| Author |
Message |
Bernie
Guest
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 Posted:
Sat Jan 22, 2005 11:19 am Post subject:
WinXP MCE - Is it worth getting in Aus? |
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Hi - Im very new to all this Home theatre stuff so please bare with me...
....as the title suggests, Im condsidering buying the 2005 version with Tv
Card included.
The question is - what am I gonna get? It says on the site - some
functionality not available in Aus....what functions am I not gonna get?
Will I be able to get Digital TV over the air? This is the main reason I was
considering it.
Do I plug it into the wall socket for the outdoor antenna or do I need a
special antenna?
Thanks!
Bernie |
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Nigel Barker
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Jan 22, 2005 3:45 pm Post subject:
Re: WinXP MCE - Is it worth getting in Aus? |
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On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 22:19:01 -0800, Bernie <Bernie@discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote:
| Quote: | Hi - Im very new to all this Home theatre stuff so please bare with me...
...as the title suggests, Im condsidering buying the 2005 version with Tv
Card included.
The question is - what am I gonna get? It says on the site - some
functionality not available in Aus....what functions am I not gonna get?
|
AFAIK there is no Electronic Programme Guide in Australia which is a big chunk
of functionality missing. There don't appear to be any plans for one either.
| Quote: | Will I be able to get Digital TV over the air? This is the main reason I was
considering it.
|
Yes. You might want to take a look at Showshifter as this supports DVB-T HDTV in
Australia plus has an EPG & is much cheaper than MCE www.showshifter.com
| Quote: | Do I plug it into the wall socket for the outdoor antenna or do I need a
special antenna?
|
Just use your normal outdoor antenna.
--
Nigel Barker
Live from the sunny Cote d'Azur |
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Bernie
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Jan 22, 2005 5:11 pm Post subject:
RE: WinXP MCE - Is it worth getting in Aus? |
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"Bernie" wrote:
| Quote: | Hi - Im very new to all this Home theatre stuff so please bare with me...
...as the title suggests, Im condsidering buying the 2005 version with Tv
Card included.
The question is - what am I gonna get? It says on the site - some
functionality not available in Aus....what functions am I not gonna get?
Will I be able to get Digital TV over the air? This is the main reason I was
considering it.
Do I plug it into the wall socket for the outdoor antenna or do I need a
special antenna?
Thanks!
Bernie
|
thanks Nigel - but im in Australia and Australia is not listed on the
countries that have an EPG - Do you know if Australia has one? |
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Nigel Barker
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Jan 22, 2005 8:24 pm Post subject:
Re: WinXP MCE - Is it worth getting in Aus? |
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On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 04:11:02 -0800, Bernie <Bernie@discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote:
| Quote: |
"Bernie" wrote:
Hi - Im very new to all this Home theatre stuff so please bare with me...
...as the title suggests, Im condsidering buying the 2005 version with Tv
Card included.
The question is - what am I gonna get? It says on the site - some
functionality not available in Aus....what functions am I not gonna get?
Will I be able to get Digital TV over the air? This is the main reason I was
considering it.
Do I plug it into the wall socket for the outdoor antenna or do I need a
special antenna?
Thanks!
Bernie
thanks Nigel - but im in Australia and Australia is not listed on the
countries that have an EPG - Do you know if Australia has one?
|
You obviously didn't read all of my response to your post as I said:-
AFAIK there is no Electronic Programme Guide in Australia which is a big chunk
of functionality missing. There don't appear to be any plans for one either.
I also said that you might want to take a look at Showshifter as this supports
DVB-T HDTV in Australia plus has an EPG & is much cheaper than MCE
www.showshifter.com
--
Nigel Barker
Live from the sunny Cote d'Azur |
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Mr Tinker
Guest
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| Posted:
Sun Jan 23, 2005 4:00 am Post subject:
Re: WinXP MCE - Is it worth getting in Aus? |
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Showshifter sucks - it is useless interface....
Myth is good, MCE is not too bad... There is nothing perfect.
EPG can be done for ALL products, using things like TVHarvest to
generate XML - to say no EPG exists for MCE in Australia is correct,
but then to say SHowshifter supports EPG is just a lie. Both have EPG
functionality that can work in Australia.
Search thegreenbutton.com on things like Australia, EPG, XML,
TVHarvest to see what people do with their MCE machine in Australia.
