Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005: Feature and Performance Investigation
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 12, 2004 12:19 PM EST- Posted in
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Media Centers Everywhere with Media Center Extenders
With MCE 2005 Microsoft is also announcing two new MCE related devices: Media Center Extenders and Xbox Extenders.
The idea of a Media Center Extender is to be able to have your MCE PC in one room and watch TV, video and other content stored on it in another room, wirelessly or using your home LAN. All of those speeches about digital convergence and the future of the PC are finally upon us, Microsoft is transforming Media Center PCs into true media servers.
In November Microsoft will also be introducing another type of Media Center Extender, but this time it won't be a standalone unit, rather it will be software for the Xbox. For $79.99 MCE 2005 users will be able to use their Xbox as a Media Center Extender to make any TV in the house MCE-enabled. The Media Center Extender for Xbox package will most likely be a much cheaper version of the Media Center Extender since the hardware is already purchased in the Xbox.
Obviously the idea of Media Center Extenders works perfectly with MCE 2005's support for multiple tuners, since people in different rooms will want to watch different channels - something only made possible with multiple tuners. Take this techy dream even further and you can see how supporting only 3 tuners is a limitation, but then again our hardware isn't quite ready for that yet. The push for multicore CPUs should make a lot more sense now for the home PC; music to AMD and Intel's ears.
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jamawass - Wednesday, October 13, 2004 - link
First post, longtime anandtech reader. MCE 2k5 looks good from all the reviews I've read but at around $170 (with essential remote)is just too expensive as the reviewer pointed out. With the type of hardware you need to run it, you're looking at $1000 at least. With networked DVD recorders with tivo capabilities ( which are much more stable) getting better in the $400 range why would I put mce in my living room?glennpratt - Wednesday, October 13, 2004 - link
Best solution for mom is to have TV and Computer connected and running at the same time. And yes, if mum can use windows and operate a TiVo, she can use MCE. Just make sure you get nice and stable components.GodsMadClown - Wednesday, October 13, 2004 - link
You know what? I look at this and see a market for dual-core.tantryl - Wednesday, October 13, 2004 - link
I'm trying to figure out whether this is something that you could, well, give to mum for example. Or mom as you crazy americans call them.Presume a nice setup, 3+GHz or equivalent, Hauppage TV Tuner, 80GB system drive and 200GB storage/video drive, 512MB or 1024MB RAM (not info given by Anand as to what difference this might make?), all MCE approved components, with the necessary remote all set up in a quiet case...
Would Ma be able to use it? Would she be able to handle swapping between the monitor and a regular TV? Would she be better off having a physical switch that changes the signal from into the PC to into the TV?
So Anand - you think this is something mum could use?
glennpratt - Tuesday, October 12, 2004 - link
9 & 10 - I have not seen one copy protected file yet and I use both analog antenna and digital cable for over a year. It is up to the station to set the flag to lock the file, which IMO is fair. Also, you can convert the file after the fact to WMV using DVR2WMV. I like the low CPU usage that hardware MPEG2 brings, and if i decide I like the program I can convert it and archive it.Reflex - Tuesday, October 12, 2004 - link
#10: Part of the 2005 release is that its available to system builders or sites like Newegg for do it yourselfers. I do agree about codecs, but its not a *huge* deal to me.segagenesis - Tuesday, October 12, 2004 - link
#9 - I would prefer BeyondTV solely for the fact I can do whatever I want with recorded shows. And I dont have to buy a new computer just to get the *software*.PrinceGaz - Tuesday, October 12, 2004 - link
Windows MCE will never be any use for people serious about video until it allows you to select what codecs you want to use for encoding from all the DirectShow codecs installed on your system. Having to use the proprietary MS stuff with all their DRM garbage is unsuitable.rbV5 - Tuesday, October 12, 2004 - link
Nice Review Anand. I'll be building one of these shortly using dual eHome Wonder cards and HDTV Wonder (hopefully MS will release the patch soon.) I ordered MCE + the remote from Newegg earlier today, so i should be on it by the end of the week.kurisu - Tuesday, October 12, 2004 - link
I still think the interface is pretty attractive. I see this doing well in the market..