AVerMedia compatable software: Express Mini

[videobruce]

I'm looking (with no success) for alternatives to their lame 'Media Center" software for a 'Express Mini' Laptop express slot tuner.

I tried SageTV, but the software doesn't recognize the tuner (so far). Other than M$ MCE which I have no intention of using, what else would work here?

 

[code65536]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but "M$" is by far the best option you have, at least in the Windows world. This is coming from someone with 9 TV tuners from 5 different brands running on 6 different machines. I guess if I really must use something other than WMC, the best non-WMC (that I've tried) is probably ArcSoft's TotalMedia. But even that sucks compared to WMC. What's wrong with WMC, anyway? If you're concerned about the WTV format, that's just a container format, and there are free tools to demux and remux WTV files into regular MPEG2 files.

 

[videobruce]

What's wrong with WMC, anyway?

It's M$.
Of course something made by & for the O/S will work better. I will look into TotalMedia.

 

[code65536]

It's M$.

That's a prejudice, not a reason. Regardless of how much you may hate the company who made it, on Windows, WMC is the best there is, in terms of features, reliability, and the level of bugginess. Besides, I assume that you are already using Windows; if using Microsoft software really is such a dirty thing, then you are already wallowing in mud, and an extra fistful won't kill you.

 

[videobruce]

I will admit you have something here; about "wallowing in mud".

MCE is a different flavor of XP, it's not a add on, correct? It is available in XP isn't it?

 

[code65536]

Oh, you're using XP? Yikes. Um, WMC is available for XP, but only if you installed the Media Center Edition of XP. Basically, you'd need to reinstall the OS if you don't already run MCE. And I'm not sure how well it supports modern ATSC tuners (I had only used analog tuners in XP; all my experience with ATSC tuners have all been in Vista/7). The bundling of WMC is much more straightforward in 7: it's a standard part of Windows unless you got the Starter or Home Basic editions.

Anyway, if you're using XP and not already using XP MCE, then it's probably easier to try TotalMedia or some other 3rd-party solution. (TM is what I currently use on my XP system.)

 

[mxnerd]

Try MediaPortal 1.2 (http://www.team-mediaportal.com/), free, which includes TV tuner support.