advantage of media centre over a pvr?

Baldbloke · 6 Apr 2011 at 22:30

I need to be brought up to date I think. I've seen many mentions of home media centre pcs on here. I have a PVR which will record two progs at the same time and store lots of stuff. Hook that and a dvd player to my tv and I'm happy. Oh, maybe if I ever get the notion, add a satellite receiver to it. (The boxes are starting to mount up here).

But all this talk of home media centre PCs has got me wondering what the advantage of the PC method is.

Is there much difference? Is it just that most folks here enjoy configuring computers so that's the way to go?

What am I missing?

Thanks for your input.

Abz Hussain · 6 Apr 2011 at 23:15

I will be keeping an eye on this post too.

Buchanan0204 · 7 Apr 2011 at 00:29

For a start with a media centre pc you don't need to bother with discs. All files are stored on a hard drive and can be accessed very quickly and easily... especially if using something like XBMC. Dvd's get lost, scratched and it's a bit of a chore looking for the film you want to play and having to put it in the player etc. None of that with a media centre pc and some decent storage.

Not to mention the fact, it's a pc. So you can do pretty much anything you like on it if not in media mode... browse the net, download tv shows etc all from the couch.

Liquid · 7 Apr 2011 at 02:56

By far the biggest advantage is codec/format playback support on media pc's. No one pvr handles as many audio/video types as the media pc which can be configured to play anything.

Media pc's also have a lot more room for growth than pvr's, for example, years down the road you could have multiple hard drives installed no problem.

And, finally, lol, media pc's are far more modular than pvr's and can utilise the vast array of hardware out there for pc's, with pvr's your chassis is fixed as is upgradeability.

I personally use Mediaportal for mine, but remember XBMC very fondly from xbox 1 days :-)

cmndr_andi · 7 Apr 2011 at 03:25

+1 to all of the above

Also, you can use all of the cool on-demand video and audio services like iplayer and spotify. Other services are now available (like lovefilm) which allow you to rent and stream movies and TV shows. This market is only expected to increase in the future (with the massive success of netflix) and a PC connected to a HDTV will be able to support all the services.

Also, you can do stuff like free video and audio calls over the internet with a HTPC connected to the TV (plus a webcam and microphone), which is pretty cool.

You can also indulge in a bit of gaming, as even affordable, low power HTPC graphics cards (like a HD 5570) can handle modern games at console graphics levels.

BunnyKillBot · 7 Apr 2011 at 06:38

I have to say, moving from a foxsat to a htpc was the best decision i ever made. Set top pvr boxes are mass produced with old components and dreadful custom OSes then sold at a high premium which means for the cost they are slow, clunky and ineffective.

Even something as simple as the EPG in WMC 7 is beautiful and a dream to use.

Baldbloke · 7 Apr 2011 at 21:50

Thank you very much for the replies folks. Good answers there. Another thing, If I wanted to add surround sound (Which I don't have at the moment) the number of boxes is going to increase again. So that's another good thing for htpc. More compact.

Thanks again. Very interesting.

Abz Hussain · 7 Apr 2011 at 22:32

The only thing missing for me here is the inability to have some kind of device where you could plug your sky viewing card and watch your subscription channels. I dont think such a device exists but that is understandable from sky's point of view

Cycrow · 8 Apr 2011 at 00:09

Abz Hussain said:
The only thing missing for me here is the inability to have some kind of device where you could plug your sky viewing card and watch your subscription channels. I dont think such a device exists but that is understandable from sky's point of view

yeah i wouldn't mind something simlar for virgin media.

technically it is possible to do such a thing, however it is also illegal to do for both sky and virgin.

best u can get really is hook up ur sky box to the media pc and get the media pc to control it via an ir blaster

Caracus2k · 8 Apr 2011 at 00:25

I have my old sky satellite dish plugged into my htpc with a DVB-T card so I can watch all the free to air channels that way via media centre. As above for me the flexibility and expandability of a HTPC makes it a big win over the alternatives. It also means one box replaces DVD/bluray player and DVR/skybox/virgin box

panyan · 8 Apr 2011 at 10:13

Cycrow said:
yeah i wouldn't mind something simlar for virgin media.

technically it is possible to do such a thing, however it is also illegal to do for both sky and virgin.

best u can get really is hook up ur sky box to the media pc and get the media pc to control it via an ir blaster

with a sky subscription you can log into sky player and watch any channel you are subscribed to - at least thats what i did last year

pinkpotato · 8 Apr 2011 at 11:34

panyan said:
with a sky subscription you can log into sky player and watch any channel you are subscribed to - at least thats what i did last year

