XP Media Edition
- Thread starter BlueSpud
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lanky
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Overall it does a very good job of what it is designed to do - it is nicely designed, simple and works well.
As mentioned by the previous poster, from a user experience point of view, it is like XP with an extra suite of programs added brought together in a simple interface that you can control from the couch via remote control.
I especially like the PVR/Tivo type functionality (Electronic Program Guide, Record TV) and this is the main additional feature that I use.
A lot of the other features you probably have in some shape or form, e.g. organising music, editing pictures etc. Personally, I am still using itunes for Music because I have an iPod.
So a thumbs up from me, especially if you want the TV recording features. However, I wouldn't go spend a huge amount upgrading hardware just to get it immediately - you can get most of the features in seperate programs, they are just not as well put together.
Here are a few caveats:
1) If you are buying a TV tuner or a PC/laptop which included a TV tuner for Media Centre ensure that it is on Microsoft's list of fully compatible tuners - the Media Centre part of the software will ignore the tuner unless it is. I bought a laptop from Dell with a USB Avermedia TV tuner and it was not fully compatible (it came with seperate software for recording that had no EPG and was very poor in comparison - I had to go out and buy one). I was quite disappointed in Dell for selling me this without making it clear that it wasn't properly compatible.
2) Compared to XP Pro, the networking options are slightly constricted (for example, domain use). This won't be a problem for most home users.
3) Don't forget the laptop/PC noise if you are thinking of using media centre in your living room. I leave my laptop running so it can record TV etc. but when there is no other noise in the room you can here the hum.
4) An obvious one this - if you are going to use it in the living room, make sure that you have a spare input connection on the TV - its not much fun having to switch in and out connections.
5) Finally, I have a fairly old TV and the picture is not as good as when I watch TV directly from cable - I think replacing the TV (eventually) with a higher resolution LCD or Plasma will give a much better experience.
I hope this helps!
Lanky
As mentioned by the previous poster, from a user experience point of view, it is like XP with an extra suite of programs added brought together in a simple interface that you can control from the couch via remote control.
I especially like the PVR/Tivo type functionality (Electronic Program Guide, Record TV) and this is the main additional feature that I use.
A lot of the other features you probably have in some shape or form, e.g. organising music, editing pictures etc. Personally, I am still using itunes for Music because I have an iPod.
So a thumbs up from me, especially if you want the TV recording features. However, I wouldn't go spend a huge amount upgrading hardware just to get it immediately - you can get most of the features in seperate programs, they are just not as well put together.
Here are a few caveats:
1) If you are buying a TV tuner or a PC/laptop which included a TV tuner for Media Centre ensure that it is on Microsoft's list of fully compatible tuners - the Media Centre part of the software will ignore the tuner unless it is. I bought a laptop from Dell with a USB Avermedia TV tuner and it was not fully compatible (it came with seperate software for recording that had no EPG and was very poor in comparison - I had to go out and buy one). I was quite disappointed in Dell for selling me this without making it clear that it wasn't properly compatible.
2) Compared to XP Pro, the networking options are slightly constricted (for example, domain use). This won't be a problem for most home users.
3) Don't forget the laptop/PC noise if you are thinking of using media centre in your living room. I leave my laptop running so it can record TV etc. but when there is no other noise in the room you can here the hum.
4) An obvious one this - if you are going to use it in the living room, make sure that you have a spare input connection on the TV - its not much fun having to switch in and out connections.
5) Finally, I have a fairly old TV and the picture is not as good as when I watch TV directly from cable - I think replacing the TV (eventually) with a higher resolution LCD or Plasma will give a much better experience.
I hope this helps!
Lanky
Hi,
XP Media Center 2005 is XP Pro with added media center applications, only difference to Pro being lack of multi domain logins I think, and as mentioned above this is not relevant to most home users.
Just from the tone of the previous posts I think these may be people who bought a new PC which happened to have media center installed on it, so it was kind of an afterthought. To get the most out of media center you need a PC that is tailored to its needs - i.e. right hardwards, lots of hard disk space, silence, and nice appearance if its going into the living room.
