Extremely disappointed with MCE

[BiggAW]

Why?

Because I want to.

HOW?

Using a remote.

But I mean how do you go back to MCE's awful interface after using TiVo?

[adam1991]

And I think it's fair to put blame on MCE for OS issues

Well, there you go. Not only would you be wrong, you would be VERY wrong. Your attitude on this matter speaks volumes.

I think it's fair to blame you for not grasping the very simple 7MC (not MCE) interface, and then not finding and following explicit instructions for the things you found yourself unable to grasp.

And for the record, ShowAnalyzer does *not* affect the stability of 7MC. I don't know what YOU'RE doing, but if you think that adding commercial skip software affects the stability of 7MC, again you're doing everything WAY wrong--and against every bit of instruction/documentation I've ever seen on the subject.

Now, for the kicker: I built my HTPC from scratch two years ago, and that's not the kind of thing I normally do (to say the least). I did some research and found a set of components that would work well and do what I needed, and it turned out my research was spot on. So here I am with this 7MC box under the TV and two XBoxen spread throughout the house as extenders/DVD players, and it all works. And guess what? IT'S THE ONLY WINDOWS BOX IN MY HOUSE. Why? BECAUSE I'M A MAC PERSON.

Yep. Been a Mac person since 1988. I have about 7 of them in my house. I even had a Mac Mini hooked up to the TV to do Netflix/Youtube stuff, until the cableco ditched analog and went to all digital. Right then and there I bought a Ceton tuner, bought the PC components, and made it all work.

Me. A Mac guy. With an all-Mac family. And the wife and kids had (and have!) zero problem using this setup. I had whole house DVR before the cableco. And it just works.

Please, someone else tell me how hard building and using a simple 7MC DVR is. I will laugh at you.

[adam1991]

And BTW: my 7MC system replaced the three ReplayTVs I had for a long time. I loved those things (all 50xx). I so worried about them going away...but after a quick honeymoon, the entire family settled into 7MC and never looked back or complained once.

Not only that, while 7MC has maybe one or two things missing that ReplayTV had, it has a couple dozen things that are better than ReplayTV. Do I focus on the two things that it doesn't do, or do I celebrate and use the multiple improvements that it brings to the DVR world compared to the old ReplayTV?

I choose to celebrate the new goodies, and not go OCD on the two things that Replay did that 7MC doesn't do (for example, vertical scrolling).

Had ReplayTV lived and been developed, I'm sure it would have been a killer system. But it didn't, and 7MC is king of the DVR hill by far (now that Sage is gone). Cablecos are bringing out whole house systems, and they all suck--because they're all being developed and managed by content owners, who hate that you aren't directly paying them a dollar every time their show appears in front of your eyeballs.

[BiggAW]

And BTW: my 7MC system replaced the three ReplayTVs I had for a long time. I loved those things (all 50xx). I so worried about them going away...but after a quick honeymoon, the entire family settled into 7MC and never looked back or complained once.

Not only that, while 7MC has maybe one or two things missing that ReplayTV had, it has a couple dozen things that are better than ReplayTV. Do I focus on the two things that it doesn't do, or do I celebrate and use the multiple improvements that it brings to the DVR world compared to the old ReplayTV?

I choose to celebrate the new goodies, and not go OCD on the two things that Replay did that 7MC doesn't do (for example, vertical scrolling).

Had ReplayTV lived and been developed, I'm sure it would have been a killer system. But it didn't, and 7MC is king of the DVR hill by far (now that Sage is gone). Cablecos are bringing out whole house systems, and they all suck--because they're all being developed and managed by content owners, who hate that you aren't directly paying them a dollar every time their show appears in front of your eyeballs.

I would say TiVo is probably king of the hill on the cable side, although I haven't used a premiere. Actually by default, it has to be, since the cable company boxes suck, and MCE is a nightmare as I have found out. On the whole, I have not used Hopper for more than 5 minutes, and I haven't used the HR44, but those are obviously contenders as well.

[BiggAW]

And I think it's fair to put blame on MCE for OS issues

Well, there you go. Not only would you be wrong, you would be VERY wrong. Your attitude on this matter speaks volumes.

I think it's fair to blame you for not grasping the very simple 7MC (not MCE) interface, and then not finding and following explicit instructions for the things you found yourself unable to grasp.