Visit some other Australian Digital TV sites such as;
http://www.dvbowners.com/
http://www.dtvforum.info
and then visit some Aussies using MCE at;
http://www.xpmediacentre.com.au/
Try each offering, and decide which product is best for your need...
and sort the bullsh*$ from the dust.
On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 15:24:44 GMT, Nigel Barker <nigel@hp.com> wrote:
| Quote: | On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 04:11:02 -0800, Bernie <Bernie@discussions.microsoft.com
wrote:
"Bernie" wrote:
Hi - Im very new to all this Home theatre stuff so please bare with me...
...as the title suggests, Im condsidering buying the 2005 version with Tv
Card included.
The question is - what am I gonna get? It says on the site - some
functionality not available in Aus....what functions am I not gonna get?
Will I be able to get Digital TV over the air? This is the main reason I was
considering it.
Do I plug it into the wall socket for the outdoor antenna or do I need a
special antenna?
Thanks!
Bernie
thanks Nigel - but im in Australia and Australia is not listed on the
countries that have an EPG - Do you know if Australia has one?
You obviously didn't read all of my response to your post as I said:-
AFAIK there is no Electronic Programme Guide in Australia which is a big chunk
of functionality missing. There don't appear to be any plans for one either.
I also said that you might want to take a look at Showshifter as this supports
DVB-T HDTV in Australia plus has an EPG & is much cheaper than MCE
www.showshifter.com |
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Bernie
Guest
|
| Posted:
Sun Jan 23, 2005 6:53 am Post subject:
Re: WinXP MCE - Is it worth getting in Aus? |
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Thanks nigel - Im sorry I didnt read it carefully. It was late and I thought
after I closed your message to reply that maybe you that I was from Austria
as its the first on the list of EPGs on SS..
I cant believe how complicated this is all getting.
Also Thanks Mr Tinker - The links were interesting and informative. Were are
you located?
The problem is that I find do many different opinions on these things.
As soon as I decided on a course of action someone says somthing to make me
think twice....
Can you explain what about showshifter is bad? Is the EPG"Broadcast" of is
it somthing off the net? If I was to get MCE would anything clash? Sorry for
all the newbie ques.
"Mr Tinker" wrote:
| Quote: | Showshifter sucks - it is useless interface....
Myth is good, MCE is not too bad... There is nothing perfect.
EPG can be done for ALL products, using things like TVHarvest to
generate XML - to say no EPG exists for MCE in Australia is correct,
but then to say SHowshifter supports EPG is just a lie. Both have EPG
functionality that can work in Australia.
Search thegreenbutton.com on things like Australia, EPG, XML,
TVHarvest to see what people do with their MCE machine in Australia.
Visit some other Australian Digital TV sites such as;
http://www.dvbowners.com/
http://www.dtvforum.info
and then visit some Aussies using MCE at;
http://www.xpmediacentre.com.au/
Try each offering, and decide which product is best for your need...
and sort the bullsh*$ from the dust.
On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 15:24:44 GMT, Nigel Barker <nigel@hp.com> wrote:
On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 04:11:02 -0800, Bernie <Bernie@discussions.microsoft.com
wrote:
"Bernie" wrote:
Hi - Im very new to all this Home theatre stuff so please bare with me...
...as the title suggests, Im condsidering buying the 2005 version with Tv
Card included.
The question is - what am I gonna get? It says on the site - some
functionality not available in Aus....what functions am I not gonna get?
Will I be able to get Digital TV over the air? This is the main reason I was
considering it.
Do I plug it into the wall socket for the outdoor antenna or do I need a
special antenna?
Thanks!
Bernie
thanks Nigel - but im in Australia and Australia is not listed on the
countries that have an EPG - Do you know if Australia has one?
You obviously didn't read all of my response to your post as I said:-
AFAIK there is no Electronic Programme Guide in Australia which is a big chunk
of functionality missing. There don't appear to be any plans for one either.
I also said that you might want to take a look at Showshifter as this supports
DVB-T HDTV in Australia plus has an EPG & is much cheaper than MCE
www.showshifter.com
|
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Mr Tinker
Guest
|
| Posted:
Sun Jan 23, 2005 10:50 am Post subject:
Re: WinXP MCE - Is it worth getting in Aus? |
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|
Yep - Im in Aus....
