Can I replace my Sky+ box for a Media Center PC

[gweaver]

Hello everyone,

I apologise if this question has been asked before, here's my question:

Can I replace my Sky+ box with a PC running Media Center. If I can I'd be interested mostly because my Sky+ box is a pain in the backside for crashing, not recording stuff e.t.c.

Thanks!

Gavin

[Spacecat]

Of course thats the whole point

as long as you have a normal skybox to input into your MCE PC, i do it via Telewest works a treat.

u have to be a bit Pc minded though

[mkonieczko]

Gavin

A few things to think about. You will not be able to end up with a 1 box solution unless you switch to Freeview - really depends on reception in your area and what channels you 'must have' from Sky. If you go for Freeview, you can simply get a couple of PCI DVB-T cards and MCE will do all the rest.

Also, the best input quality will be via s-video output from a Sky box into an analogue card. I have no direct experience of this, but some people here do have picture quality issues.

Furthermore, IMHO, MCE is not for the faint hearted. It will also crash, give you EPG problems etc. Having said that, I would never go back. I have replaced my old PVR, high quality DVD player, CD player etc. with one stunning looking box. Picture quality is fantastic and I also get to be using some of the most bleeding edge technology around!

I am sure there will be plenty of comments here from Sky/MCE users to give you more advice.

Good luck

Mark

[Alterastro]

I think to clarify, I should point out that there is no sky tuner card available for MCE. This means the only way to record etc is by feeding a normal tuner card in your MCE with a sky feed from a sky box. So if you want to record Sky One, you will have to make sure the sky box is on 106 at the right time etc. You will also lose recording two channels at once (unless you have two tuners and two sky boxes) and a host of other Sky + features.

I have a MCE machine and Sky +, and if there was a dual sky tuner I'd be first in line to buy one, but until then nothing matches the Sky+ for ease of use, convenience etc (mind you, I am one of the lucky ones with no problems!).

Feel free to shoot me if I've got anything wrong!

Cheers

Astro

[gweaver]

Thanks for the advice everyone,

I think I'll stick with the Sky+ box for now. Unfortunately, recording one channel whilst watching another is something I use a lot and can't really do without. I'll seriously consider it in the future though when it becomes possible to do this with MCE.

Thanks again,

Gav

[Gillykid]

Do what i do - have both! Sky+ into the PC through DScaler gives outstanding quality and I can still enjoy all the benefits of MCE such as My Music, etc.

[bad robot]

Originally Posted by gweaver

Thanks for the advice everyone,

I think I'll stick with the Sky+ box for now. Unfortunately, recording one channel whilst watching another is something I use a lot and can't really do without. I'll seriously consider it in the future though when it becomes possible to do this with MCE.

Thanks again,

Gav

See "What Video" this month they give alot of info on the new Sky HD.
iirc they stated that 2x HD recordings can be made while watching a third "live" or "pre-recording" but dont quote me on this, get the mag.

Originally Posted by Gillykid

Do what i do - have both! Sky+ into the PC through DScaler gives outstanding quality and I can still enjoy all the benefits of MCE such as My Music, etc.

What is outstanding quality? Please compare this to a direct connection and give us an idea if you get any imrovement via PC upscaling etc. My previous attempts didnt show any major fruits of improvements against a direct connection to HTDV.

* I think your using Dscaler also which although great isnt the friendliest apps around. Have used this alot myself before with consoles though.