MediaPortal for Windows

User Reviews

• Setting it up a nightmare

  vegapilotMay 8, 2015

  Pros

  Looks like it would be nice

  Cons

  I just spent 2 hours installing and setting up and it just does not want to play.

  Summary

  Simply put it is a nightmare to set up and they need to do a lot of work to put this right. It requires an sql server to be set up and that requires other s/w to make it work only that would not install and instruction s are poor. If you have several days to kill it may work but I need it to work without out all that hassle. Avoid.

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• Open Source Media Centre that works

  brighty3July 16, 2013

  Pros

  Open Source and Free! Loads of plugins for Fan-Art, TV Series, Web Interfaces, WiFi remotes etc etc. Great skins available! (StreamedMP!!!!) Plays everything, including Blu-ray disks, and if you find it dosnt play something just point MediaPportal to another codec. Built in DVR!

  Cons

  Some may struggle to get the most out of Media Portal as there are a log of settings and configurations but it well worth the effort.

  Summary

  Its worth the effort learning the config and setup, I have been running MediaPortal for 4-5 years now and have tried the others but non of them compare to MediaPortal.

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• AWESOMENESS wrapped in an .exe file!!!!

  xerxes74July 9, 2011

  Pros

  > FREE! > Live TV > DVR/PVR > Graphics & Details for DVD/BRs & saved movies and TV shows scrapped from internet > Extremely Customizable > Multi-lingual > A++ world wide community support

  Cons

  > Having tons of options and customization can take some getting used to

  Summary

  I have been a MediaPortal use for over a year and have found it to be, by far the best solution to your HTPC needs. Features are: Direct X GUI Video Hardware Acceleration VMR / EVR on Windows Vista / 7 TV / Radio (DVB-S, DVB-S2, DVB-T, DVB-C, Analog television (Common Interface, DVB radio, DVB EPG, Teletext, etc...) IPTV Recording, pause and time shifting of TV and Radio broadcasts Music player Video/DVD player Picture player Internet Streams Integrated Weather Forecasts Built-in RSS reader Plug ins Skins ... and many many more! MediaPortal is an open-source media center software project, often considered an alternative to Windows Media Center . It provides a 10-foot user interface for performing typical PVR/TiVo functionality, including playing, pausing, and recording live TV; playing DVDs, videos, and music; viewing pictures; and other functions. Plugins allow it to perform additional tasks, such as watching online video, listening to music from online services such as Last.fm, and launching other applications such as games. It interfaces with the hardware commonly found in HTPCs, such as TV tuners, infrared receivers, and LCD displays.

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• Extensive set of features.

  pal1102June 27, 2010

  Pros

  Good character recognition on non HD TV.

  Cons

  Not as intuitive as I would like. Some menu commands are off screen and one must learn by trial and error to place the cursor near the edge of the screen. However, I never read the instructions.

  Summary

  <br /><br /><span class='notifyMsg'> Updated </span>on Jun 27, 2010<p/>Fine for freeware

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• Quirky and unsophisticated

  grillohJanuary 10, 2010

  Pros

  Nice user interface with many media options

  Cons

  Unstable and unpredictable

  Summary

  I had high hopes for this product when I first installed it, because the interface is attractive and appeared to be very useful. I even considered jettisoning my usual programs in favor of the MediaPortal. And then it began - freezing up, not recognizing the hardware, reporting that the hardware was in use by another program, and on and on. Most of the time I had to reboot in order to get out of the program - a simple "end program" action could not do the trick. I finally gave up on it, finding that I wasted an enormous amount of time trying to make it work as promised. Oh well - at least it is free.

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• It's good, but it freezes all the time.

  XIIAOLYNOctober 18, 2008

  Pros

  Pretty interface! Easy to find your music rather than going to my music just to find it.

  Cons

  Freezes up when starting it up. But I can't expect much from a free program :D

  Summary

  It just doesn't work very well on Windows XP SP3. Other OSes?

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• With all the hype...

  balandranOctober 12, 2008

  Pros

  Nice interface

  Cons

  Not very intutive and I had to guess at why it wouldn't work with my tuner card. So I guess my tuner card is too old.

  Summary

  Really wanted to use this, but needs to be user friendly and intuitive.

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• For what I need (beyondmedia replacement) this is GREAT

  whodoesApril 30, 2008

  Pros

  FREE<p>I just wanted an attractive easy stable front end for videos on my network.. Im using BeyondTv for my TV PVR. Ive been very happy using this (NOT FREE) software and have appreciated the regular updates and the simplicity. BUT it is paired with an awful external application "BeyondMedia" for organizing network media (vids, mp3, pics etc.). I LOVE using MediaPortal as a replacement. I havent tried using any of Mediaportal's other functions so i cant speak to those.

  Cons

  I like everything ive tried to use. The dev. community seem active and updates/plugins seem to roll out regularly.

  Summary

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• The Best Free internet TV site

  welyweahDecember 11, 2007

  Pros

  After testing various TV software and visiting loads of sites. most of them offer a free trial or preview and then they make you pay to sign up, or are cluttered with ads. I think that is ridiculous... so ive done my research and have found a couple of really decent sites. The first one Id like to draw your tention to is (viewmy.tv) This site has almost 1300 channels from around the globe and counting. it is free to register and they dont ask for stupid details, just your username and email address. It actually streams live channels so you dont have to download any and they have a pretty easy way of finding the channel you want. You can search through genre, country, region or name of the channel. oh and there are no ads either. Check this one out. With over 1300 channels from hundreds of countries, loads of features like channel rating, user recommendations, live chat, profile pages and much much more.

  Cons

  Summary

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• I want to like it...but there are much better options...

  Campaigner444March 21, 2007

  Pros

  Very nice looking interface. Also, its open source! Hopefully, community involvement will be a huge boon for this program in the future. Unfortunately, for now...

  Cons

  ...Media Portal is slow and clunky as molasses. It has frozen on me several times. TV mode takes nearly a minute to load! The main menu, while nice looking, is full of issues. The "scroll" feature, while maybe good with a remote, absolutely HATED my mouse! I couldn't click on a thing because the menu would not stop scrolling! Its a program that needs work. If you need a TV card solution now, try GB-PVR or one of the Linux products(MythTV, etc). Who knows, MediaPortal looks young. Maybe with open source community support it will be a good program in the future.

  Summary

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