And for the record, ShowAnalyzer does *not* affect the stability of 7MC. I don't know what YOU'RE doing, but if you think that adding commercial skip software affects the stability of 7MC, again you're doing everything WAY wrong--and against every bit of instruction/documentation I've ever seen on the subject.

Now, for the kicker: I built my HTPC from scratch two years ago, and that's not the kind of thing I normally do (to say the least). I did some research and found a set of components that would work well and do what I needed, and it turned out my research was spot on. So here I am with this 7MC box under the TV and two XBoxen spread throughout the house as extenders/DVD players, and it all works. And guess what? IT'S THE ONLY WINDOWS BOX IN MY HOUSE. Why? BECAUSE I'M A MAC PERSON.

Yep. Been a Mac person since 1988. I have about 7 of them in my house. I even had a Mac Mini hooked up to the TV to do Netflix/Youtube stuff, until the cableco ditched analog and went to all digital. Right then and there I bought a Ceton tuner, bought the PC components, and made it all work.

Me. A Mac guy. With an all-Mac family. And the wife and kids had (and have!) zero problem using this setup. I had whole house DVR before the cableco. And it just works.

Please, someone else tell me how hard building and using a simple 7MC DVR is. I will laugh at you.

MCE is PART of Windows 7, hence it is fair to place blame for problems with MCE on Windows 7. Building the PC and getting Windows 7 installed was easy, it is MCE that's a nightmare.

The interface sucks. Once I figure things out about it, I realize how bad it is. It's not what anyone expects a DVR interface to be. TiVo is.

It's not SA, it's DTBAddin that causes the crashes. I don't know how to explain it other than I installed DTBAddin, and it crashes MCE. I finally got it to not crash MCE, but then I started getting crashes again when I had the audio issues, so I System Restored back and I got it working again, but who knows when it will crap out again.

It's not hard to build one, it's hard to deal with the thing once you get it built. I was rather happy with it for the first few days, until I started running in to problem after problem. Now I'm just leaving it mostly functional, as I am so d*mn frustrated with the thing. It has to be one of the worst computer- or electronic- related projects I have done.

I'll eventually have to figure out how to sell the Ceton InfiniTV 4 USB, and then get a Premiere XL4.

[foxwood]

By the way, what's your thing with Season and Episode numbers? I just sort by Original Air Date if I have recorded a bunch of repeats.

Am I missing something by not using episode numbers?

[BiggAW]

By the way, what's your thing with Season and Episode numbers? I just sort by Original Air Date if I have recorded a bunch of repeats.

Am I missing something by not using episode numbers?

You can reference them to web sites or torrents, or for some shows that are often out of order or not aired regularly, you can check the Ep number to see which ones are which so you can watch them in order.

[foxwood]

I use the Original Air Date to check episode details on IMDB. As I said, when I record a bunch of repeats, I just sort that program by Original Air Date, so I can watch them in order. If I'm torrenting an episode I missed, I just get the most recent one available.

I'm still not seeing the advantage of episode numbers.

[BiggAW]

I use the Original Air Date to check episode details on IMDB. As I said, when I record a bunch of repeats, I just sort that program by Original Air Date, so I can watch them in order. If I'm torrenting an episode I missed, I just get the most recent one available.

I'm still not seeing the advantage of episode numbers.

It's just a lot more convenient.

[foxwood]

It's just a lot more convenient.

No, it really isn't. It's just another example of how inflexible you are.

[adam1991]

It's just a lot more convenient.

No, it really isn't. It's just another example of how inflexible you are.

That.

[crawfish]

I use the Original Air Date to check episode details on IMDB. As I said, when I record a bunch of repeats, I just sort that program by Original Air Date, so I can watch them in order. If I'm torrenting an episode I missed, I just get the most recent one available.

What if you missed multiple episodes or even whole seasons?

I'm still not seeing the advantage of episode numbers.

Q. What's the best season of The Wire?
A1. The one that aired from Sep-Dec 2006.
A2. 4.

The SxxEyy format conveys more useful information and is more useful for organizing. It's natural to organize by season, not year (seasons often span years), and then sorting within that, it's natural to use the episode number. The S04E05 identifier has inherent meaning even in isolation, while 2006_10_08 is meaningful only to a rainman. About the only time the Original Air Date interests me is when Media Center's guide data is screwed up, and I'm trying to figure out what it did wrong. But yeah, the air date is all there is for sorting in Media Center, so that's what I use, but I so prefer XBMC and its organization by SxxEyy, it's not even funny.

