Conclusions

Despite the omnipresence and professional stance of the two major league media center projects, MythTV and VDR, practical and attractive alternatives are available (see Table 1). Elisa convinces with both its look and technology, and its easy configuration is unbeaten in the field. The lack of TV support and its showy visuals, which seem to be modeled on Apple products, might tip the user's decision in favor of a competitor in some cases.

Freevo is almost too feature rich, and the plethora of options means a steep learning curve for users. After negotiating it, the system rewards you with an array of online video sources, remote control options, a sophisticated client-server design, and add-ins.

GeeXboX is simpler and easy to configure. The approach of using a customized Live CD gives a second lease on life to older hardware and lends itself to new applications, such as embedded players or self-starting video media.