Windows Media Centre Edition 2005
- Thread starter Stigg
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Soldato
Dont think you can, my mate tried this and it didnt work.
Afraid if you want media centre edition then you've got to install it from scratch.
Afraid if you want media centre edition then you've got to install it from scratch.
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Don't bother mate! Windows MCE 2005 is a pile of turd!! Just finished building a media PC for my old man and after using media center for a day I was amazed at how rubbish it was!! (XBMC user here) So I did some research and found that everyone is raving about Media Portal (Coders from XBMC 
)
Have had MP installed for the last couple of days now and it's miles better imho.
+ It's 100% FREE
)Have had MP installed for the last couple of days now and it's miles better imho.
+ It's 100% FREE
Mce is great, its just xp home but you can use the mce function which is very usefull. Afaik you cannot get the media center function to work unless you do a format before installing, I tried upgrading but I didnt get all the functions and new interface so I had to reformat.
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Energize said:
media centre is infact xp pro with the media centre on top. its not xp home. it is a very good bit of kit if you ask me, i really like it a lot. not had any probs whatsoever.
ant finally no you cant install it on top of home, has to be done from a fresh install.
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As stated before MCE is built on XP Pro, so you won't be able to update Home to MCE.
Also why do people keep slagging MCE off. I've found it really good, easy to use, and no problems. Whereas mediaportal, which a lot of people on here seem to reccomend has some good features but is a very buggy bit of software.
Also why do people keep slagging MCE off. I've found it really good, easy to use, and no problems. Whereas mediaportal, which a lot of people on here seem to reccomend has some good features but is a very buggy bit of software.
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Stigg said:
Google it, and don't be lazy.
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Otacon said:Spoken like someone who truely doesn't know what he's talking about
Clearly you have no experience or knowledge of media setups!!
Media Portal >> MCE ..... period!!!
Media Portal is without a doubt the finest HTPC software available. It trumps all other programs, both open source and commercial.
1. Successful PVR and Media Player integration. Meedio and Beyond Media users, I'm talking to you. Meedio promised a television module shortly (i.e. one month) after Essentials launched. And yet more than half a year later it still doesn't have a functioning TV program. It is, for all intents and purposes, just like Beyond Media. Speaking of which, Beyond Media has seen little development in the past year, with only a 0.1 upgrade being released to fix minor bugs. Users on SnapStream's forum are now asking of the app is dead. While the top two commercial HTPC companies struggle to provide users with a unified HTPC solution (which will undoubtedly cost users $$$), Media Portal has already done so in a stable, solid package. Bravo, Media Portal. You've done what the big boys seemingly can't.
2. Active development. While the development of most other PVR and Media software seems to be stagnating, Media Portal's development is unquestionably alive and well. The newest release (0.1.3.0) offers a wealth of new features, and a list of what is planned for the next upgrade is already on the table.
3. Attention to detail. There are things that you might like about your existing HTPC software, but until you try out Media Portal, you have no idea what you're missing. For example, movie and television show descriptions which are longer than the available viewing area will automatically scroll to accomodate reading. When I first saw this, I almost fell off my couch, I was so impressed. Likewise, long file names will scroll, allowing you to see exactly what you are viewing. Other apps cut these file names off, leaving you wondering what you're doing. Remote control in Media Portal is more robust than any other HTPC software I have encountered. While most apps simply patch the IRRemote.ini file for the Hauppauge, Media Portal actually has internal support for this and other remotes. And the support isn't limited to the available buttons. For example, the blank button on the Hauppauge remote is used as a Function button, switching the actions of other buttons on the remote. This not only extends the control you have over the software, it ensures that your initial investment does not become dated just because a new remote appears. The list of tiny details which make you say, "I've always wanted my other HTPC software to do that!!" and make your HTPC kick TiVO back to the stone age is longer than the feature list of HTPC software.
4. Configuration without the headache. Of the commercial apps, Beyond Media is is perhaps the easiest to configure. However it sorely lacks the ability to customize and tweak its settings. Meedio offers just the opposite. You can customize just about everything, but setting it to do even simple things (like recognize the contents of a new CD or DVD) is a major pain. GB-PVR is easy to configure, but it some of the most basic configuration settings (such as screen position and overscan) are surprisingly absent. Media Portal provides the best of all worlds, offering a wealth of options for those who wish to tinker coupled with the ease of Configuration Wizards.
