Hi all,
I've been out of the scene for media pcs for years (the last one I built was using Showshifter!). Things have moved on and I'm a little perplexed with the options. I'd appreciate a bit of advice please.
I see that Vista Home Premium now comes with the Media Centre built in. Cool.
1) If I was to install Vista onto my existing laptop, Id like to purchase a USB-TV adapter to record from the TV as well. Is there one that is recommended that will work with Vista MCE? This question has been asked before (I did a search), but the response was from 2007, I guess the market has changed a lot since then.
2) Can I then use the Windows remote to use it all? Looks like a decent remote. (EDIT: Found the answer on the FAQ. oops!)
3) Will it play DivX/Xvid (I guess that if you've got the codecs for Media Player, then it'll work, but wanted to be sure). (EDIT: Found the answer on the FAQ. oops!)
4) Are media centre extenders any good, given that they use their own software rather than the MCE? Sounds just like a media-hard-drive enclosure to me?
5) My other option is to go down the MAC route. I have a Macbook and I love it, so I could purchase Apple TV, but this seems a bit more strict on its options and not as flexible as Windows. Any advice to the contrary?
Note: I've not moved into the Hi Def world as yet, so most of my hard drive software is in Divx format for space saving, or vob rips from my DVD collection (which is in the loft to save space).
Thanks in advance people, appreciate your feedback.
Paul.
I've been out of the scene for media pcs for years (the last one I built was using Showshifter!). Things have moved on and I'm a little perplexed with the options. I'd appreciate a bit of advice please.
I see that Vista Home Premium now comes with the Media Centre built in. Cool.
1) If I was to install Vista onto my existing laptop, Id like to purchase a USB-TV adapter to record from the TV as well. Is there one that is recommended that will work with Vista MCE? This question has been asked before (I did a search), but the response was from 2007, I guess the market has changed a lot since then.
2) Can I then use the Windows remote to use it all? Looks like a decent remote. (EDIT: Found the answer on the FAQ. oops!)
3) Will it play DivX/Xvid (I guess that if you've got the codecs for Media Player, then it'll work, but wanted to be sure). (EDIT: Found the answer on the FAQ. oops!)
4) Are media centre extenders any good, given that they use their own software rather than the MCE? Sounds just like a media-hard-drive enclosure to me?
5) My other option is to go down the MAC route. I have a Macbook and I love it, so I could purchase Apple TV, but this seems a bit more strict on its options and not as flexible as Windows. Any advice to the contrary?
Note: I've not moved into the Hi Def world as yet, so most of my hard drive software is in Divx format for space saving, or vob rips from my DVD collection (which is in the loft to save space).
Thanks in advance people, appreciate your feedback.
Paul.
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