The classic media center setup has a purpose built PC sitting right beside the TV in the living room. The fact that you can control it all from your couch with a remote control is what makes it ground breaking. The media center apps are not intended to be used in the classic PC user scenario of person in computer room sitting on PC chair - its all about bringing that functionality into the living room to be used from the comfort of your couch, so the fact that you can play music already in other apps is irrelevant. I think Dell, and HP and anyone who are selling PCs with Media Center installed and trying to pass them off as Media Center PCs are misleading the customer a bit as these machines are not designed for the normal 'in living room' media center setup.
Checkout my post in the following thread for details of my setup whereby I use an Xbox 360 as a Media Center Extender, which will become a more popular setup as time goes by as it lets you use your Media Center PC for other normal PC things in one room, while someone takes advantage of the media features it provides in the living room. The thread also has a link to a demo: http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=20154
In short, Media Center is my favourite piece of technology ever and the list of features it can provide will only continue to grow with the number of free 3rd party plug-ins growing by the week.
XP Media Center 2005 is XP Pro with added media center applications, only difference to Pro being lack of multi domain logins I think, and as mentioned above this is not relevant to most home users.
Just from the tone of the previous posts I think these may be people who bought a new PC which happened to have media center installed on it, so it was kind of an afterthought. To get the most out of media center you need a PC that is tailored to its needs - i.e. right hardwards, lots of hard disk space, silence, and nice appearance if its going into the living room.
The classic media center setup has a purpose built PC sitting right beside the TV in the living room. The fact that you can control it all from your couch with a remote control is what makes it ground breaking. The media center apps are not intended to be used in the classic PC user scenario of person in computer room sitting on PC chair - its all about bringing that functionality into the living room to be used from the comfort of your couch, so the fact that you can play music already in other apps is irrelevant. I think Dell, and HP and anyone who are selling PCs with Media Center installed and trying to pass them off as Media Center PCs are misleading the customer a bit as these machines are not designed for the normal 'in living room' media center setup.
Checkout my post in the following thread for details of my setup whereby I use an Xbox 360 as a Media Center Extender, which will become a more popular setup as time goes by as it lets you use your Media Center PC for other normal PC things in one room, while someone takes advantage of the media features it provides in the living room. The thread also has a link to a demo: http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=20154
In short, Media Center is my favourite piece of technology ever and the list of features it can provide will only continue to grow with the number of free 3rd party plug-ins growing by the week.
Hi I want to use some sort of pc for playing my music and videos etc that i have on other pcs and cds etc possibly using xp media center. I was looking at the SONY VAIO VGX-XL100 as i like the design and that its quiet. Anybody used one of these or can reccomend anything similar?
Preferably out of the box as i dont have time to source and build at the moment. Also do you have to have digital tv to use the record facility with xp media center?
thanks
Preferably out of the box as i dont have time to source and build at the moment. Also do you have to have digital tv to use the record facility with xp media center?
thanks
Video/audio playback isn't a vastly processor intensive task. At least not in the age of the 3Ghz CPU.
I've got a couple of soft-modded XBox's (the old black ones) and they play video/audio off a PC to which they are both networked. Works like a charm. . Only cost me about €70 per Xbox.
As far as I know, you can only get Windows MCE (Media Centre Edition) when you buy a PC but Komplett stretch this a bit and you can get away with buying a new component. This together with an XBox 360 would do the trick. The 360 also acts as an MCE extender which essentially means you can play audio/video off your (networked) Windows MCE machine.
Certainly a lot cheaper than shelling out for a Vaio
I've got a couple of soft-modded XBox's (the old black ones) and they play video/audio off a PC to which they are both networked. Works like a charm. . Only cost me about €70 per Xbox.
As far as I know, you can only get Windows MCE (Media Centre Edition) when you buy a PC but Komplett stretch this a bit and you can get away with buying a new component. This together with an XBox 360 would do the trick. The 360 also acts as an MCE extender which essentially means you can play audio/video off your (networked) Windows MCE machine.
Certainly a lot cheaper than shelling out for a Vaio
Well the idea would be to have the PC in another room and either run cables or use wifi networking to connect the XBoxes. Another elegant solution (which I toyed with doing) is looking at the small form factor machines. Particularly mini-ITX. Check out some of the neat projects on the Mini ITX website (down the right hand side). Have Bender from Futurama in your sitting room!