5. The Best Media Player. You'd think it wouldn't be hard to provide a competent media player with your HTPC software. Features such as recognition of multi-part files, resume of partially completed files, automatic recognition of source aspect ratio and support for external players should constitute the basics. But for some reason, other programs simply can't get this worked out. Meedio offers many of these features, but unfortunately, before media files can be played, they must be added to the program's database. You can't just pop in a DVD with a few Divx files and expect Meedio to handle it. On the contrary, you must tell Meedio to add the files on the DVD to its database by manually placing a button out on the main interface. Only then will Meedio Essentials be able to see the contents of the disc. Beyond Media has a respectable media player. It offers multi-speed fast forward and rewind as well as volume control right in the media player. But unfortunately, it does not support multi-part files. And worse, its navigation interface has a tendency to disappear altogether, and a total reboot of the system doesn't always bring it back. GB-PVR has an adequate media player. But it will not recognize the aspect ratio of the source file and aspect ratios (such as anamorphic widescreen) must be manually entered into the config file by deciphering the x and y screen coordinates. Media Portal is the only software out there that delivers all of the expected features. It takes the best aspects of every other media player and completely elimates the bad ones. And if that weren't enough, it goes 10 steps further by providing features that I've yet to see or even *hear* of in other software. Variable FFWD and RWD up to 32X. Chapter points for all media files (not just DVDs). On-screen brightness, contrast and color adjustments. The ability to jump to a specific point in a movie simply by typing the hours and minutes in with your remote. Variable length forward and back skip (i.e. skip forward 15 seconds at the click of a button). Movie info and cover art at the click of a button. The list goes on and on. I defy the user of any other HTPC software to name a better media player. And since so much of an HTPC's purpose is media playback, I'd say without hesitation that the media player in Media Portal is reason enough to ditch your current HTPC software.
6. Reliability. I'll never forget last week. I installed Media Portal's pre-release of 0.1.3.0. And then I saw that the final release version would be available on July 17th. "There's no way," I thought. I've been on the beta team of several different software companies. And I've seen how delivery dates go. You set a target, then you miss that target by about 3 to 6 months. And even then, the software is buggy and has problems. So I probably don't have to tell you how stunned - literally stunned - I was when on the 17th, a message appeared on the Media Portal website saying that there was a slight delay (for which there was an apology) but that nonetheless, the final 0.1.3.0 release would be available later in the day. I have NEVER heard of anything like this. I simply don't know what to say. While other developers continue to make hollow promises of new features or updated software, Media Portal is out there getting the job done and putting those features in the hands of its users. Amazing. Simply amazing.
7. Free forever. If you look at the commercial market for HTPC software, you'll find programs like SageTV, Meedio, Beyond TV and Got All Media. Yet all it takes is to download and try the demo for these programs to realize how poorly they compare to Media Portal. When you consider, then, that Media Portal is free, not just for a trial run, but really free, and when you consider that it not only does what the commercial programs do, but it does those things *better*, you will come to the conclusion like I did that Media Portal is the single greatest HTPC out there.
Media Portal is already the most robust, easy-to-use, and full-featured HTPC software out there. Period. And as its feature list continues to grow, Media Portal will continue to leave the competition in the digital dust. I want to say thank you to all of the people who have put so much effort into making this software. You have my greatest respect, admiration, and thanks.
Soldato
jeff - ever used Myth TV? I'd like to hear your thoughts on it.
I'm beginning to wonder if you're associated with the project in some way, as your last 3 posts on the subject read like sales pitches. Or at best fanboyism.
Not once in that blurb was a comparison made to Windows MCE by the way.
Not once in that blurb was a comparison made to Windows MCE by the way.
It is still unable to recognise my remote, despite numerous myblaster rewrites.Jeff Crawly said:
If it doesn't work, it doesn't matter how much better than MCE it is.
You might have mentioned, whilst eulogising MP, that MCE is a resource hog - that's my biggest criticism.
And it is indeed a fair one. Though it isnt as bad when it's running on a box that is dedicated to MCE, and sometimes a badly written MPEG2 decoder can contribute a lot to that.Borris said:
And for the record, I actually like MP. It's my second choice - after MCE and MythTV (Windows/Linux). It's still a little unpredictable for my tastes, but it's infinitely better than a lot of the alternatives, which to be fair are in their infancy.
To say that MCE is 'a pile of turd', is to be frank, simply wrong. It isn't perfect by any means, but I've yet to see any direct criticism from Jeff, and I'm not a fan of sweeping statements. Hundreds of thousands of power users (Joe public haven't really been exposed to this yet) have chosen MCE over the alternatives - and these are people that know what they're doing, and what they're messing with. It has very little to do with the fact that it's a Microsoft product and it integrates well with the OS - because as we can see, there are alternatives that can run quite happily in its place. It's just the superior product at the moment.
I'm running MCE2005 on a desktop with 512Mb memory and it's running well. Media Portal was far too buggy for me when I was trying it. As I said in preivous threads on the subject, MCE2005 "works as intended", the others had bugs or configuration issues that made it them a waste of my time (this goes for MythTV as well).
The standalone boxes have great appeal in their reliability and simplicity. For the most part they lack integration options though, which is where a media system setup can thrive. A central source for all the media in your house, access simultaneously from people anywhere in the house (thinking more Myth than MCE here)... It's a great concept - when it's working. For simple 'switch on and do it', Tivo et al have it covered a lot better - because it's easier to do so when you can standardise/monopolise the hardware.Borris said:
I guess they'll meet somewhere in the middle at some point.
Unfortunately not really. I only really played with WinDVD and PowerDVD before just buying nVideo Purevideo and farming all that off to the GPU. Resource wise it's been very reasonable since then.Borris said:
Tell me you didn't just type all that tripe out just to justify your choice of software on a forum...Jeff Crawly said:
Google search?