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Windows Media Center Extenders? - Page 2

post #11 of 12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by werds View Post

I currently use 2 Xbox360's as extenders,being able use them for on demand content is helpful. The only other viable option is to wait until holidays when the Ceton Echo is planned for release.

I think that I read that you have to have some kind of preium account in order to use the Extender functions. Is this true?
Quote:
Originally Posted by fventura03 View Post

I use WMC a lot, due to my 2x HDHomerun Primes and watching Live TV on Verizon FiOS...
I have a DMA-2100 and its really really slow as an extender. I don't recommend it.
I also have an Xbox 360 (fat version) that works really well as an extender. Once in a while it won't find my Windows 7 machine and I have to restart both the Xbox and PC so that it will connect again.
But nothing really compares to having a Windows 7 machine though and running Windows Media Center, so that's what I ended up doing. I prefer it over the two previous options.
Intel Celeron G540 $35
ASRock H61M-HVS H61 $50
4gb DDR3 Ram $20
320gb HDD $55
Logitech K400 $30
Random Case $20
Spent about 150-200 on each of them (I have built 3 of them in my house)

How are you able to share all the TVs shows between each PC? Do you just save it all to some kind of NAS or server and retrieve from there?

Quote:
Originally Posted by absoluteloki89 View Post

Looks like Ceton Echo is going to be $179.

Hell... might as well just find some Xboxs with RROD and fix'em.
    
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post #12 of 12
Quote:
Originally Posted by FireBean View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by werds View Post

I currently use 2 Xbox360's as extenders,being able use them for on demand content is helpful. The only other viable option is to wait until holidays when the Ceton Echo is planned for release.

I think that I read that you have to have some kind of preium account in order to use the Extender functions. Is this true?
Quote:
Originally Posted by fventura03 View Post

I use WMC a lot, due to my 2x HDHomerun Primes and watching Live TV on Verizon FiOS...
I have a DMA-2100 and its really really slow as an extender. I don't recommend it.
I also have an Xbox 360 (fat version) that works really well as an extender. Once in a while it won't find my Windows 7 machine and I have to restart both the Xbox and PC so that it will connect again.
But nothing really compares to having a Windows 7 machine though and running Windows Media Center, so that's what I ended up doing. I prefer it over the two previous options.
Intel Celeron G540 $35
ASRock H61M-HVS H61 $50
4gb DDR3 Ram $20
320gb HDD $55
Logitech K400 $30
Random Case $20
Spent about 150-200 on each of them (I have built 3 of them in my house)

How are you able to share all the TVs shows between each PC? Do you just save it all to some kind of NAS or server and retrieve from there?

Quote:
Originally Posted by absoluteloki89 View Post

Looks like Ceton Echo is going to be $179.

Hell... might as well just find some Xboxs with RROD and fix'em.

 

1. I'll answer the first one. To use the Windows Media Center extender functionality I have been told you do NOT need an Xbox Live Gold account and I believe I have even used it a few times without being logged in. That said for the Netflix and Xfinity and HBO apps you do need a Gold account. At first this bothered me until I realized that every few months you can find someone selling a 12 month Xbox Live Gold card for $35 dollars (a cheap deal in grand scheme)

 

2. As far as sharing all the shows, if you are using an extender it is automatically connecting to the main PC that has WMC (and which is the one with the cable card and receiving the actual content). It automatically spots the recorded tv folders and other folders automatically. (Did I say automatically too many times? lol)

 

That said I also can access those recorded shows from any of my windows 7 pc's and through their WMC function by merely going into the configuration and locating that shared folder on the network. For the most part this is ok unless you hit content that is listed as copy once. In those cases those shows will only play on the MAIN computer that recorded them OR on the extenders, but not on any other PC.

    
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Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
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