Back to Matt with the Media Center questions... I still think the best way to run an HTPC is in a client-server fashion. Let the PC record, store aggregate (or whatever) your media files and use one or more streaming devices to actually control playback and connect to your TV(s) and/or stereo system(s). Whether the streamers be Sage, Popcorn, WD, etc.
Yeah, that's definitely my opinion too. I was just trying it this way because I had the computer so it was either "free HTPC" or "$200 extender." Free won out, but...
I had the computer all set up and attached to my home theater. Unfortunately I had forgotten about one thing about Media Center: I had to deal with codecs again. It's incredible what you forget when you've been using VLC for years. On my desktop PCs, I usually install Windows, install VLC, and that's it for getting set up for video.
Then there were the issues of:
- noise
- multiple interfaces for my wife to use
- all the other little tweaking needed for any HTPC
I briefly considered preordering
this, but changed my mind. For now I'm going to stick with my Tivo for getting media off my PC. pyTivo does a good enough job.
In the future, I'd love to try having a central Media Center server recording and serving the video, with extenders on all the TVs, but for now I'll stick with my trusty Tivo.
Previous Topic
Index
