Comments on: Solution comparable to Windows Media Center

Question: Solution comparable to Windows Media Center

Scottk — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 14:12:53 -0800

Are there any standalone apps similiar to Windows Media Center for Windows 2000?

I've got my Windows 2000 equipped computer hooked up to my TV and home theater system, and I'd really like to be able to centralize all of my media (music, movies, etc.) the way Windows Media Center seems to do.

Any suggestions?

By: Scottk

Scottk — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 14:16:43 -0800

I should also mention that PVR capabilities are not necessary

By: 0217174

0217174 — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 14:23:59 -0800

this might be a stupid answer but why not upgrade to win XP?

By: Scottk

Scottk — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 14:26:19 -0800

i figured that is the last resort. i like my win2k. also, i don't have a cd-rom to install XP from. sounds weird, i know.

By: Hackworth

Hackworth — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 15:01:32 -0800

Quick googling reveals this: http://www.team-mediaportal.com/

Dunno anything about it though.

By: djb

djb — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 15:11:32 -0800

GB-PVR is primarily a PVR program but does handle music, movies, weather, etc... It also works with many remotes.

By: Merdryn

Merdryn — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 16:12:36 -0800

Beyond TV (says they support Windows 2000), MediaPortal (Windows 2000 not explicitly listed in system requirements, Windows XP/MCE is), and SageTV.

I'm partial to Beyond TV, myself, but I prefer Windows Vista's Media Center, so that's what I use.

By: Spike

Spike — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 17:15:00 -0800

Careful with Beyond TV, it has a nasty reputation for burrowing deep into your system and causing problems.

By: tiamat

tiamat — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 06:59:11 -0800

Another vote for Beyond TV. I've got that running on an old semperon system in the tv room and it's great. If you get a bundle that comes with the firefly remote you've got your all singing all dancing pvr solution right there (assuming you already have the capture card).

By: kc0dxh

kc0dxh — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 09:51:56 -0800

There's also SageTV, which will do media center, PVR, and the newest version also integrates Google Video and other web stuff.

By: nonliteral

nonliteral — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 11:21:09 -0800

I'd second Media Portal.

I recently moved my pvr-ing from a Windows Media Center to a satellite PVR so I could do record non-broadcast HD content, but I still liked Media Center's interface for handling other content (lots of DIVX and MPEG video, etc.) -- just not some of the overhead and DRM stuff.

I gave Media Portal a try, and to my surprise, it dealt with that content better than Media Center did, at least for the way I use it.

Of course, I'm running it on an XP (MCE) box.

Media Portal's requirements state XP service pack 2, but looking through the forum, it looks like the only real issues regarding running it on 2000/2003 are related to recording and timeshifting video (PVR stuff) -- if you don't care about PVR stuff, you might be good to go.

In any event, it's a freeware product, so if you've got a little time to invest in playing with it, it might be worth taking a look at.