[BiggAW]

It's just a lot more convenient.

No, it really isn't. It's just another example of how inflexible you are.

I'm sorry if you think that I am being inflexible for wanting the standard way to identify an episode that EVERY OTHER DVR option out there has, and cross-references with Wikipedia, torrents, and other online resources. This is basic functionality that should just be standard everywhere.

I use the Original Air Date to check episode details on IMDB. As I said, when I record a bunch of repeats, I just sort that program by Original Air Date, so I can watch them in order. If I'm torrenting an episode I missed, I just get the most recent one available.

What if you missed multiple episodes or even whole seasons?

I'm still not seeing the advantage of episode numbers.

Q. What's the best season of The Wire?
A1. The one that aired from Sep-Dec 2006.
A2. 4.

The SxxEyy format conveys more useful information and is more useful for organizing. It's natural to organize by season, not year (seasons often span years), and then sorting within that, it's natural to use the episode number. The S04E05 identifier has inherent meaning even in isolation, while 2006_10_08 is meaningful only to a rainman. About the only time the Original Air Date interests me is when Media Center's guide data is screwed up, and I'm trying to figure out what it did wrong. But yeah, the air date is all there is for sorting in Media Center, so that's what I use, but I so prefer XBMC and its organization by SxxEyy, it's not even funny.

Yup. I also run into PBS shows that are broadcast out of order, so it's really helpful to get SxxExx numbers on them to, after a few weeks of recording, put humpty dumpty back together.

[BiggAW]

I got the audio working again after re-installing my sound drivers. Yup, had to re-install my sound drivers on my DVR.

[Venom51]

Look...simply admit you may not be a clever as you think you are. There are too many MCE7 systems running everyday with no issue for the blame for your issues to be laid at the feet of Microsoft. There are 9 of them in my house alone and if my wife, wife's mother and my mother can figure out how to use them than it can't be that poorly designed or difficult to use.

[huntermaz]

Been using MediaCenter for around 8 years now, replaced some Replay TVs, and my kids who were 3 and 4 at the time didn't have a problem using it.

Really.just sounds like you don't like MediaCenter and will never like it.

[LuckyDay]

The thing is, for many of us, a machine built around WMC is meant to serve as much more than just a "DVR". For me, I have Media Browser for all of my DVD backups and downloads that has a very nice looking interface and way to navigate them. Media Center Master automatically renames all of my content (with episode numbers like you want) and adds backdrops, cover art, actor and episode info.

I have games that launch directly through my WMC interface, as well as Steam Big PIcture for gaming. Gaming on my HTPC is similar and in many ways better what I can get out of any of the current consoles. I have Netflix, Blu-Ray, DVD, and Amazon Video (last one still a beta version plug-in). I have extenders that work perfectly recording and viewing TV in two different rooms. There are plugins for music, podcasts, file browsing, and too many more to name that you can get working with the WMC front end (without issues for 99% of us).

I'm able to minimize WMC occasionally and use it as an internet browsing machine, or for shopping online on my couch.

And on top of all of that I love the WMC interface, and the simpleness of it is perfect for what I want to do (as I don't use search, don't need season pass, or many of the other things you've mentioned). Nobody I have met has had any major issues using it or figuring it out.

While it's fine for you to not like the interface, and of course you will get backlash here on TGB because it's a WMC loyal community, you're saying WMC is garbage because of one component of what it does.

If you're wanting a DVR and DVR only, and the best functionality out of that DVR, why did you build an HTPC? You've most likely spent more money doing it and the TIVO already does exactly what you want. If none of these other features on WMC interest you, or you're only using a very small portion of them, what is the benefit?

For you, it sounds like WMC isn't the right option. Whether you like the interface or think it is intuitive is your opinion, it doesn't really matter what we think or if you think we're wrong.

[foxwood]

What if you missed multiple episodes or even whole seasons?

Have you ever tried to torrent an episode that was broadcast 3 years ago? Despite the hype, it's not going to be available, (except for a small number of "marquee" series).

