LinuxLinks Review
3 November 2005
By Don Saunders
Maxemum TV-Guide 5.10.26
Like FreeGuide, Maxemum TV-Guide is not available from the standard apt sources. Fortunately, installation in Ubuntu was straightforward as the author kindly provides a .deb package from his website. Consequently, I proceeded to download the .deb file, and installed it using sudo dpkg -i maxemumtvguide_5.10.26-1_i386.deb in a console shell.
On startup I was presented with a blank screen. It wasn't immediately obvious how to set up Maxemum TV-Guide, but after querying what files had been installed by the dpkg command, I read the README at /usr/share/doc/maxemumtvguide. This file explains that to set up XMLTV I needed to populate the XML TV-File and the Update Command from Preferences / Updates. For the latter I entered tv_grab_uk_rt --config-file /home/don/.xmltv/tv_grab_uk_tv.conf --days 14 --output /home/don/.xmltv/mtvg.xml.
The screenshot below shows you the main view of Maxemum TV-Guide. Unlike FreeGuide, the user is presented with a list mode, which can show you the tv programmes available for a single tv channel. The example screenshot shows the tv programmes on (Channel) Five.
However, it is possible for the listings of multiple channels to be shown at the same time. In the channels window you can select multiple channels you wish to view, and the selected channels then appear in the list mode. Although having both a grid and list mode would be preferable, I found this multi channel list mode much more useful than the grid mode of FreeGuide.
Maxemum TV-Guide has some other useful features. I especially like the category filter which gives you the ability to find programmes that match specific categories. For example, selecting the film categories, and then pressing the Channel Sort Mode shows all of the films that are on a particular day. Another really essential feature is the ability to search the programme entries. Maxemum TV-Guide lets you search from the title of the programme, the actors, and/or the programme description.
Another feature implemented is the ability to tag a show as a favourite. You then receive a popup window notifying you that your favourite programme is about to start. There is also the facility to execute a command when the favourite starts, which allows you to have an audio warning as well as the visual warning. However, I would prefer being able to set adhoc entries, as many programmes are repeated during the week, and it is a bit annoying to get notified when the 3rd repeat of a show you've already watched appears.
The program is quick in operation, fairly intuitive, and quick to navigate.
GShow TV 0.6.2
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