Windows Media Center vs TiVo Premiere - Page 4

As I posted months ago I agree after playing around with Windows 8. At the same time if one is looking to try it out or swap computers I think it's a great time to obtain a license. Especially with Media Pack being free. The $15 upgrade is only for recent PC purchases but once it's obtained you are allowed to install it on any PC as long as you have a valid license such as for XP. So it's a cheap way of upgrading Windows (for trying WMC). Plus, if you ever want to switch PCs I'd recommend bringing the new one online while the existing one was still in service. I had my Mac Mini running Preview (fine) but installing the official release I ran into a few issues.

Bottom line in my case I ended up with a Windows 8 Pro with Media Pack license for free. I'm sure I can use the license... heck I'm using it right now. Later on it looks like it might get rather costly to obtain WMC as you have to upgrade to Pro before you even have the opportunity to purchase it. I also agree Microsoft has abandoned WMC but it appears to be far from EOL (guide wise). If they were going to drop such it would have been the perfect time...

Buffering - That's just the way WMC handles (or doesn't handle) it. Only work around with switching channels (not very elegant) is to record the two shows and bounce back and forth.

Resolution - Are you going through a receiver? If so, forcing a resolution might help. I know you shouldn't have to but I always exit WMC before turning off my system (placing the PC in sleep mode). Based on which PC/drivers I have used I saw some issues which even varied if I was in full screen or in a window. Most of these issues can re resolved by changing your Power Options plan.

Tuners - I use two HDHomeRuns and they are found instantly on the network. Hopefully, you'll get squared away and won't have to reboot. I do a couple of times a month tops pretty much playing around versus being required.

Harmony - The remote's delay can be adjusted for each button. Overall my WMC two systems are much more responsive than any TiVo I owned for over a decade. Currently, I have WMC installed on a i3 processor and ancient Mac Mini. Using an Xbox 360 as an extender I noticed a little lag at times but it was still in the ball park of TiVo.

Mouseless - I'm still using the Lenovo I linked to in the first thread. It's all about the mouse and scrolling although I only use it a couple of times a month.

If you add closing WMC to your shutdown macro a couple of your issues might be resolved... for the remote delay unfortunately a faster PC might resolve it. If it doesn't it's a configuration issue. If buffering takes you to a TiVo... well I missed that feature too... but not enough to give up what I got in return.

Driver Updates

One of the knocks against HTPCs is the (urban legend) fact you have to continually update drivers or for some unknown reason what was working perfectly will suddenly stop working. Since I installed my HTPC in August I hadn't updated anything outside of Microsoft's monthly security updates which took a few minutes tops. Still haven't missed a recording...

Recently, I got the urge to play around with the PC so I went looking for updates. The update utility found new video drivers (optional) along with a few other suggestions. Why not! Perhaps they might even fixed the encoding bug (documented in the first post) that affect some shows. Well after a few minutes the PC rebooted and sure enough everything still worked... I did spend some time going through the video options and found very little different including the bug.

Still up for the challenge I read the Shark audio drivers (enables MKV and bitstreaming HD audio) had been updated and once again I wasn't having any issues... but why not. After a half hour or so of uninstalling and installing the drivers along with a few configuration settings (documented in the first post) WMC and XBMC were handling HD nicely as before.

So the end result turned out to be nothing gained or lost. Outside of losing the urge to play around so I'm probably good for a few months.

One note of interest: for some reason the commercial skip application is still working after 30-days which is strange. When it works it's a thing of beauty. As I stated before the beginning and closing of certain shows tend to be its only issue and I have come to simply turn it off as I begin playing the recording or as the end approaches. That's much easier than finding you have skipped the opening/closing and have to turn if off... scan back, etc. as at times the recording will stop and take you to the option screen. I'm waiting to see if the new release of XBMC handles DVRing to the point I can replace WMC. If it doesn't my wife is already willing to donate the $30 to keep the commercials skipping.
Edited by Charles R - 11/10/12 at 5:39pm

I have finally decided to move my HTPC into my dedicated room's closet so I need an extender for WMC. As such I have been looking at the Xbox Black Friday specials... best deal I have found so far is for the 4GB model with Kinect for $199 with a $40 gift certificate (only good at their store). It's via Meijer's Thursday only sale...

http://meijer.shoplocal.com/Meijer/BrowseByPage?StoreID=2465829&PromotionViewMode=1&PromotionCode=Meijer-121122m

I know I don't need Kinect but for the den the voice control (itself) might be worth it or I could always dump it on eBay. Anyone find any deals worth mentioning? I prefer not to get up at 6:00 am only to arrive well after they have all been sold.

