Windows Media Center

Rollo Tamasi

What's the story with this? It looks just like XP to me. What's the difference? A mate has it on a Sony System he bought for 2grand. I presume it can work on any computer yeah?

Another mate was saying he wanted it soley for the XBOX streaming or something. So that's the big horrahh about it anyway?

aidan_walsh

Its XP with extensions, basically.

Rollo Tamasi

what kind of extensions? media ones obviously...but is it just a supped up media player or what? It seems fairly light weight too judging by the size of the download (approx 550mb) while XPSP2 is nearer to 700 iirc

So have they removed security and replaced it with media? Is the media center devoid of SP2 do you know?

Ponster

Media Center is XP SP2 with a remote control

Rollo Tamasi

how does that work though? surely that only comes with the actual pc, unless it's a virtual remote control.....or you update your bodys firmware and get a wirless aentea implated up your arse. mmm intersting

andy1249

Windows MCE is designed for home theatre PC's and is meant to be use as a PVR ( personal video recorder ) and a one stop shop for playing back your movies , albums , photo slideshows , home video , etc all from one place and with an interface that looks nothing like a pc when activated on a Widescreen TV with the " Green Button " on the MCE remote.

You dont get the remote with windows , you have to buy it separately and its about 39.99 euros.
I have it installed in a HTPC and all my albums are on there in MP3 etc.
Its pretty damn cool when its all set up and the GF loves it !!

Heres a link with screenshots to show you what it does ,
http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/windowsxp_mediacenter.asp

Note that MCE is not the only software that can do this , there are other downloads such as Myth TV that do the same job , its just that in MCE everything is integrated and the remote is cool !!

johnpap36

It's an XP with emphasis in video recording and playback, audio playback and TV connection.

SouperComputer

andy1249 summed it up pretty well, theres a dedicated forum in my sig!

daveg

I toyed with this for a while but gave up as the picture was crap on my CRT TV. Is it possible to get a clear, sharp picture on a CRT with Media Centre or does it need a plasma/LCD?

subway

what do you need the clear picture for?
its videos/tv/photo which would normally be at tv resolution anyway?

i had it running on a 28"crt for 6 months, before moving to a 7' projecor screen and both look identical - cept for size obviously

if your running mce in your main tv room you should really just forego the pc side of things .

gnashrr

Can't you do everything in XP that you can with MCE without all the bells and whistles?

subway

gnashrr wrote:

Can't you do everything in XP that you can with MCE without all the bells and whistles?

nope,
the epg is specific to mce.
if your using windows as a pvr it makes a lot more sense to have mce running on the screen than an xp background.

also being aboe to run everythin using a remote instead of kb/mouse is brilliant.
it can be hard to appreciate w/o seeing it running

Ponster

gnashrr wrote:

Can't you do everything in XP that you can with MCE without all the bells and whistles?

MCE can do everything that XP can do.

XP with MythTV and a remote can do everything that MCE can do.


I think...

SouperComputer

Alright, there seems to be a bit of misinformation here, so ill talk about the most common software:

MythTV is linux only. Its fantastic though, its the only software that is truely networkable, great for "cribs-style" homes. Its a proper server\client setup that can be distibuted across multiple backends giving you unlimited options. There is a windows front end for MythTV, but its not fantastic. Luckily you can install streaming software on the MythTV backend.

You can browse you recorded TV shows through a browser, initiate a stream and open it with winamp\VLC\media player etc etc. Also, when you rip your CD's and DVD's, it rips them to the backend server for viewing by all clients. Pretty cool eh?

Its can be a ba$tard to setup, but its well worth it.


MythTV screenies and Features


On Windows you have a couple of options:

1. Windows Media Centre. This is not a bad package. It's more is less a slighly stripped down version of XP pro. The main thing missing is the ability to join Domains. It can be done, but its a bit messy.

MCE contains an extra application called media centre. This program gives you a 10foot UI from which you can watch Live TV, view photos, listen to music, watch videos, Watch recorded TV, setup recording etc etc, all from a remote control.

Networking it properly is messy and it's nowhere near as scaleable as MythTV. But it is a LOT easier to setup. You can use what are called "extenders" as MCE clients on the network, like a set-top-box. These are NTSC only and through wireless\wired network, provide you with a UI just like media centre on the PC where you can do the same things. Only issue is that the codec support is lacking, so you will need to install transcoding software on your MCE computer to covert your DivX, Xvid etc streams to the correct MPEG 2. The xbox360 also acts as an extender, in PAL.


Windows MCE 2005 Screenshots

2. Media portal. This is free software, although still in development its fairly buggy and tough on resources. It's slightly networkable, but its very difficult to share live TV.


MediaPortal Features & Screenies

3. GB-PVR This is free, although not open-source software. Very stable and light on resources. Provides most of the features of MCE such as live tv, recorded TV etc etc. It can be networked quite well from what I have read, but I have'nt had a chance to try it out yet.

GB-PVR Screenies

There is other software out there, but these cover most of it.


In short:

If you want the ultimate setup and and want a challenge, MythTV is the way to go.

If you dont wnat to spend money on MCE but dont want to tear your hair out, try GB-PVR

If you have a few bob and want a fairly easy setup, MCE is the way to go. Just be aware of it's limitations.

Hope this helps, be sure to visit the HTPC forum with any questions you have.

mossym

gbpvr is simple, straightforward..but maybe too straightforward...for tv it is excellent, but managing music and video libraries it is extremely lacking.

mediaportal is buggy..and a resource hog..so i was using gbvpr until i got my new mobo and proc this week. On a 3700+(thanks komplett for slashing the prices:) ) it runs very smoothly..and well enough that I've switched...

the tv function is probably slightly inferior to gbpvr, but the library management for music and videos is far superior..