WMC 7 vs WMC 8.1

[guytechie]

I have a WMC 7 set up that's mostly rock solid (Xbox 360 extenders, HDHomeRun Prime, Comcast, 5.1 sound system, etc). I got a new place and I'm leaving the set up behind (brother loves it, so he wants to keep it). He is actually going to pay me whatever it cost to set up a new WMC system at my new place.

I am still going with the HDHomeRun Prime (was thinking of the Centon ETH6 but didn't hear good stories from them - plus the possible HDHomeRun DVR compatibility issues)... and of course no choice but Comcast.

The question is - besides 3rd party extenders not being compatible, what other issues do WMC 8.1 have? I'm wondering if I should go WMC 8.1 or WMC 7 wiith my new build.

Cost is not a problem - I already own a license for Win 8.1 Pro and the Media Center addon AND for Win 7 Ultimate. I have both at my disposal.

Part of me wants WMC 7 because I know what to expect. The other part like how Win 8.1 takes advantage of the speedy UEFI booting process (though not a huge deal - I rarely reboot my WMC PC).

Also, is it safe to have a 24x7 WMC PC using a SSD as the system drive? I wonder about all those micro writes prematurely wearing the SSD.

Thanks!

[Ed]

You have to put a shortcut to WMC in the startup folder because the option to have it start with Windows isn't in the WMC interface anymore; and the extender issue you already know of - but that's it really. If those 2 don't bother you - I say go Windows 8.1. My headless HTPC runs 8.1. It's fine to have an SSD as the OS drive (it's recommended), you don't want recordings to take place on it though - have that on a secondary mechanical drive. The buffer for when watching live TV will be on whatever your recording drive is; which as I said, should be a secondary mechanical one.

[guytechie]

Thanks for the response, Ed.

Any issues with existing addons and codecs? My go-to codec pack is Shark007. I usually hate packs but grown to love this one.

I also remember purchasing or donating for a logo pack for the guide. I quite like it. Not sure if it will be compatible with WMC 8.1

So XBox 360 extenders are still good? I may have to buy a Slim model - much quieter.

[Ed]

Thanks for the response, Ed.

Any issues with existing addons and codecs? My go-to codec pack is Shark007. I usually hate packs but grown to love this one.

So XBox 360 extenders are still good? I may have to buy a Slim model - much quieter.

I don't use codecs or plugins on it anymore (except for My Channel Logos, Tuner Salad and Guide Tool. Those really aren't plugins IMO; but they work on 8) as my machine is headless and just serves the 360 extenders in my house with TV only. I did have Shark007 installed on it before it was headless though, worked fine. And the only plugin I remember using was Jack Luminous' TV Library which worked fine once he updated it for 8. I used to use Media Center Studio and ReLaunch to link to a bunch of remote friendly streaming sites instead of using actual WMC plugins - but, I pretty much dropped all those in favor of dedicated streaming STB solutions by the time I moved onto 8. So, it would mainly depend on what plugins you need/use.

All my 360 extenders are the newer E model, I suggest those or the Slims. Avoid the fat white ones.

[TheOsburnFamil]

I'm with Ed on this one. Once the Roku3's came out and throw a little Plex in the mix, I found that combination WAY better then constantly messing with tweaking codecs and worrying about that messing with my MediaCenter DVR. So I stripped everything out of my HTPC but my CableCARD tuners, use MyChannelLogos and then used the Mikinho's Hide MediaCenter Strips app to REMOVE all the MCE strips except the tasks & TV strips so WMC is ONLY a TV DVR. I put the HTPC down in the basement to resist the urge to tweak even that and I use XBOX360s.

With this setup, you never have to worry about your TV/DVR configuration. It's the straight out of the box setup and with that in mind, there's really no difference between 7's WMC and 8.1's WMC. Go with whichever is easier for you. Mine is personally 8.1. It's OS drive is on an SSD and I've got a 1TB drive for the recordings. I chose 8.1 because of it's speed on an SSD.

So each TV has an XBOX360 Slim and a Roku3 and I couldn't be happier with that experience with the exception of the guide issues that Microsoft likes to throw at us.
[EDIT]
Btw-- I also think sticking with the HDHomeRun tuners is the right idea here too. While I have and like my Ceton tuners, if you're building a brand new system, go with the Company who is actively (and publicly) developing new technologies and engaging with the community. So, thinking brand-new, I'd go with a headless PC. Actually-- Get a Really inexpensive Dell PowerEdge Server with a DRAC so you have OOB controller of the power/kvm if the thing ever gets locked up (or you're away from home). You can get a REALLY cheap PowerEdge off Amazon that'll work just fine.

PSS (Sorry, can't resist LOL)-- The more I think of it-- get the Dell PowerEdge, get a DRAC, get a dual-port nic, and get 32GB RAM with a decent proc. You should be able to do it all for less than $1200... Now you can install the free ESXi OS and have a couple VMs running. One for your HTPC and one for the Plex Server VM!

[Ed]

I'm with Ed on this one. Once the Roku3's came out and throw a little Plex in the mix, I found that combination WAY better then constantly messing with tweaking codecs and worrying about that messing with my MediaCenter DVR. So I stripped everything out of my HTPC but my CableCARD tuners, use MyChannelLogos and then used the Mikinho's Hide MediaCenter Strips app to REMOVE all the MCE strips except the tasks & TV strips so WMC is ONLY a TV DVR. I put the HTPC down in the basement to resist the urge to tweak even that and I use XBOX360s.

