas not because Mythtv doesn't support it. I have had MythTV recording HDTV for over 1 1/2 years. Support is very good if you have fast hardware.

I'm not sure I trust the author either.

The author, who you call a "zealot" says this about himself:

I'll be honest about my bias, I've been involved with Linux for about 14 years and love it! I held an officer position at a US LUG and have made my Linux machine my main home system (with a little OS X on my G5 for diversity). In addition, as are some Linux users, I'm usually a Microsoft-hater but am forced to use Windows and associated bloatware at work so I try to see the best in it- sigh.

This sounds, to me, like half the astroturf here on Slashdot. No self respecting free software advocate would call themselves a "Microsoft-hater" or a "zealot". These are terms M$ has made up to defend their non free software, digital restrictions, licensing and other obnoxious practices. Anyone who values freedom is labled this way by non free software companies. Dislike of these practices does not make a person blind. His objectivity is suspect to say the least.

You say:

Then he proceeds to say since mythtv cant do HDTV and Media center can, he is going to hold off on HDTV. WTF that alone makes MythTV totally useless for a huge number of techies.

You might mention the reason for that:

I've temporarily held off on HDTV tuners as I'm on special assignment in Europe, with no access to signal.

Oh, huge minus there. There are cards that work.

You might also mention that most free software minuses are legally created fictions. It's still against the law to distribute a full free media system in the US. Your company risks a raid if they do so much as tell you where to get things, so it's a good thing Mark Shuttleworth is from South Africa.

All and all, I'm not sure if this message from new member "Sprak" is what it says it is or if it's just another PR ass wiper from the Redmond lie machine. Besides "Microsoft-hater" he uses a lot of other M$ keywords, "[M$] do hire some smart and talented people", "Vista install was pretty painless with some nice eyecandy and a generally more "serious" look than XP", "there is a feeling of connectedness in the software" and so on and so forth. You can spot these things from a mile away. They all sound the same because they all come with the same marching orders and talking points. Only someone intimately familiar with Windoze workarounds can make Vista work the way he did or would have the M$ brainwash language so ingrained into their thoughts. Such a person would not have time know free software, much less be a LUG officer.

Re:dumbest review ever

Then he proceeds to say since mythtv cant do HDTV and Media center can, he is going to hold off on HDTV.

Did you read the same post I did? The author states that he held off of HDTV because he didn't have any HDTV signals where he was, not that Myth won't do HDTV. It does HDTV nicely, in fact. Interesting that the next post after the article stated something about the front end crashing the backend. I've had my Myth box up for about 60 days now (last downtime was a power outage) and neither the front or backend has crashed at all.

Re:not mythtv -- Wait, yes it is!

Huh?
When I read the article is was very clearly talking about MythTV compared to Vista MCE. I don't think he tried Linux MCE at all.

Linux MCE is a very different animal and MythTV only forms a small part of it. http://linuxmce.com/ [linuxmce.com] It's an amazing piece of software.

---
http://www.linuxlaptops.eu/ [linuxlaptops.eu]

Re:dumbest review ever

I can see that you didn't read very carefully in regards to HDTV: "I've temporarily held off on HDTV tuners as I'm on special assignment in Europe, with no access to signal." In the summary he even states that he is going to stick with Vista over MythTV for now.

Parent is incorrect.

No, the guy installed vanilla Ubuntu.

Mods really need to RTFA before they start modding people "informative".

Re:GOOGLE VIDEO of LinuxMCE vs VistaMCE!

I wish people would stop posting this video. It features AWFUL narration, is obviously biased, and is frankly misleading. LinuxMCE has much promise but this video isn't helping the cause at all.