So I have been trying out number of different programs including windows media center,xmbc and boxee. All I found did not quite fit what I needed in full or had quirks with them I did not like.
Xmbc\ Mainly my issue with it was the scripting just to customize it and had a hard time playing my Blu ray dvd9 mkv with subtitles.
Windows media center\ Ummm..... Where do I start LOL
Boxee\ Its nice but the whole social networking thing and you friends spying on what you may or may not be watching and so on. No thanks.
So I am spreading the word to what I found to be one of the most simple programs to use. It's called MediaPortal and it's totally free. http://www.team-mediaportal.com Now what I find so great about this compared to other media center gui's is the custom gui's, ease of use, and overall features. Which include without any plugin's cable card support,tv controler support,photo,movie bio, tv guide, use of ffdshow, customization(buttons,sound,codecs, and so on)
and most of all ease of use. I would also like to add that it handles blu rays in MKV File format with no issues(ffdshow helps but if you have blu ray burning capabilities you should have it) But if your hardware does not allow it like with the vlc or mpc player But works with power dvd and TMT3 cause of your graphics card you can very easily set it up to use those.
Now for all of us. I know alot of us have good sized movie collections. We pride ourselves on the selves apon selves of dvd/bluray. We love the cases with all of the info on the back and the cover art. I know that we all want the same feeling when pulling them up on the compy. The is a plugin for the MediaPortal that not only organizes you movies but gets info about them fanart and backdrops to be displayed for you movies. Its called moving pictures.http://code.google.com/p/moving-pictures/ Check out the pictures of how it looks. You may have seen stuff like that on xmbc but you either have to download user created made screens or you have to make them yourself. This looks good no matter what and has the same feel. You can cycle the cover art. Moving pictures can hold up to 9 cover art and back drops for each movie just on default settings.
Okay well I think I have conveyed the message. Just try it out. Its all free. Kinda a all in one.(just bought a cable card) There is a ton of plugins and features that I have not even messed with yet.
If you have questions feel free.
Anyways I hope this makes some of your guys and girls day. Like it has for me.
Cheers!
Xmbc\ Mainly my issue with it was the scripting just to customize it and had a hard time playing my Blu ray dvd9 mkv with subtitles.
Windows media center\ Ummm..... Where do I start LOL
Boxee\ Its nice but the whole social networking thing and you friends spying on what you may or may not be watching and so on. No thanks.
So I am spreading the word to what I found to be one of the most simple programs to use. It's called MediaPortal and it's totally free. http://www.team-mediaportal.com Now what I find so great about this compared to other media center gui's is the custom gui's, ease of use, and overall features. Which include without any plugin's cable card support,tv controler support,photo,movie bio, tv guide, use of ffdshow, customization(buttons,sound,codecs, and so on)
and most of all ease of use. I would also like to add that it handles blu rays in MKV File format with no issues(ffdshow helps but if you have blu ray burning capabilities you should have it) But if your hardware does not allow it like with the vlc or mpc player But works with power dvd and TMT3 cause of your graphics card you can very easily set it up to use those.
Now for all of us. I know alot of us have good sized movie collections. We pride ourselves on the selves apon selves of dvd/bluray. We love the cases with all of the info on the back and the cover art. I know that we all want the same feeling when pulling them up on the compy. The is a plugin for the MediaPortal that not only organizes you movies but gets info about them fanart and backdrops to be displayed for you movies. Its called moving pictures.http://code.google.com/p/moving-pictures/ Check out the pictures of how it looks. You may have seen stuff like that on xmbc but you either have to download user created made screens or you have to make them yourself. This looks good no matter what and has the same feel. You can cycle the cover art. Moving pictures can hold up to 9 cover art and back drops for each movie just on default settings.
Okay well I think I have conveyed the message. Just try it out. Its all free. Kinda a all in one.(just bought a cable card) There is a ton of plugins and features that I have not even messed with yet.
If you have questions feel free.
Anyways I hope this makes some of your guys and girls day. Like it has for me.
Cheers!