media center

[isus]

i didn't see anything about this anywhere else, so:

would you buy a computer running window's media center?

i woould say no, bc of all the crap windows has put me thru, like having to reformat my drive. plus, everybody who develops for windows is looking for money (ya noticed that when limewire decided to make a 'pro' version...)... not too many things on linux and mac cost a lot, if anything. and since the cost of a media center pc would be so high (many of these come with the latest processors, the biggest hard drives, and the newest dvd burners...), you can't just cross apple out bc of their price.

so, what would you do?

[anarcus]

can somone please tell me how media centers different?, there's a couple more app's on there, but thats all i can find
and most of those can be downloaded from differnt sites
so is there somthing i'm not seeing or is it pro with a differnt flash screen?

as to the question
no
it's to expencive & there's aways a crafty freind, with a burner and a couple of narkey programs (if you realy want it that bad)

[overdo]

no, unless u want microsoft controlling everything u do. ok that's a bit unfair i suppose, but Media Edition has probably got the most DRM built in. just go for XP home, or unless u specifically need any of the Pro features, buy Pro.

*hurls DRM as far as possible away from his PC, picks up caveman club to protect PC from MS*

[nasrules]

lol overdo! i dunno...........i dunno enough about it but with the drm in i think id rather stick to xp pro. theyve even made Plus! digital media edition (or at least i tink dats wot its called)

[isus]

good point about the drm...

anarcus: media center has a tv viewer type app, and can record tv to your pc, like a tivo... thats all i really know about it tho...

[overdo]

yeah i heard about the tv viewer thing as well. but i'm sure if u look on google u can find 3rd party apps that do the job as well... and its not exaclty like u have to pay for them..

oh yeah could u edit the poll to include a "get windows XP pro" option, cause frankly none of those options appeal to me...especially the mac one:hole

[maartendc]

What's the difference between xp and media center?

[isus]

i cant change the poll, im not a mod... sry you dont like apple, but all the time, i see ppl over at neowin complain about apple bc of the price... since alienware's navigator starts at $1600, you could buy a well equipped imac g4. so...

but i didnt include xp pro, cuz i figured many of the ppl here used xp anyway. sry.

[chipperrox]

as for the tv viewer thing- you can buy a 30 dollar pci card that does all that. The way I see it, Media Centre is just a so so comp with a nice screen and nothing special--cept for costing about 500 at least what the comp would normally cost

[Krell]

DONT speculate . . . you go to Microsofts website and research it ! Same with WMP 9.

The codecs that they licenced have to be paid for. So yes, you CAN Buy a TV tuner card, and thats still not bad idea, but this package gives you what you need to DO the multimedia. Now if a few of you would learn to USE it, then you wouldnt heckle the crap out of me for many of the same codec questions week after week.

Even I, the Software Teleportation Specialist tells you, nothing is free. And at this point, DRM is an add-on to WMP9, but in the XP Media, I am pretty sure it's built in. Why doesn't someone confim that?

I don't think that XP Media will be a bad thing, (except for the obvious microsoft monopoly, see digitaljunkie below) I see it just like the other versions of XP, .. .. you're too lazy to learn how to use it.

[DigitalJunkie]

I don't care for WMP9, because I would rather see MPEG & open source projects improves & survive beyond MS to handle my media contents! MS kills competitions, whereever & whenever they can.

http://news.com.com/2100-1023-980007.html?part=dht&tag=ntop

[isus]

yea, ms is kinda greedy. if it sees where it is losing popularity, like it did when lotus 1-2-3 was popular, it'll come in and make something, add a few features, and then sell it. since 90% of the market is already brainwashed by windows, they say "eww, ms office..." and they drool uncontrollably. the other 10% know what they are doing with their pc's, or they use linux or apple.

i like itunes.

[DainBramaged]

Media Center, by defualt, comes with WMP 9S, which is crucial to what MC is all about. Since MS wants to make it your "digital hub," they include a TV tuner, a PC based Personal Video Recorder (PVR), and a remote to manage your TV, Video, Music, and Picture options.

Yes, Media Center features the most DRM measures, but probably not in the way you expect. When you record TV shows--which is essentially what MC is all about--MC encodes them in a nonstandardized MPEG stream. They then put this video into their own proprietary .asf format--think of it as simply a container for the video--which, conveniently, can only be played on other MC PCs. Any other DRM features are identical to any other XP product, which are easy enough to get around.

Regardless, MC is simply an upgrade to the XP line. If I was to buy a new PC, I would surely get it with MC installed. I would even surmise to say that eventually, all new PCs will be sold with MC-like features.

[DigitalJunkie]

Microsoft is not the only company trying to get into MC, so is Mac & RealPlayer & even Linux may get into it sooner or later!

[isus]

i think apple has had the better approach to becoming more in to the programs we use most.

from safari, to itunes, apple has been making more improvements then ms has, from what i see.

but then again, i use winamp. not wmp.