Media Centre Solution

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Polemus

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Hi.. i am currently using Windows Home Server to make use of it's media center capabilities, however, it's a pain that it's designed to run headless, and i don't like the Windows server 2003 OS, as it's not widely supported by some of my media devices.

I want to set up a media server that can be accessed via my PS3, Xbox, a few machines in the house, and hopefully my iPhone.

I also want the media server connected directly to my TV.

I would think there is some good software out there that will do this magically :)

I would like to stick Microsoft.
any ideas?
 
Windows 7 Media Center?

If you're not using a TV tuner - then have a look at boxee.
 
This is an old machine 2.4ghz, 1gb ram...

Windows 7 is overkill, at any stage their is at least 2 devices that needs to access the machine at the same time... and it's streaming over wifi...

so with windows 7 it just falls over :)
 
Polemus said:
This is an old machine 2.4ghz, 1gb ram...

Windows 7 is overkill, at any stage their is at least 2 devices that needs to access the machine at the same time... and it's streaming over wifi...

so with windows 7 it just falls over :)
Click to expand...

Hmmm .. Windows XP Media Center?
 
Look for Media Center 2005 :)

It doesn't have a media server though (I think), you'll need to install a 3rd party server such as TVersity.
 
media portal baby with the streamedxp skin....will fullfill all your needs....
for xbox and ps3 you'll have to install additional MP plugins...all on the site...
 
I currently run a 16tb windows home server.

It servers perfectly to my PS3, X360 and any other devices I connect to my network.

No hassles. We run the ps3 from the lounge and this whilst my baby sits and watches her animated movies and series in the bedroom.

Only thing that doesn't play out of the box is .Mkv which is not natively supported by ps3 and x360 - I need to confirgure my twonkymedia for that, but it doesn't require alot and it just works.

What type of hassles do you experience on your WHS setup with regards to media streaming.
 
iDOL said:
I currently run a 16tb windows home server.

It servers perfectly to my PS3, X360 and any other devices I connect to my network.

No hassles. We run the ps3 from the lounge and this whilst my baby sits and watches her animated movies and series in the bedroom.

Only thing that doesn't play out of the box is .Mkv which is not natively supported by ps3 and x360 - I need to confirgure my twonkymedia for that, but it doesn't require alot and it just works.

What type of hassles do you experience on your WHS setup with regards to media streaming.
Click to expand...

Well to shed some light...

I used to use me WHS as it's intended for... but it turned out te be more of a media centre than a home backup solution. I then installed a new tv tuner on the machine, to start recording some shows, but Server2003 does not support that card. I also wanted the machine sleep inside my tv cabinet, and connect it to my TV, this way people can watch recorded shows on the tv.

the media centre built into home server is nice to use, if you connect to it using another device, however, making use of it directly off the machine (connected to the tv) is not that intuitive.
 
Windows Home Server Codename "Vail" aka Windows Home Server V2 aka based on Windows 2008 R2 aka same stuff Windows 7 is built on. Currently using that for the server at home but best bet for a media center solution with support for a TV tuner is Windows 7 Home Premium and make a virtual machine of WHS on top of it.
 
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