Media PC software, easy to use as possible.

X82

X82

X82

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24 May 2010
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I decided as I am the gift that keeps on giving, to give my parents a media centre pc for xmas.
The whole idea of this, is to allow them to watch tv episodes stored on the computer with as much ease as possible.
I already have the pc ready, with win 7, its just the software and a remote. Which I assume would be a windows media centre remote.
Here are my criteria for this:

Must be entirely controlled from the remote, only use for mouse/keyboard is initial setup.
No need to even access the desktop, or any other programmes on the machine.
The software must be easy to navigate with remote and most important be compatible with avi, xvid, divx and mkv.
And finally, be able to turn off/sleep from the remote and turn on again. 100% media experience, you wouldn't even know that windows is installed.

TV/Movie cover art and details not essential, as I've done something like that for my collection on my pc.

Is any of the above possible? I looked into XBMC, but I don't know how it would work with the media centre remote.

Any thoughts?
 
Windows Media center built into 7 is really the best option, it just works and is as reliable as anything.

Years of wife and kid use here so it really is bullet proof.
 
If you got a cheap logitech harmony remote you can program these to run XBMC with ease. (setup takes a while)

But, like Cool Breeze said, if you're looking for easy setup, easy maintanence and easy use; Media Center is already installed on Win7.
 
Thanks, and to confirm, Media centre will play xvid, divx and mkv?
I had problems in the past getting them to play.
Also, how does cover art and programme details come into play with media centre, I've never really used it.
 
My library is all in mkv format and it plays them fine. (obviously because of that can't comment on xvid or divx)

As far as cover art i don't think it can natively download it, unlike xbmc which uses scrappers (themoviedb.com and tvdb.com).

But there are otherways.

EG: link
 
X82 said:
Thanks, and to confirm, Media centre will play xvid, divx and mkv?
I had problems in the past getting them to play.
Also, how does cover art and programme details come into play with media centre, I've never really used it.
Click to expand...
You'll need to install a Matroska splitter to play .mkvs in WMC... you shouldn't need any additional codecs, but if you do run into issues, Shark007's codec pack is probably the cleanest solution.

WMC incorporates its own EPG which is easy to set up and generally works well - you might need to manually map some sources if you get "No Data Available" for certain channels, but it's not difficult and pretty self explanatory.

There are a few gotchas you might want to look out for in WMC - for instance, you need to specifically select "television" as opposed to "flat panel" as the display type, in order to avoid the sneaky overscan issue, and then apply the registry fix (in the responses at the bottom of the page) to put the UI elements back where they should be.

I would say however that if you're looking for a completely user-proof and no-intervention-required solution, a HTPC is probably not the way to go, whatever software you're running. At the end of the day, it's a computer, with all that implies... things can and will go wrong, and unless the user has the knowledge to sort out any issues quickly (ie before their favourite show is due to start), they'll probably end up throwing it against a wall. :)
 
I got it all setup and its working fine. Except MKV.
Even though I have installed the splitter and the codec pack, it still can't play the MKV.
Any ideas?
 
X82 said:
I got it all setup and its working fine. Except MKV.
Even though I have installed the splitter and the codec pack, it still can't play the MKV.
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
No problems here playing .MKVs in 7MC, no additional codecs installed, just the Haali splitter.

If you're using the Shark007 pack, and you're running 64-bit Windows, did you also install the x64 components? 7MC is 64-bit only (on a x64 system), although Media Player comes in both x86 and x64 versions, with the x86 variant being the default.
 
I did install the x64 as well, still makes no difference. I shall keep trying to see if I can tweak it further.
 
I tried it again, it says "unable to open file" when I try it. However, I am accessing the file from my network.
 
X82 said:
I tried it again, it says "unable to open file" when I try it. However, I am accessing the file from my network.
Click to expand...
Is it just one particular file or anything with an .MKV extension? And as I asked above, does it open OK in other media apps?

Without wanting to sound like a grouch, it would be easier if you'd provide as much info as possible about your setup and the *exact* nature of the problem you're having, rather than dripping out one small piece of information at a time... I'd like to try and help you, but I'm not a mind reader. :p
 
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