What software do you find useful on your HTPC

Sparky · 18 Aug 2011 at 09:58

Just thought i would ask as i am sure there are a whole host of programs people use to do different things. 90% of people [me included] will just fire it up and let ZPlayer or whatever you have installed run a movie, im sure there are people here that use their HTPC's to do allsorts of things.

So what software do you use and whats it used for? Be really useful for me as i do fall into the switch on/ play movie brigade.

iamtheoneneo · 18 Aug 2011 at 10:12

CS||nuTs said:
90% of people [me included] will just fire it up and let ZPlayer or whatever you have installed run a movie, im sure there are people here that use their HTPC's to do allsorts of things.

So what software do you use and whats it used for? Be really useful for me as i do fall into the switch on/ play movie brigade.

uhhh no, where you have got this ridiculous stat from ? lol - let me guess your head?

i think your find most people here, run xbmc or a variant of it. Why? because its really the only decent media solution around and from there you can watch movies/tv/play games/browse forums/youtube etc etc.

Sparky · 18 Aug 2011 at 10:19

What advantages does that offer over just using windows to do all that? Have seen xbmc mentioned a few times on here and assumed it was something to do with the xbox!

Chris1712 · 18 Aug 2011 at 10:20

MPC-HC still wins for me, until XBMC supports OpenGL shaders the PQ just isn't as good. Everything else about it is spectacular though!

Avathar77 · 18 Aug 2011 at 10:23

give XBMC a try and you will see

Ezah · 18 Aug 2011 at 11:06

XBMC, iPlayer and Nevermisstv are all I have running on my HTPC

Mostly I just use XBMC though.

Sparky · 18 Aug 2011 at 11:10

iamtheoneneo said:
uhhh no, where you have got this ridiculous stat from ? lol - let me guess your head?

i think your find most people here, run xbmc or a variant of it. Why? because its really the only decent media solution around and from there you can watch movies/tv/play games/browse forums/youtube etc etc.

Maybe because you will find that there are people alive with HTPC's that dont actually use this forum,shocking i know

Sparky · 18 Aug 2011 at 11:11

iamtheoneneo said:
uhhh no, where you have got this ridiculous stat from ? lol - let me guess your head?

i think your find most people here, run xbmc or a variant of it. Why? because its really the only decent media solution around and from there you can watch movies/tv/play games/browse forums/youtube etc etc.

Having a quick read up on the xbmc forums, it does look quite nicely put together.

chaparral · 20 Aug 2011 at 01:42

CS||nuTs said:
So what software do you use and whats it used for? Be really useful for me as i do fall into the switch on/ play movie brigade.

Steam about the only software i have installed on my HTPC

saitrix · 20 Aug 2011 at 06:41

Chris1712 said:
MPC-HC still wins for me, until XBMC supports OpenGL shaders the PQ just isn't as good. Everything else about it is spectacular though!

Why don't you use MPC-HC then within XBMC? You can get it to auto load the file in MPC-HC from XBMC menus. That way you get the best of both worlds.

vanandjuanunited · 20 Aug 2011 at 06:48

Mpchd
Win7 media center
Media browser
Media centre master
Powerdvd 10

never got on with xbmc

hawker1986 · 20 Aug 2011 at 07:50

Win 7 Media Centre
Media Browser
Arcsoft Total Media Theatre 3
TunerFree MCE
AnyDVD HD
Remote mouse

Also never really got on with XMBC

Hawker

ristac · 20 Aug 2011 at 10:27

I have recently been giving MediaPortal a whirl, I quite like it so far.

Sparky · 20 Aug 2011 at 16:11

Can i add my tv tuner to xbmc?

ArchAnGeL · 20 Aug 2011 at 21:41

Mediaportal. Used it exclusively for a few years now. Using mpc-hc codec for video

Sparky · 20 Aug 2011 at 21:50

ArchAnGeL said:
Mediaportal. Used it exclusively for a few years now. Using mpc-hc codec for video

Do you have a link for that please

AS_Platinum · 21 Aug 2011 at 09:42

Win 7 Media Centre
Media Browser
Media Control
Arcsoft Total Media Theatre 3

Another, never really got on with XMBC

pepp77 · 21 Aug 2011 at 09:46

I use Windows 7 Media Centre for all my HTPC needs. This includes Bluray/HD-DVD and Freesat HD, plus the normal music and Avi/MKV playback.

Tried XBMC but couldnt get on with it, and WMC just works for me.

Vampyre · 21 Aug 2011 at 09:58

MythTV

ginjaninja · 21 Aug 2011 at 11:01

Win7 x64 (configured with default 32bit for media player)
media player registry configured to not download albumart/resize albumart
DIVX Codec for media foundation MKV support for xbox.
XIPH codecs for flac format support
BM software wmp tag for flac tag support
Media Center Master for local metadata (film and tv)
htbackdrops/google for band folders and backdrops.
mp3tag/album art downloaderm, for albumart.
MKVmerge to manage mkv formats
Bulk Rename Utility for file management.
Media Browser (subdued theme, music plugin, thumbnail plugin, mediainfo plugin)
Media player Classic HC as external player for MB with keys configured for subtitle change, audio track change, DVD navigation.
MPC-HC configured to output sound via LPCM rather than DTS/AC3 over HDMI.
SSD for C:,Media Browser Cache
Acronis to backup nightly.

another never got on with XBMC, plus i need support/ use an XBOX to extend to interface to other TVs.