Windows Media Center.....Any good??

[Chopperwelsh]

Im thinking of building up a Computer to be used as a media center for my TV.

im just really bored of my normal TV set-up and fancy a change.

I was just wondering if the Windows media center Software any good???

Cheers http://www.bst-secure.com/forums/images/smilies/cheers.gif

[smokafatty]

If you want to use MCE you will need a certain kind of capture card to use with it.

An alternative would be to use mediaportal (http://mediaportal.sourceforge.net/) which is free and can be used with most capture cards.

[Shinko]

I was going to do the same thing mate until I saw the latest Xbox Media Centre. I've now got that setup with a wired connecton to my router so i can stream media from all of my pc's. One word - Awesome !

[Pitsy]

I have a Media Center built from spare bits in the house using a Shuttle case, its an amazing piece of kit.

I also use this to stream from my USB Lacie Bigger disk which is attached to my wireless network.

My only complaint is that it is more geared up for use in the US and there isn't much content for the UK market.

But as a media machine to watch films, Xvids DVD's etc etc its fantastic, even the wife can use it LOL

Pitsy

[mmace]

i agree with pitsy, very good, I'm amazed at how quick it is (for microsoft!)
and after I've set up the shared folders etc then even the wife can use it!

great for HDTV here in UK since there's none broadcast yet

[©™~SKEG~™©]

just finished setting mine up, im using a 26" lcd tv at the moment, and im well happy with it,
even mrs skeg can use it, but i may try it out on my 52" rear projection tv this weekend
im still trying to convince mrs skeg that we really need a massive HDTV plasma telly :D

[danman]

I've just got round to building one too. I must be a right jammy git cos I never checked for compatability I just bolted together any ol' bits. Used an old shuttle with onboard everything and a 2.6 athlon. Stuck in a gig of ram and a £40 freeview tuner, got a cheap £20 MCE remote off fleabay and everything was gravy.
Absolutely love it. The kids can still play away to their hearts content and use it for browsing the web etc so it's not a waste of a PC.

Also connected my 360 to it so I could stream video to another TV..... and I don't know if anyone can back me up on this but I reckon divx/xvid run through Transcode360 actually improves video quality. That's to say that all the XviD TV episodes I have suffer from the fact divx/xvid doesn't handle gradual subtle shade changes and as such you tend to get static images that kind of jigsaw blocks of colour, it's quite obvious on a large screen. Through transcode360 with my 360 in HD mode the colours blend a lot better, it's much smoother with no obvious blocks at all. I've looked at all the latest Sopranos, Prison Break, and Lost and theres deffo an improvement on RAW Avi's. Anyone else have this type of setup and notice this or is it just me?

[C0UGAR UK]

The kids can still play away to their hearts content and use it for browsing the web etc so it's not a waste of a PC.

Nice, but mmace, pitsy, SKEG wives can use theirs :-)