I have tried a Tivo -> Best user interface - check the oztivo guys for
help to get this to work in Aus
Myth - Bloody good - but a pain to install with digital cards, too
much mucking about
PV-GDR - simple looks good but not a big user base - so will die
eventually
Showshifter - not bad - user interface sucks, and again limited life
because not too many serious home theatre users using it...
and all the others dntlive etc...
Basically - everyone tells you the software they are using is the
best... and will slag off the others - typically oh it runs on
microsoft etc.
Your best to look at the screens, look at the functionality - what
matches your needs... and check how many people are actually using it
- seriously using it... And think about which ones will be around
still be used in 12 months or longer...
Choose the one that fits you!
I am not going to say MCE is best, or Myth or Showshifter or ... But
after doing the hard yards in giving each a go - I have a favorite
that suits my needs, and that is what I am using. |
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Bernie
Guest
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| Posted:
Sun Jan 23, 2005 5:25 pm Post subject:
Re: WinXP MCE - Is it worth getting in Aus? |
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Sound advice Mr Tinker. Im thinking that MCE is going to be a good starting
point. and the most likely to end up with an over the air EPG. It seems to
have the most on line resources. SS has certainly got some oppostion
particularly to the latest version.
I spose i should go for MCE as I have to have an OS anyway.
"Mr Tinker" wrote:
| Quote: | Yep - Im in Aus....
I have tried a Tivo -> Best user interface - check the oztivo guys for
help to get this to work in Aus
Myth - Bloody good - but a pain to install with digital cards, too
much mucking about
PV-GDR - simple looks good but not a big user base - so will die
eventually
Showshifter - not bad - user interface sucks, and again limited life
because not too many serious home theatre users using it...
and all the others dntlive etc...
Basically - everyone tells you the software they are using is the
best... and will slag off the others - typically oh it runs on
microsoft etc.
Your best to look at the screens, look at the functionality - what
matches your needs... and check how many people are actually using it
- seriously using it... And think about which ones will be around
still be used in 12 months or longer...
Choose the one that fits you!
I am not going to say MCE is best, or Myth or Showshifter or ... But
after doing the hard yards in giving each a go - I have a favorite
that suits my needs, and that is what I am using.
|
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| Back to top |
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Nigel Barker
Guest
|
| Posted:
Sun Jan 23, 2005 5:46 pm Post subject:
Re: WinXP MCE - Is it worth getting in Aus? |
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|
On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 10:00:35 +1100, Mr Tinker <here@not.there.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Showshifter sucks - it is useless interface....
|
I don't know when you last looked at Showshifter but the latest version V3.10
has a completely different interface to the previous versions. It's pretty
decent. One nice thing about Showshifter for me is that it can be integrated
with Digiguide although obviously not in Australia. In addition Showshifter
supports DVB-S plus recorded TV is in MPEG. The picture quality from BBC1 on
DVB-S is far superior to using MCE with s-video from a satellite STB.
| Quote: | Myth is good, MCE is not too bad... There is nothing perfect.
|
Agree with you 100% there various products all have their pros & cons which is
why I use both MCE & Showshifter.
| Quote: | EPG can be done for ALL products, using things like TVHarvest to
generate XML - to say no EPG exists for MCE in Australia is correct,
but then to say SHowshifter supports EPG is just a lie. Both have EPG
functionality that can work in Australia.
Search thegreenbutton.com on things like Australia, EPG, XML,
TVHarvest to see what people do with their MCE machine in Australia.
|
I wasn't aware that there was any documented way of getting XMLTV data into MCE.
There have certainly been plenty of unanswered questions on this newsgroup from
people in countries without an MCE EPG. I know that it is possible as there is a
Swedish company providing an EPG for MCE on a subscription basis.
I took a look at TGB & it appears that someone has got this working in Australia
but that is only in the last few weeks & he hasn't released either the software
or the methodology it to the public.
--
Nigel Barker
Live from the sunny Cote d'Azur |
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Nigel Barker
Guest
|
| Posted:
Sun Jan 23, 2005 5:49 pm Post subject:
Re: WinXP MCE - Is it worth getting in Aus? |
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On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 18:57:30 +1100, Mr Tinker <here@not.there.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Showshifter - not bad - user interface sucks, and again limited life
because not too many serious home theatre users using it...
and all the others dntlive etc
|
One reason for serious home theatre users to use Showshifter is that it supports
the Sweetspot video processor which is the only domestic RGB/component capture
card available.
--
Nigel Barker
Live from the sunny Cote d'Azur |
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