Trying Windows 7 Media Center . .

[six_storm]

So I've been working XBMC like crazy for a year and I've become a little picky with it; some little things are pissing me off. For example, the only skin that is visually appealing and somewhat complete is Aeon. But Aeon is a little slow when scrolling through lists of media.

I looked around today during lunch and found that someone had decked out Windows 7 Media Center using MediaBrowser. And wow, it looked pretty good. I had decided that I could give W7MC a try, plus I needed to upgrade Vista to 7

After an hour, I installed Windows 7, updated the PC and got MediaBrowser ready to use.

So far things are ok. I really like the clean look and ease of use, but dang is it SLLLLOOOWWW. It took me about 30 minutes to find the right x64 codecs to play MKVs and it finally works.

Anyone else using W7MC and MediaBrowser or another add-in? Also, are there any YouTube plugins for W7MC?

[Eliminator]

is there a specific reason you need to use media centre? i just use media player classic and ffdshow and it plays just about everything

[six_storm]

Originally Posted by Eliminator

is there a specific reason you need to use media centre? i just use media player classic and ffdshow and it plays just about everything

I want to control everything by a remote, not keyboard and mouse. I also need something easy to use for my wifey and family when they use it.

I'm still not sold on the W7MC+MediaBrowser solution . . . but I need to give it a good solid try before ditching it and going back to XBMC.

[einstein_314]

haha, I spent 4 hours this weekend getting all my x64 codecs working properly. At one point I was sooo close to just reinstalling with Win7 x86. But I'm glad I didn't give up. When you say W7MC is Sloooowwww what do you mean? What is slow about it? Mine is way faster than it was on Vista.

I'm also using MediaBrowser like you are and that's it. Plays all my Bluray rips and HD TV Shows with DXVA (bluray 1080p .mkv's use about 7-10% CPU usage).

I'm not using any other plugins so I don't know about YouTube.

[einstein_314]

Originally Posted by six_storm

I want to control everything by a remote, not keyboard and mouse. I also need something easy to use for my wifey and family when they use it.

I'm still not sold on the W7MC+MediaBrowser solution . . . but I need to give it a good solid try before ditching it and going back to XBMC.

Let me know if you have any specific questions about MediaBrowser. I've been using it for quite a while now. I'm convinced it's better than XBMC. I played around with XBMC a while back and it didn't do it for me. I've found MediaBrowser to be much more stable and easier to use.

[six_storm]

Originally Posted by einstein_314

Let me know if you have any specific questions about MediaBrowser. I've been using it for quite a while now. I'm convinced it's better than XBMC. I played around with XBMC a while back and it didn't do it for me. I've found MediaBrowser to be much more stable and easier to use.

Good to know man. MediaBrowser is what's slow. I have about 100 movies, some 480P AVIs, some 1080P MKVs. And just scrolling through my library is laggy and slow. And each movie I test out or play, it just gets slower and slower to where I think it's locked up.

Also, the first load of MediaBrowser is slow too. I have to go into my movie library, go back out and then back in to get everything to load properly. BTW, I'm running to latest version of MB.

[einstein_314]

Originally Posted by six_storm

Good to know man. MediaBrowser is what's slow. I have about 100 movies, some 480P AVIs, some 1080P MKVs. And just scrolling through my library is laggy and slow. And each movie I test out or play, it just gets slower and slower to where I think it's locked up.

Also, the first load of MediaBrowser is slow too. I have to go into my movie library, go back out and then back in to get everything to load properly. BTW, I'm running to latest version of MB.

I presume you have it fetching the metadata from the internet? Maybe it's still doing that in the background? I have downloaded all my metadata with metabrowser (found in the mediaBrowser forums or www.themetabrowser.com.

There is a bug in the current version that causes the window focus glitch where you have to go in, back out, and back in again. When you go in the first time you'll notice the counter at the top says 0|# (# = number of movies). They're working on it apparently.

[nekrosoft13]

six, upgrade to latest DX build of XBMC and don't use the original Aeon, get Aeon hitched by Ekim, best verison of Aeon skin

Plus the new Alaska skin is looking great.

[six_storm]

Originally Posted by einstein_314

I presume you have it fetching the metadata from the internet? Maybe it's still doing that in the background? I have downloaded all my metadata with metabrowser (found in the mediaBrowser forums or www.themetabrowser.com.

There is a bug in the current version that causes the window focus glitch where you have to go in, back out, and back in again. When you go in the first time you'll notice the counter at the top says 0|# (# = number of movies). They're working on it apparently.

Thanks for the info, I may have to try that out. I noticed that unless I went into say a TV show's folder, it wouldn't download the metadata until then. I guess I can use an external metadata scraper.

Hopefully by the time I get home from work, my HTPC will have done all of the automated crap it needs to do and be calmed down.

Originally Posted by nekrosoft13

six, upgrade to latest DX build of XBMC and don't use the original Aeon, get Aeon hitched by Ekim, best verison of Aeon skin

Plus the new Alaska skin is looking great.

I did try the latest DX version and video won't play, only audio and a black screen. Haven't dived into it very much yet.

Alaska does look great but it's extremely alpha, still needs some work imo. Aeon Hitcher looks good too and works well, but it's still a little slow when browsing media.

[Q]

I ran MCE 2005 for years with hardly any problems. Then again, I used it as a DVR and not an all in one media player.

When I upgraded to W7, I decided to try to get integrated playback for all media. It was an absolute nightmare with x64. I went to 32 bit, which is fine for a media center box, installed Shark codecs and everything works instantly and like a charm.

[six_storm]

Originally Posted by Q

I ran MCE 2005 for years with hardly any problems. Then again, I used it as a DVR and not an all in one media player.

When I upgraded to W7, I decided to try to get integrated playback for all media. It was an absolute nightmare with x64. I went to 32 bit, which is fine for a media center box, installed Shark codecs and everything works instantly and like a charm.

I'm using Win7 x64 with Shark Codecs. Things are working great so far, just the navigation is slow in MediaBrowser. But as Einstein suggested, I'm going to try an external metadata app.

[nekrosoft13]

Originally Posted by six_storm

I did try the latest DX version and video won't play, only audio and a black screen. Haven't dived into it very much yet.

Alaska does look great but it's extremely alpha, still needs some work imo. Aeon Hitcher looks good too and works well, but it's still a little slow when browsing media.

what is the build you tried, currently using 24368 and no issues, i rarely had issues with DX build, just in the early days when DX was made as an option.

When switching from opengl build to dx build it is good idea to start over with settings.

also don't use Aeon Hitched, it not updated anymore try Aeon Hitched by Ekim.

as far as browsing speed, really have no idea what you are talking about, I have only 10 movies as those are regulary rotated, but i do have over 120 TV Shows with over 4,500 episodes, not counting over 80GB of music.

and everything is grabs meta info from the net.