Windos XP Media Center Edition

[boybi]

Its just a sugar coated XP pro WITH the business networking functions.

hehe, ano ba talaga? with or without the business networking functions

well, it doesn't matter pala. i don't need the business networking functions anyway

[Tacoma_34]

Okay here I had a computer with MCE before, a desktop with a tv tuner where I can connect my cable tv, thats it. MCE is multimedia add on xp version. But its basically has the functions of an XP Pro.

[boybi]

i have a TV tuner here by Pinnacle (bought it around 5 yrs ago) and it's drivers always have conflict under winxp. can MCE utilize this TV tuner?

[Tacoma_34]

I think you need a newer version than that, I had the Hauppauge tuner collecting dust. Or try to check if there is driver update for that tuner you have. .

[boybi]

i've always checked pinnacles website but there's no new driver. i think they've already stopped developing new drivers for this.

[Tacoma_34]

Yan din hinala ko na no more sw support na.

[Jun aka Pekto]

Here's a link showing a list of tv tuners designed for MCE (orange check)
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/m...directory.mspx

[boybi]

sigh, hindi na nga supported yung TV tuner ko

[Tacoma_34]

if you are just a stone throw away i will give you my tuner.

[boybi]

you could throw it at your nearest UPS or DHL

[notEworthy27]

Its just an XP in steroids with all the multimedia mombos.

meaning what? :D is it better or not?

[Tacoma_34]

It is alright to have MCE IMO. If you are really into multimedia stuff yes why not.


Sending it is more expensive than the item itself :D.

[Jun aka Pekto]

meaning what? :D is it better or not?

It's definitely better than XP Pro. I mean how many people actually use XP's domain/Active Directory/network related features, esp at home? The only features of XP Pro that I liked were Backup and support for dual processors. The former, I found 3rd party apps for while the latter was pretty much made passe by dualcore cpu's.

Certainly, once I make our 32" lcd tv my primary pc monitor, MCE will become much more important. But, I'd wait until I buy Vista Home Premium for that.

I like it:

[boybi]

ok, last question before i proceed to install MCE:

does my PC need to be MCE compatible to be able to use MCE?

my PC's specs:
Athlon64 3200
1gb ram
GeForce 6800GS

[Jun aka Pekto]

ok, last question before i proceed to install MCE:

does my PC need to be MCE compatible to be able to use MCE?

my PC's specs:
Athlon64 3200
1gb ram
GeForce 6800GS

It should be fine. Where compatibility issues lie are mainly with tv tuners if you have one.

[boybi]

but can i still use my old TV tuner and use its own installation softwares?

[Jun aka Pekto]

but can i still use my old TV tuner and use its own installation softwares?

You should be able to use it. It's Windows Media Center that won't use it.

[boybi]

thanks JAP! hopefully, i'll find time to install MCE within the next few days.

[Jun aka Pekto]

Just make sure you download the latest XP driver for the tv tuner. Make sure Windows MCE is fully updated first including the latest video card drivers before installing the tv tuner (using the latest drivers).

My old Hauppage WinTV PCI tv tuner is still in use up to now under XP Pro of my wife's pc. It is however too old to record anything reliably beyond mpeg1. No big deal since anything I record nowadays will eventually be transcoded to iPod mp4. 320x240 is sufficient enough.

Strange how things work out..... The state of the art iPod made my junky old tv tuner useful again.

Add: My daughter wants all her Pokemon and anime movies transcoded to iPod mp4 which is why I've taken that old Hauppage out of retirement.