Replacement for Windows Media Center

[ikon 439]

I thought it is up to 4% now; not so??

[Renny 4]

Getting back to the topic, I really think the writing is on the wall for WMC (if it wasn't already) Why?

Plex is now on the Xbone; their preferred "living room" device.

Just my 2cents.

[ikon 439]

MS has already stated that WMC has no future. I've never seen where they said, "It's dead" but they've said everything short of that.

[Jason 84]

Now if only they'd add tuner support in Plex. I only use WMC to launch Plex Home Theater these days. Occasional Live TV.

[Drashna Jaelre 159]

MS has already stated that WMC has no future. I've never seen where they said, "It's dead" but they've said everything short of that.

It's why it's an add-on pack for Windows 8.

And why it wasn't part of WHS2011.

 

 

Now if only they'd add tuner support in Plex. I only use WMC to launch Plex Home Theater these days. Occasional Live TV.

Would be nice....

 

Would be nice if Plex allowed you to download subtitles, and choose them. It's a huge frustration on my part.

 

Though, you could use XBMC with the Plex plug-in, to get "all of the above".

Additionally, you could use a different program to record TV and then use sickbeard to post process and update in plex.

[Al_Borges 97]

My 30 day trial of the Jriver Media center is just about complete - this is what I have learned. 

 

Definitely a contender.     Out of the box support for all modern codecs,  Good Theatre view for HTPC usage, yet fully functioning desktop mode  (  I remote desktop into the HTPC to manage my content at times )

Seems quite a bit "snappier" than WMC.   I have a large  media collection ~100 gigs of music and navigating was just as easy as WMC. 

 

You can rip audio/video directly into the media library,  although encrypted disks will need anydvd . 

 

A bit of a high learning curve, due to the large number of options/ customizations possible.    Good support from vendor,  good forum for community support. 

 

at 50 bucks,  this is definitely competitive to upgrading to a "pro" version of windows 8, then paying additional money for an app

This has some of the features of MyMovies for library tagging of videos, so this is also a benefit. 

 

If I where setting up a new HTPC,  I would go this direction.    I saw vinylfreaks HTPC setup in action and my experience confirms his.    

 

If you have a working WMC and are happy with the performance and codec support, then I dont see a compelling reason to switch.   

 

With regards to TV Recording -  I have limited usage of this , as I have only 1 tuner and 1 TV station ( !)    but the system worked for me.   program guide is good

 

one advantage over Windows media center is that you have options for the recording format -  standard video containers that don't have to be converted to use in other programs

 

dont know about post processing to skip thru commercials and such.  

[jagowar 7]

Now if only they'd add tuner support in Plex. I only use WMC to launch Plex Home Theater these days. Occasional Live TV.

 

There are channels to view hdhomerun tuners to do that but its not completely stable yet though....  I personally just use the media app for now on my xbox one but the channels do work for roku and other devices.  https://forums.plex.tv/index.php/topic/101755-hdhomerun-viewer/

 

Now this is just live tv and no dvr functions but I don't need dvr in plex with my system.... already have that covered but its nice to be able to watch live tv too through plex.

Edited October 20, 2014 by jagowar