With this setup, you never have to worry about your TV/DVR configuration. It's the straight out of the box setup and with that in mind, there's really no difference between 7's WMC and 8.1's WMC. Go with whichever is easier for you. Mine is personally 8.1. It's OS drive is on an SSD and I've got a 1TB drive for the recordings. I chose 8.1 because of it's speed on an SSD.

So each TV has an XBOX360 Slim and a Roku3 and I couldn't be happier with that experience with the exception of the guide issues that Microsoft likes to throw at us.
[EDIT]
Btw-- I also think sticking with the HDHomeRun tuners is the right idea here too. While I have and like my Ceton tuners, if you're building a brand new system, go with the Company who is actively (and publicly) developing new technologies and engaging with the community. So, thinking brand-new, I'd go with a headless PC. Actually-- Get a Really inexpensive Dell PowerEdge Server with a DRAC so you have OOB controller of the power/kvm if the thing ever gets locked up (or you're away from home). You can get a REALLY cheap PowerEdge off Amazon that'll work just fine.

PSS (Sorry, can't resist LOL)-- The more I think of it-- get the Dell PowerEdge, get a DRAC, get a dual-port nic, and get 32GB RAM with a decent proc. You should be able to do it all for less than $1200... Now you can install the free ESXi OS and have a couple VMs running. One for your HTPC and one for the Plex Server VM!

Amen - preach it brother

[DavidinCT]

Here''s a question for 8.1 WMC users, that came from Windows 7. If you follow my posts, you'd know I found no reason for going to 8.1 for WMC but, I found that all the missing features in WMC on 8.1 can be manually set in the registry so that is no longer a big deal (start WMC with Windows and Always on top), I also have access to both 8.1 w/WMC and 7 ultimate (that is running now)

My WMC on WIndows 7 when it starts up or I enter a menu the 50 shows up in the top right corner (yes, the volume), as a lot of people are using bit streaming off an AVR, Volume is not needed on the WMC system. Does this still show up in 8.1 ?

It's one of the big annoyances on 7 WMC and even when I was in the beta program, I submitted a bug for this and kept on hitting the WMC team on this issue, and they said they would not fix it.

[guytechie]

Thanks for the detailed info, Osbourn! I like the separate STB idea. I still can't believe the price of XBox 360s, too!

So the Roku 3 can handle lots of different codecs and video file types? MKV, avi, mov, xvid, divx, MP4, AAC, etc? I'm going to have to look into that. Right now I have an Apple TV as my Netflix/HBO Go player and a Chromcast for YouTube. I guess a Roku + Chromcast would work better.

[TheOsburnFamil]

Here''s a question for 8.1 WMC users, that came from Windows 7. If you follow my posts, you'd know I found no reason for going to 8.1 for WMC but, I found that all the missing features in WMC on 8.1 can be manually set in the registry so that is no longer a big deal (start WMC with Windows and Always on top), I also have access to both 8.1 w/WMC and 7 ultimate (that is running now)

My WMC on WIndows 7 when it starts up or I enter a menu the 50 shows up in the top right corner (yes, the volume), as a lot of people are using bit streaming off an AVR, Volume is not needed on the WMC system. Does this still show up in 8.1 ?

It's one of the big annoyances on 7 WMC and even when I was in the beta program, I submitted a bug for this and kept on hitting the WMC team on this issue, and they said they would not fix it.

I can confirm at least from an extender perspective. I don't have the headend htpc 8.1 wmc box plugged into any tv or avr.
That said, my setups with my 360s plugged into an avr and the avr plugged into the TV... Those do not display the problem you are describing.

[TheOsburnFamil]

Thanks for the detailed info, Osbourn! I like the separate STB idea. I still can't believe the price of XBox 360s, too!

So the Roku 3 can handle lots of different codecs and video file types? MKV, avi, mov, xvid, divx, MP4, AAC, etc? I'm going to have to look into that. Right now I have an Apple TV as my Netflix/HBO Go player and a Chromcast for YouTube. I guess a Roku + Chromcast would work better.

I wouldn't even waste time with a chromecast for YouTube. The roku3 YouTube channel has Cast-to ability just fine.

As to the codecs. Yeah the roku3 can handle most common stuff but if you put the plex in the mix you're sure to be covered wo having to tweak anything. If it's a file type that can't be direct played to the roku, the plex transcoding engine is the best I've seen and there's no having to mess with codecs or containers. It just works.

[mcewinter]

The Plex transcoding engine is great from a convenience perspective but pretty lame from a home theater perspective. I use Plex on my portable devices but certainly dummies down the movie experience on a home theater. It should be noted that Plex does not provide a 1:1 experience.

[3rob3]

Only problem with Roku is the Plex interface is awful (unless you are a Plex Pass subscriber, which I am, then you can get a much improved interface), and it seems to need to transcode everything. If it's not transcoding maybe it is just long buffer times.

[TheOsburnFamil]

Re the plex client for roku.. I agree the standard plex client leaves more to be desired. But, keep in my even that interface compared to the video library of wmc is way better. Another free alternative though is the third party plexrar client avail as a roku plugin. That has a lot of customizations avail and still works with free plex.

Again, yes there are other options and we could go on and on.. I'm simply comparing the best free alternative (imho and free excluding the price of the roku3) and comparing it to the maint of wmc and the wmc experience.

[beazster]

This isn't WMC related but another reason to go 8.1 is if you're a subscriber to Netflix the only way to get 5.1 audio is through the Netflix app from the app store.

[CAL7]

I have a perfectly satisfactory Win 7 setup, but I'm going to take it to 8.1 just in anticipation of an EOL for Win 8 that is beyond Win 7.