All,

I am currently using a 7MC (Windows 7 Media Center PC) with my Xbox 360. Works great! I like it alot. It can stream all the codecs i need natively without any on the fly conversions (not a CPU hog). I love the idea of keeping all the media centrally while having extenders, especially for TV streaming. However, i am looking for a second extender for my living room and i've come to a dilemma. I dont want another xbox and the extenders seem to be at the end of life states. Linksys and Netgear have EOL their extenders. So is this a dead technology?
If so, what other alterntives provide me with a similar setup?
My Requirements are:
Central Media (Movies/Music/Pics/TV [tuner card])
Extenders (can be anything)

The closest thing i've found is GB-PVR (www[dot]gbpvr[dot]com), but again i want to know that my extender and server end will not be extinct in the next year and stop getting updates/ new plugins etc.

Thanks for any feedback
GD

ps. sorry for URL not enough posts. i'm new here :)

All,

I am currently using a 7MC (Windows 7 Media Center PC) with my Xbox 360. Works great! I like it alot. It can stream all the codecs i need natively without any on the fly conversions (not a CPU hog). I love the idea of keeping all the media centrally while having extenders, especially for TV streaming. However, i am looking for a second extender for my living room and i've come to a dilemma. I dont want another xbox and the extenders seem to be at the end of life states. Linksys and Netgear have EOL their extenders. So is this a dead technology?
If so, what other alterntives provide me with a similar setup?
My Requirements are:
Central Media (Movies/Music/Pics/TV [tuner card])
Extenders (can be anything)

The closest thing i've found is GB-PVR (www[dot]gbpvr[dot]com), but again i want to know that my extender and server end will not be extinct in the next year and stop getting updates/ new plugins etc.

Thanks for any feedback
GD

ps. sorry for URL not enough posts. i'm new here :)

Depending on how important integrating TV is, I would recommend SageTV. You can run it on your W7 desktop in server mode or get a dedicated media server like the Acer EasyStore or HP MediaSmart Server. You can then use their SageTV HD 200 extenders to play back all your media, placeshift tv, etc...

Here is some info on SageTV and some stuff I have documented:

SageMovieWall (http://dbone1026.blogspot.com/2009/08/sagetv-sagemoviewall-smw-version-4.html)
SageTV HD 200 (http://dbone1026.blogspot.com/2009/03/sagetv-hd200-inital-review-and-setup.html)
Geektonic (http://www.geektonic.com)

There are other solutions out there, but for integrating a media center with the tv functionality SageTV is probably the best

Well, Im in a similar position ... GBPVR is promising since it has a client for the NMT which acts like a extender (for GBPVR). Im looking into Orb also, since all you need is a browser.

Well, Im in a similar position ... GBPVR is promising since it has a client for the NMT which acts like a extender (for GBPVR). Im looking into Orb also, since all you need is a browser.

I've tested GB-PVR with the PCH A-110 but waiting to see how it performs with the upcoming C-200, particularly with the new sigma chip.

What about MythTV? You can install the MythFrontends on many devices including AppleTV (Instructions instructions (http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Installing_MythFrontend_on_an_AppleTV)).

Obviously this setup would require a bit more hacking than MCE, which I believe is the best solution on the market(!?) for what you're looking for.

If you're happy with the performance of your Xbox as an extender, then getting another one might be the best answer. The Arcade version is only $200 new, and you can easily get one used for under $150.

As for it being "dead", you don't have to worry about that. MS is very committed to pushing media center. It's built into win7, and certainly won't be going anywhere any time soon. The 360 is actually ideal for keeping up to date, as the UI is still actively being developed and will be for years.