Comments for mediacenterhouse.com

Comment on Hackintosh by Cliff

Cliff — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:42:34 +0000

How are you finding the “Mac(s)” interaction with your other Windows PC’s? For me (I’m no Mac pro admittedly) I just hate OS X . . . so personally I’ve wanted to do the opposite – I like the Apple Hardware, just that IMO OSX sucks . . . so have thought about buying Mac and installing Windows 7 on them instead . . .

I suspect many of my “gripes” are based around Mac “talking” (or not as the case usually is) to Windows and if I had an all Apple setup, I wouldn’t face the same problems . . . but then I wouldn’t have a Media Center

With F1 now going to Sky (HD) I really feel I need to re-jig the current setup (with DVB-S2 cards), but I hate the thought of having to mess around with a dreambox & all the software “faff” that goes with it . . . it’s almost to the point now where if a SKY+ HD box could share it’s recoreded TV for playback via a 2nd box in the bedroom, I’d switch for most functionality, and just use MCE as a backup . . .

Comment on Time to update the Media Center(s)… by Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:01:10 +0000

Well, the plan now in 2012 is to keep the master Media Center in the loft, and drive the lounge and bedroom together from it. I have an Eyefinity card that can handle 3 screens at once, so I intend to lose the dedicated bedroom PC and just have it as a clone of the lounge displays. The wife and I have never watched the lounge and bedroom Media Centers independently so it makes no sense having a separate machine for it.

Comment on bedroom by Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 09:57:08 +0000

Sorry about the closed registration on the forum. I'm working to open it up again in the next week or so. Have a look for USB DVB-S2 devices. I find that DVBShop.net are incredibly good, so head over there and you'll find some good units.

Comment on bedroom by John Jackson

John Jackson — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:27:49 +0000

Your install is an inspiration to others.

I wanted to leave a question on the blog, but registration is closed
But I hope you can help. I have a PC with hdmi connection and want to install a tv card. However the most are e-pci and my graphics card is already in the 1 slot I have.
The card I want to install is to receive HD freesat. How do I get round this??

Comment on Time to update the Media Center(s)… by Charles

Charles — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:24:11 +0000

I just did the same thing – bought a small, modern PC to live directly in the living room and replace the beast in the loft.

I’ve been using Media Center Extenders rather than the long cables you’ve used – partly because I had a lot of interference issues with long cable runs (screen flickers whenever the washing machine started up!) and partly because I already had CAT5 in all the right places but nothing else. Running cables is really tough in a 100-year old house with solid stone walls.

I bought an Acer Revo RL100 – which is absolutely TINY (the size of a small DVD player) and entirely passively cooled, which worked for the restricted space I had for placement in the living room. It has a single integrated FreeView tuner, but I’m having to buy extra USB tuners. (one problem with compact ‘nettop’ PCs is a lack of room for expansion cards)

The RL100 has a 640Gb hard disk, which is enough for recorded TV, and then I keep all the long term (ripped DVD and music) stuff on a RAID-equipped NAS box that will be staying in the loft.

As I recall, don’t you used an external Hard Drive for recorded TV? What is the plan for relocating all that stuff?

Comment on Moving from Freesat back to Freeview by Charles

Charles — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:12:14 +0000

I think there’s only one DVB-T2 card on the market – the Blackgold BGT3600

http://shop.blackgold.tv/epages/BT3159.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3159/Products/BGT3600

They’re a funny company – quite small, I suspect, and products are shipped in the most basic of packaging (like the sort of thing you get from an OEM supplier), but the actual products get good write ups.

Comment on Being a bit more active around here by Cliff Wright

Cliff Wright — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 08:44:54 +0000

Good Good . . . Following with interest

My setup isn’t a million miles away from yours in terms of application and intent (albeit my MCE machines are rackmount under the stairs rather than being in the loft) so I’ll be interested in your forrays into the DVB-T2 arena . . .

Nice to have someone to ‘compare notes’ with

Comment on Moving from Freesat back to Freeview by Cliff Wright

Cliff Wright — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 12:05:22 +0000

Hmmm . . . fair comment. I’ve mostly steered clear of non-satellite routes because our aerial is rubbish, but I do agree with you on the guide front . . . annoying at best (especially trying to sort out localised news et I find!). . . Ironically I have a nice new aerial ready to install, just don’t fancy the climb on the ladders! Might have a go next time there’s Zero wind . . .

Comment on Moving from Freesat back to Freeview by Stephen

Stephen — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 11:33:56 +0000

I think that Freeview HD (DVB-T2) is a better option in the long run as it will have more support both from the channels and Microsoft. Freesat is an afterthought on Media Center.

For me, the Freesat guide never quite looks as in depth as the Freeview; the program data isn’t as thorough and a lot of shows come up ‘repeats’ even though they are not – drives me mad!!! And it doesn’t intelligently sort out the duplicate 50 channels of BBC and ITV etc.

While Sky has a strangle-hold on all things satellite, Freesat will never be able to be truly free to show what it likes either.

Comment on Moving from Freesat back to Freeview by Cliff Wright

Cliff Wright — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 10:16:52 +0000

Ahh . . . glad it’s not just me then!?

I followed your lead and installed Compro 350 cards when I built my latest Media Centers roughly a year ago thinking the beeb wouldn’t be quite so on the ball switching to DVB-S2.

Quick question though – what made you chose DVB-T rather than swapping for DVB-S2 cards? Was it purely the ‘better guide’?