Q. What's the best season of The Wire?
A1. The one that aired from Sep-Dec 2006.
A2. 4.

Season 4? Was that last year? The year before?
This is a DVR we're talking about. If I record something that's in syndication like "Big Bang Theory" I'm going to have episodes from 4 or 5 seasons - if it matters what order I'll watch them in, Original Air Date is just as functional as episode number.

The SxxEyy format conveys more useful information and is more useful for organizing. It's natural to organize by season, not year (seasons often span years),

I'm not organizing anything - it's recorded TV, it's sorted by date, which (this shouldn't come as a big surprise) delivers exactly the same result as sorting by episode number.

The S04E05 identifier has inherent meaning even in isolation,

Now you're just being silly - the only information in that string is that it's the one after episode 4, and before episode 6.

while 2006_10_08 is meaningful only to a rainman.

Yeah, cos you non-rainmen sit around saying "Remember episode S04E05 - that was my favorite! It was even better than the classic S02E13"

About the only time the Original Air Date interests me is when Media Center's guide data is screwed up, and I'm trying to figure out what it did wrong. But yeah, the air date is all there is for sorting in Media Center, so that's what I use, but I so prefer XBMC and its organization by SxxEyy, it's not even funny.

Well, if you rely on media sources that don't have any embedded metadata, and you have to squeeze a bare minimum of information into the only user updatable field available, (the filename), I can see how you might become dependent on a fairly restrictive convention, and decide to insist on using a hammer to drive screws.

But for a DVR that actually records stuff? I'll use the rich meta data that's included with the recording.

The funny thing is, if I had a fetish about Season and episode numbers, with WMC I can actually add them to my recordings. Neither the TiVo or cable-co DVR that I used before WMC sorted by episode number, (not that it would have been useful with the 40 hours of recordings I was limited to then), and there was no option for modifying anything, other than deleting it.

[foxwood]

Yup. I also run into PBS shows that are broadcast out of order, so it's really helpful to get SxxExx numbers on them to, after a few weeks of recording, put humpty dumpty back together.

You do understand the difference between "Date Recorded" and "Original Air Date" don't you?

[crawfish]

What if you missed multiple episodes or even whole seasons?

Have you ever tried to torrent an episode that was broadcast 3 years ago? Despite the hype, it's not going to be available, (except for a small number of "marquee" series).

Q. What's the best season of The Wire?
A1. The one that aired from Sep-Dec 2006.
A2. 4.

Season 4? Was that last year? The year before?
This is a DVR we're talking about. If I record something that's in syndication like "Big Bang Theory" I'm going to have episodes from 4 or 5 seasons - if it matters what order I'll watch them in, Original Air Date is just as functional as episode number.

The SxxEyy format conveys more useful information and is more useful for organizing. It's natural to organize by season, not year (seasons often span years),

I'm not organizing anything - it's recorded TV, it's sorted by date, which (this shouldn't come as a big surprise) delivers exactly the same result as sorting by episode number.

The S04E05 identifier has inherent meaning even in isolation,

Now you're just being silly - the only information in that string is that it's the one after episode 4, and before episode 6.

while 2006_10_08 is meaningful only to a rainman.

Yeah, cos you non-rainmen sit around saying "Remember episode S04E05 - that was my favorite! It was even better than the classic S02E13"

About the only time the Original Air Date interests me is when Media Center's guide data is screwed up, and I'm trying to figure out what it did wrong. But yeah, the air date is all there is for sorting in Media Center, so that's what I use, but I so prefer XBMC and its organization by SxxEyy, it's not even funny.

Well, if you rely on media sources that don't have any embedded metadata, and you have to squeeze a bare minimum of information into the only user updatable field available, (the filename), I can see how you might become dependent on a fairly restrictive convention, and decide to insist on using a hammer to drive screws.

But for a DVR that actually records stuff? I'll use the rich meta data that's included with the recording.

The funny thing is, if I had a fetish about Season and episode numbers, with WMC I can actually add them to my recordings. Neither the TiVo or cable-co DVR that I used before WMC sorted by episode number, (not that it would have been useful with the 40 hours of recordings I was limited to then), and there was no option for modifying anything, other than deleting it.

OK.