Media Center

[Gillette]

I'm hopefully going to be acquiring a ~50" HDTV in the near future and as such I'm planning on converting one of my many boxes to an HTPC setup for it, however the problem is that I don't really know where to start for an HTPC application suite.

I was originally planning on using MythTV for it, however I don't want to completely abandon its functionality for P2P, Chat, Gaming, etc so I'm looking for something Windows based,

In my previous encounters with Windows XP MCE I've been pretty unimpressed by the numerous bugs that have still managed to slip through the cracks.

Here's the basics of what I'm looking for:
-DVD
-DivX/Xvid/etc..
-MP3
-Most importantly: The ability to stream media from other PCs on the network without too much of a hassle to set up.
-Preferably free
-I don't have any immediate plans to buy a remote control, however support for that would be a plus.

PC Specs:
P4 2.4ghz, Northwood core
1GB Generic PC-3200
120GB + 60GB HDDs
BFG6600GT
DVD+CD/RW

Give me your suggestions

 

[The Chosen One]

my suggestion, despite your past experience, would still be MCE2005 (or maybe Vista, but ive never used it so i dont know).


I know you say youve lost it with MCE in the past, but my experience has been similar and i still use it.

My first install of MCE was an absolute disaster, i got so pissed with it i formatted and put something else on....but after a while, i found that it was very very difficult to match some of MCE's features that i had come to rely on.

For instance the Timeshifting that starts itself every time you change achannel and builds up its own buffer...i havent been able to find another implementation that works as well. What the hell is the point of timeshifting if you have to turn it on yourself each time...if i knew there was going to be something i was going to miss and need to rewind...id be paying attention in teh first place.


So anyway, i went back to MCE2005 expecting an uphill battle...but with Rollup2 adding HD and AC3 support, i couldnt be happier. I very rarely have problems with it anymore, and everything works beautifully.

Id suggest giving it another go.

 

[Grentz]

MCE 2nded.

It does have a few bugs, but overall works very well in a clean interface. The new updates have made it much more stable and work very well.

Others to look at if MCE just is an absolute no:

Beyond TV
Sage TV
SesamTV

 

[CrimandEvil]

Another to add to the list: Media Portal.

If you're still against using MCE (you do have to reinstall the OS over whatever you might be using currently) then I'd suggest going with a combo deal of Media Portal, Zoomplayer* (for videos and DVDs) and whatever music player your comfortable with (Winamp and Foobar can be controlled through MP) along with installing FFDShow for codec support and buying NV's Purevideo codec for MPEG2 playback.

*I suggest a different video player cause I had nothing but problems with the MP bundled player. As far as I care it's a pile of crap compared to Zoomplayer.