Media Software experiences? (1 Viewer)

[Battledad]

As I prep for moving from Satellite to OTA + Internet I'm finishing up my htpc. I've played with WMC, XBMC, MediaPortal, Plex and several others. I ran across the JRiver Media software and after noting it is basically $50 after the 30 day trial I began researching the differences between JRiver and other products. So far I find JRiver is be easier to use, more intuitive and broader in scope. It appears I can easily open a browser, watch TV, watch my movies, stream, play music and use the htpc as a recorder for OTA programming Anyone have experiences with JRiver specifically or other similiar software? Looking for something simple and dependable with good quality. I'm even considering buying their remote for $41.

 

[TK423]

XBMC is a spectacular program and it has the equally spectacular benefit of being free. That being said, sleek as XBMC can look, it does have a bit of a learning curve and isn't always necessarily user friendly. XBMC is just now starting get support for Live TV as well. I'm not familiar with JRiver myself. I've heard it's a good program but I myself couldn't justify paying for it when there are so many solid, free, open source alternatives. This is only one opinion. Like I said, I've heard JRiver is a good program that is apparently much more approachable then XBMC and as of right now it's live television feed support may be better, I'm not sure.

 

[Battledad]

Thanks for the thoughts. I'm pretty computer savy and I find XBMC to be less the intuitive or friendly. So far JRiver has been easy to set up, the live TV (with recording) is straight forward. I realize there are other "free" solutions but sometimes free has a higher cost than buying. This unit will be used by a wide range of users so simplicity and ease of use are critical.

 

[TK423]

I can't comment on JRiver, having never used it, but I can say it seems like most people have a little bit of trouble with XBMC the first time they are handed a remote so JRiver's approachability and easy of use may be better for your setup and users. Maybe post later on your thoughts on JRiver. Be interested to hear.

 

[mattCR]

I make very heavy use of WMC Combined with MediaBrowser (http://www.mediabrowser.tv).

 

[Battledad]

Is it easy (using WMC + Mediabrowser) to record programing? I glanced through the Mediabrowser info and didn't see anything. I do seem to remember that WMC allows recording of OTA content. For the WMC + MB combo what are the key pros and cons based on your experience? What would you like to have in that combo that you don't?