Media Browser 3 + 7MC Review

[woodchuck]

Has anyone come across a blog or review of some sort that talks specifically about using MB3 with 7MC for TV recordings? With an InfiniTV 6 and a working 7MC rig, I have no intent of abandoning my investment for some time, but if MB3 played ball well with 7MC, I'd like to have a closer look. I've Googled around, but its hard when you use the terms "media broswer 3 media center" - lots of noise to sift through...

[barnabas1969]

I don't know about reviews, but if you look on the Media Browser 3 site, and click on the "Clients" link at the top of the page, you will see that there is a Media Browser "Classic" client that works with Media Center 7/8/8.1.

I'm actually tempted to try it. When I looked at Media Browser a couple of years ago, I had no media files and saw no need to use the software. Now, things have changed, and it might be interesting... especially since the Android/iOS/WP clients give you access from outside your local network.

[kingwr]

I think it depends on what direction you are talking about - if running the classic client in Media Center to access media from your Media Browser server, that is one thing. If you are wanting to serve recorded TV content through Media Browser Server to Media Browser clients, then you are going to have problems with protected content and there is no way to schedule/manage recordings.

[barnabas1969]

I missed the part about recorded TV. Kingwr is correct... it would only work with copy-freely recordings, and you wouldn't be able to schedule recordings from Media Browser. However, it is a cool way to watch your copy-freely recordings on mobile devices and Roku.

When I first heard about MB3 going client-server, I thought they were abandoning Media Center altogether, but I've recently learned that I was wrong. I'd like to give it a try. It looks really nice. I have some ripped movies now, and approximately 2/3 of my recorded TV is from the local (copy-freely) channels. So, it would be really nice to watch them from anywhere on a mobile device via the MB3 interface.

[epayson85]

MB2 was way too buggy for me so I had to use something else. The WAF factor is a very big deal in my house especially since I travel so much for work. I tried Mymovies and after some configurations I have really fallen in love with the software. Its so easy to change and edit meta data. Creating custom categories with their own art and backgrounds is one of my favorite features. It took so much work and time on large collection like mine it would be tough to leave. Not to mention the $50 investment in the software. Plus the client / server models is great around the house. Then of course the most important feature... IT JUST WORKS.

Now back to MB... I tried MB3 while in beta. The ability to watch videos remotely is pretty cool a lot like plex but at least you are only maintaining one database. My only issue is the fact that its web based to control the database. Maybe the beta was buggy and I will have to give it a try but it would freeze up a lot. It also never gave me an accurate time frame / % on how far along it was on scanning my library. Then the big thing that threw me off was that the client for WMC really didn't look updated at all. It functioned pretty much the same way MB2 did just reprogrammed to access the new server. Load times were slow accessing the meta data (just like before) and it would sometimes freeze just like before. I get it MB3 is free (right now anyway) but for $50 I can get a system that works perfectly and if I want remote trans-coding I can install plex. If you are going to try this out don't put it on your main HTPC first. Use another PC on your network and make sure you really want it.

[christoph86]

I've been using MB3 for over a month and like it a lot, but I haven't really used my movies or plex so I can't compare it to those. But, yes you can watch all your non DRM recordings on any client you have set up, you just have to add your recorded tv file to the server. I've accessed my recordings on the web, my phone and tablet and you can do it anywhere. I also have movies, music, home videos and pictures set up as well.

[Bryan]

I haven't done anything with it outside of my movies, but I upgraded to MB3 Classic a few weeks ago and have been happy so far. The server is running on my WHS 2011 machine. I do need to try it with some recorded TV at some point; I wouldn't bother using it outside of the home, but it'd be nice to use it on an iPad.

[duncane]

I've been using MB3 + MBC (Media Browser Classic inside 7MC) on my main HTPC since it was available and have had no issues to speak of. The only thing that springs to mind was a few updates to MB3 Server failed in the early days but his was easily fixed.

I use use 2 x MBC clients and 2 Androids (Nexus 4 + 7) and love it. They are also developing the standalone MBT (Media Browser Theater) whic is coming along really well and it's only in Alpha.

I should add I get my Metadata externally with MetaBrowser, I've used this with MB2 for years.

Lastly, I've never written so many abbreviations...

[newfiend]

I have also been using MB3 for a bit now. I like it much better than MB2. There are new plugin's for MB3 that were never available for MB2. Like Movie Theme Video's, Tv Theme Videos And Theme Music for TV Episodes etc. I didn't think I would like these as much as I do.
There are also some new theme's for MB Classic that are very nice. It's coming along nicely, I use MB3 on the HTPC, Surface Tablet (8.1 app) Tried MB Theater on the desktop PC, Used the Windows Phone Client and Android Clients. The only two I had an issue with were the WP and Android Clients. The WP Client is a beta still and needs some fixing at the moment.. The Android Client would buffer a bit on my daughters kindle.. Once the clients are solid and everything is out of BETA I think they will have a very nice start. So far been very pleased.
The community is great if you need help check the forums there lots of good info. http://www.mediabrowser3.com/

newfiend~

[bruce73]

I'm trying out MBT on my HTPC now as a possible replacement to MyMovies/7MC. I prefer the UI (although that load time is a killer). What is like to do ideally is integrate MBT with 7MC so that I can use it on my Xbox360. But I'm not seeing that it's doable now (?). Are MBC and MBT compatible on the same PC?

Then again, I could just forget about trying to work with 7MC (which wouldn't be hard, ) and go with jRiver. Any thoughts?

[milli260876]

Yep you can have theater and mbc on the same pc. With 8 you can have the w8 app on too.
MBC is the best way forward at this moment in time, theater will be great once complete tho...

[bobbob]

live tv is also coming to mb3 so there would be a full scheduling tool. obviously you need a back end to provide the tv to MB3 in the first place and it won't help those crippled by DRM but in Europe everything is DRM free and many already use a backend to get live tv into WMC

[NWW]

Well, just to add my 2 cents. When I first saw the demo video, my reaction was that it seemed "buggy", "not smooth". That was a long time ago, and I'm glad to say that I was wrong!

I updated to MB3 (after eyeing plex for so long, but hating the interface) and installed MBC. Well MBC is the same as MB2, so that's good. But I installed the Windows 8.1 app on my surface and was able to watch the latest Sherlock episode recorded on BBC One HD (in 1080p, around 9Mbps) without a hiccup. The mobile apps are looking great and the developers are hyper-reactive, which is a good thing. They're currently working on live TV, and when it's released, there really is no reason for me to keep WMC around.

If all goes well and everything about live TV is smooth, I see many Intel NUCs in my near future ^^

For all those still on MB2, upgrade, really it's worth it.

[woodchuck]

Has anyone figured out a way to do HBOgo or a similar premium channel service in MB3 or otherwise? That might be the ticket around "copy-once" cable card flags for some channels.