Best PVR software?
 

I've been using GB-PVR for a while now because its free and I'm cheap. But I'm pondering actually paying for something a bit more robust.

Suggestions?

My largest concerns are stability and good robust recording. I'd also like enough intelligence that if I tell it to tape a season it will skip the repeats/reruns.

Re: Best PVR software?
 

Having tried almost everything that's available, GB-PVR won on all counts. And the only way to stave off recording a repeat is to have that episode already recorded and have "do not record duplicates" turned on. However there was a plugin released recently that creates premiere-only Guide Data titles for shows to allow you to record ONLY premieres.
http://forums.gbpvr.com/showthread.p...ghlight=reruns

I also recommend using the Web Scheduling interface. See this section of the Wiki for more details
http://gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/C...llaneous#toc22

You access the guide from other machines on the network using the following address
http://---.---.-.---:###/gbpvr/login.aspx

---.---.-.--- = IP of HTPC. Makes it easier to define a static IP address in that machine's network settings so that it's consistent even if the router or switch gets reset.
### = Port you assigned in the GB-PVR settings

To share video on the network I found it easiest to just share the recordings folder then playback the files with DVD playback software, which has a larger playback buffer than other video playback software. Or better yet, if you install GB-PVR on the machine you want to playback from, you can set the remote folder on the HTPC as your videos directory for the remote machine. When you run GB-PVR on the client machine it will recognize and use any program definition information as well as automatically using comskip files.