Meijer has ship to store (for free) so I'm hoping I can order after midnight and pick it up anytime on Thursday... or perhaps Fry's (my favorite) will have a bargain and I can order anytime on Thursday for Friday pick up. Kind of crazy... trying to save a few bucks but I guess the hunt (outside of waiting in line... at least for me) is entertaining.

I'm far too anal to go that route. And to a large degree it's not the price rather the deal. I saw one for $100 (brand new sealed - independent seller) listed on Amazon and by the time I convinced myself to give it a try it was gone.

Obviously when I strolled into Meijer at 10:30am the Xboxes were long gone so I borrowed one of their ads and went across the street to Walmart. They were more than happy to match the $199 price. Now when I sell off the two Kinect games I'll probably be down to $198.

Having used the Xbox as an extender the last couple of days made me realize how much I appreciate commercial skip. I planned on moving my HTPC into the theater's closet and using the Xbox in the den. I'll lose Hulu (Covert Affairs and such) as well. And if I keep the HTPC in the den I'll lose HD audio in the theater... used 99% of the time for movies. Oh well... perhaps I'll end up moving the Xbox into one of the wife's rooms and using another PC in the den or throwing a streamer into the theater.

The just for recent purchase aspect is the $15 upgrade cost in lieu of the current $40 cost.

Makes perfect sense and I can see how I wasn't clear about the upgrade paths the offer supports. I'm not sure but I think it came up some where along the line in the thread. In my case I ended up installing Window 8 on top of my Windows 8 Preview... another option they were nice enough to support. Regarding older hardware I'm using WMC on an ancient Mac Mini... it's so old Apple stopped supporting it two upgrades ago. I use it as my Desktop and it runs great. It also shares recordings on my main Windows 7 WMC box. Only issue I have (haven't really looked into it yet) is the PC won't wake up the Windows 7 PC when I run WMC as does the Xbox 360.

I use wire but tested WiFi to see if I could use the Xbox 360 at other locations. I have a lousy router (very low-end wireless N - almost everything is wired) and my house is rather large (6,400sq ft or so). From limited testing I can stream 1080i without any issues and the interface feels just as fast. 1080p appears to be another story. Lots of buffering. Now I'm sure a better router would help but I wouldn't bet the house on it.

FYI: Fry's has the Xbox 360 (4GB model) for $149 during their 2-day sale.

I missed that deal or I would have had Fry's match it. I ended up with a $199 deal with Kinect.

WMC supports folders to a large degree.. Simply go to...

TV - recorded TV - titles

1 - When I tried the app(s) I documented here Windows 8 wasn't supported. It appeared to be more of a version check before one of the apps would install. Perhaps it's been updated... can't say.

2 - Tasks - settings - TV - Recorder - Recording defaults

Sorry, I was referencing the commercial skip apps. If I remember correctly there are three downloads/installs and one barked saying the OS wasn't supported. I'm guessing it was thinking it's too old when in fact it probably would work but the checker isn't checking for Windows 8. I do really miss the commercial skip as I'm using an extender now. Which isn't as snappy as the HTPC which also increases the regret. I sure wish they would have given remote PCs the ability to act as extenders. Instead of file sharing more or less.

I have the HTPC in my dedicated room's closet so it's pretty much a hidden appliance. Being such I have lost all interest in upgrading, etc. I patched it so Remote Desktop works and installed a WoL utility on my desktop to wake it from hibernation if I want to play...I didn't hunt all that much but I found this to be an easy app to use. It's simple in a nice clean way.

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wake_on_lan.html
Edited by Charles R - 12/14/12 at 6:30am