I just built one myself and I used Media Portal. It seems pretty good, lots of plugins and skins to choose from. But I have never tried others, so I cannot give comparisons. Media Portal is free, so if you don't like it you can always uninstall it.
Im also looking for tuner software. I just tried installing media portal (latest version) but it crashes during installation of the ms c++ software. But from what I can see it does look very promising.
I'm mainly looking for a standalone software for a single pc. I tested out beyondtv (cost 79.00). And that work excellent on my PC, even on my budget (cost 39.00) MSI tuner card it work decent enough. If I can't get the free software to work I'll probably go with beyndtv, it's very TIVO like on the interface and tvguide.
I have a central computer (4X500gb hard drives/3 hauppagauge pvr150 tuner cards installed)on my main HTPC that has sagetv installed (cost 79.00), I have had it installed for 2 years, and it has been rock-solid as a HTPC software and it feeds 2 other computers through an ethernet connection. It records all the programs on time, and the computer runs 24/7 without any problems. But as a software for a single pc it can be hard to program, something that I like about beyondtv was how easy it was to setup.
From what I have used, sagetv would be good for a computer system that will be always on and has multiple tuners. It might be a little harder to program it the first time, but once setup it'll run reliability for years with no problem. Once you pay the initial cost, theres no monthly or yearly fees. Beyondtv would be excellent for a single pc that won't be connected on a lan but you need a good recording software on it. Was very easy to setup. When my 15 day trial ran out, I was ready to buy it, but decided to try out other software including the free ones available.
If you are wanting to record shows, I have used beyond TV and really loved it. I know it isn't free, but I do think it is the best.
If you are wanting playback only, The field of software opens up a great deal. I found that zoomplayer worked the best for me. And the runner up was the FREE Windows Media Classic (found in the K-lite codec pack).