Oh really? Ive seen that option in media centre but i didnt know if you got like the full channel list etc. I personally dont have sky but someone i know wanted me to build them a htpc so long as they can use their sky on it but i wasnt sure if you could... Can you record and do all the media centre functions with the sky player bit aswell? Do you still use it? If you do can you screenshot please

Cool Breeze · 8 Apr 2011 at 14:50

Infinite Flexability

that is all oD

Abz Hussain · 8 Apr 2011 at 15:26

panyan said:
with a sky subscription you can log into sky player and watch any channel you are subscribed to - at least thats what i did last year

Can someone recommend a good media pc case? I think im going to go for it - build a media pc.
We need a new telly as our 22inch Goodmans combi vcr/tv no longer shows us the left and right edges of the screen properly and we have had it for an age too. Time to upgrade.
Will have to look at the forums too to see whats the best/reasonable/affordable telly on the market at moment.
Thanks

Cool Breeze · 8 Apr 2011 at 15:44

I have this - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-002-XG

Its the Xigmatek Asgard @ £29.99 it is exceptional value the build quality is outstanding. I have had purpose build PVR style case's and miro atx case's and I have come back to a nice not over stated Midi tower put some quiet fans in (it comes with 2 ) add a silent PSU and you have all the flexability you need and IMO it's looks nice.

But it's up to you on how much you spend and what style of case you want.

Also make sure you use cool and quiet components it'll keep the niose to a bare minimum. I can't hear my case in the living room what so ever. Motherboard controls all the fans and using onboard ATI HDMI of the 890GX chipset.

What I am trying to say is a bit of planning and it will give you lots of pleasure .

Abz Hussain · 8 Apr 2011 at 15:54

Cool Breeze said:
I have this - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-002-XG

Its the Xigmatek Asgard @ £29.99 it is exceptional value the build quality is outstanding. I have had purpose build PVR style case's and miro atx case's and I have come back to a nice not over stated Midi tower put some quiet fans in (it comes with 2 ) add a silent PSU and you have all the flexability you need and IMO it's looks nice.

But it's up to you on how much you spend and what style of case you want.

Also make sure you use cool and quiet components it'll keep the niose to a bare minimum. I can't hear my case in the living room what so ever. Motherboard controls all the fans and using onboard ATI HDMI of the 890GX chipset.

What I am trying to say is a bit of planning and it will give you lots of pleasure .

Thanks for that Cool Breeze. The other half wont allow a 'PC tower' type case to sit next to the new telly we will be getting, its got to be one of these specific HTPC type cases that can be found with some of the manufacturers like Antec and Silverstone so thats the type i will have to go for. Having said that, looking at some of the prices for this type of case :eek:

Are you using Windows or Linux software?
Its the planning im trying to do now for that very reason

Cool Breeze · 8 Apr 2011 at 16:25

Cool, yea those case you mention are sexy, the tower fit's our layout and I don't have to worry about low profiles cards and stuff now, (altough all my cards are lol).

I use windows 7 home premium, Windows Media center is up there with the best of em now and it gives me 0 problems. All I want to add is either a freeveiw HD card or a freesat card and it'll be perfect. But once you install codecs etc windows media center will natively play anything it's sweet!

Evil^ · 8 Apr 2011 at 16:32

I couldn't decide on which tbh so went with a PS3

Blu ray player, dvd player, playtv turns it into a pvr, can play from media server and such the list is endless on top of that, decent games.

Though Ive had a PVR and a Media centre PC, didn't get much out of the PC when I had both suppose its what you want to do with it.

Cycrow · 8 Apr 2011 at 16:42

Abz Hussain said:
Can someone recommend a good media pc case? I think im going to go for it - build a media pc.
We need a new telly as our 22inch Goodmans combi vcr/tv no longer shows us the left and right edges of the screen properly and we have had it for an age too. Time to upgrade.
Will have to look at the forums too to see whats the best/reasonable/affordable telly on the market at moment.
Thanks

what sort of case are u after, and what will u want to run on the media center ?
ie, do u want a lot of storage, or have it stream from a media server/nas

what kind of hardware do u plan on putting it in, as that can often determine what cases are available to you

Cool Breeze · 8 Apr 2011 at 16:48

Evil^ said:
I couldn't decide on which tbh so went with a PS3

Blu ray player, dvd player, playtv turns it into a pvr, can play from media server and such the list is endless on top of that, decent games.

Though Ive had a PVR and a Media centre PC, didn't get much out of the PC when I had both suppose its what you want to do with it.

I have Play tv on my PS3 too.... bought it as a toy for my PSP

also guys check out remote potato for windows media center, basically acts as a server and has a client for android and iPhone and any web browser to allow you to set your recordings remotely anywhere, also can stream videos pictures etc. And it's free (donations accepted thought something I need to do) Has worked flawlessly for me for 2 months since install.