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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Configuring Windows, 10 Feet Away
What you'll find is that there are a number of Windows control panels and settings that are finally adjustable from within the Media Center UI, which is something that we're quite happy about.
As was the case in past versions of Media Center, the entire setup from configuring your cable TV settings down to downloading program guide updates is completely controllable using just the remote - and you can do it quite well at that.
Media Center 2005 has an audio configuration utility for example that asks you for your speaker configuration, whether you're using a 2 speaker, 5.1 or 7.1 setup. In reality this configuration wizard is simply a Media Center hook into XP's Speaker settings control panel, but it prevents you from having to leave the Media Center UI which provides for a much cleaner user experience.
The system isn't entirely perfect yet though, still selecting certain options will cause Windows to want to pop up a regular old XP control panel or IE Window. Thankfully, MCE 2005 at least warns you before you do this and asks if you want to proceed or not. It's getting closer to perfect with every revision, just not quite there yet.
There is even a Remote Desktop Wizard hooked into Media Center now that lets you enable Remote Desktop and even set a password for your Windows account if one isn't already created for remote access - all from the MCE remote; you type in letters using the numeric pad much like you would type a text message on a cell phone.
Automatic updates can also be controlled to a certain extent from within the Media Center UI; you can tell Windows to either always automatically update your machine or not to, there are no in-between settings - for those you have to drop out of the Media Center interface.
Hopefully within the next month or so, NVIDIA will have support for adjusting all of your display properties from within the Media Center interface, including things like screen resolution.
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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..