My current home setup consists of small form factor HTPCs located througout my house, all running Vista. It works fairly well, but I'm looking forward to the release of Windows 7 to improve things. From what I've seen of the beta, it seems networking between Vista Media Centers is improved.
My concern is TV support. I currently have analog TV tuners in each of my HTPCs, and use a HDHomeRun to stream some HD content to all of them over the network. This is OK, but of course I'd like more HD content if possible.
Comcast has sent me a notification saying they are dropping analog support in the coming months. My other option (which I plan on switching to) is FIOS, but they also do not have analog TV support here. I'd prefer not to have cable/FIOS boxes in every room.
I could put my cable/TV sources in a central location, but you can't stream live TV to Vista PCs on the LAN (has this changed in Windows 7?).
I don't like the limitations of current Extenders (can't stream ripped DVDs, some plug-ins don't work, slower performance, etc...).
So, my question is - what is everyone else doing for TV? What setups do you have, what limitations do you have, and how well does it work for you?
I appreciate any and all feedback.
Thanks!!
My concern is TV support. I currently have analog TV tuners in each of my HTPCs, and use a HDHomeRun to stream some HD content to all of them over the network. This is OK, but of course I'd like more HD content if possible.
Comcast has sent me a notification saying they are dropping analog support in the coming months. My other option (which I plan on switching to) is FIOS, but they also do not have analog TV support here. I'd prefer not to have cable/FIOS boxes in every room.
I could put my cable/TV sources in a central location, but you can't stream live TV to Vista PCs on the LAN (has this changed in Windows 7?).
I don't like the limitations of current Extenders (can't stream ripped DVDs, some plug-ins don't work, slower performance, etc...).
So, my question is - what is everyone else doing for TV? What setups do you have, what limitations do you have, and how well does it work for you?
I appreciate any and all feedback.
Thanks!!
I don't have it up an running, because I don't want the cable bill, but apparently it works just fine for many others. The process to get there seems relatively simple. Just run the program and your computer is set with all it needing then is a digital cable tuner and the cable guy to come out and install the card.
