Windows Media Center

A very cool media tip today from James Tenniswood’s excellent blog – using a PC as your digital video recorder (DVR) is a great way to ensure you never miss your favourite shows. Windows Media Center comes with an integrated TV Guide (unfortunately not available in all countries) which brings…

If you’ve already cut the cord with your cable company, or are thinking of doing so, then you may have rationalised the decision based on the growing availability of TV programmes streamed online by content providers. There’s a mass of programming available from the major networks, as well as…

As I get older, I find myself shouting more and more at the TV, a bit like I remember my dad doing when I was a kid. Sure, we’re all tempted to yell when watching our favourite team play, or rather, lose on TV but I’ll commentate on the news, dramas, comedies, you name it. Fun for me, but drives my…

Like many countries, the UK is in the midst of a “digital switchover”. Our analogue TV signal is being switched off, region by region, to be replaced by a digital signal which needs a new or re-tuned set top box to decode. The nation’s aerial engineers are out in force, and of course, the big box…

At home, we use a combination of Windows Home Server and Windows Media Center for all of our entertainment. It’s an awesome combination that gets better with each release of both platforms. If you’re yet to try out a server for home entertainment, then let me explain how it works. We store all of…

As we get closer to the launch of Windows Phone 7, thousands of developers are beavering away to create apps for the platform. Once which has excited me the most is My Mediacenter Remote – a remote control app for Windows 7 Media Center. The app allows you to control Windows Media Center from the…

I came across the How-To Geek’s tutorial for Windows 7 Media Center users and I had to share it with you. In this extensive, “complete guide” to the application, you’ll find a collection of tips, tricks and tutorials for using WMC in Windows 7. The guide features everything from getting started…

About a year ago, my wife and I sat down to work through our family finances. With a baby on the way,(and the parents amongst you will know how muchthey cost)  it was an opportune time to figure out where we could save a little money each month. Going through the finances line by line was…

One of the must-see plugins for Windows Media Center is Media Browser, a free aggregator application for the platform which takes your collection of TV and Movies and presents it in a stunning UI. It automatically downloads and makes use of relevant TV and Movie posters, DVD and Blu-ray cover art,…

A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to be in Berlin for the annual IFA consumer electronics trade show. In amongst a plethora of 3D TVs, sewing machines, jet washers and coffee makers (the scope of this show is wide) I was surprised to see Acer showing a home theatre PC. But not…