What I Really Want…
on 05.28.05, 08:11pm in home theater • comments (8)
Now that I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my MCE DVD Jukebox for a few months, I’ve started to realize what the next ‘evolution’ is going to be for a home media server.
Not only should the box have massive amounts of storage (800gb-1tb), be able to store and share DVD’s, MP3’s and photos to smart connected clients (which is all doable today, see the linked post), the server should be the box that actually has the TV card and records video.
Think about it - with the upcoming living room war between Sony Playstation 3 and XBox 360, combined with all of the connected devices (PC’s, UPNP DVD players, Tivo’s, etc), what you really want is a central location that records programs that I can access from anywhere (inside and outside the house), remotely setup recording schedules, etc.
Sure, with my current setup, I can record on MCE or Tivo, and manually copy the files to the server, but it sure would be nice if the server just did the recording in the first place. (And of course, it actually worked with my UPNP DVD player).
Adam (May 29, 2005 @ 5:11 am)
This is exactly what I want too, but isn’t this just what MythTV provides? (see http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-3.html#ss3.1)
Steve (May 29, 2005 @ 7:02 am)
It might.. I’ve never used MythTV.
Actually, I could just plug my fusion HDTV card into the server, and use its built in recording functionality aswell.
What I’d really like: Windows Server: Media Center Edition.
Jonathan Greene (May 29, 2005 @ 4:59 pm)
Why not just utilize the MCE box as the server and connect extenders where you want. XBox 360 will make a great extender come thanksgiving and there’s always the next update to MCE as well as the hardware which is getting more capable each rev.
HDTV via Cable or Sat is the missing killer piece for me… makes it tough to use 2 different systems for TV, though I like the integrated approach of MCE.
Steve (May 29, 2005 @ 7:42 pm)
I agree - What I’d like is MCE running on Windows 2003. HDTV over cable (not in MCE) can easily be done with the Fusion 3 card.
Jeff Atwood (May 30, 2005 @ 1:46 am)
> Windows Server: Media Center Edition.
What do you mean by “server”? Lots of disk space? Why not just have 4 400gb drives in your MCE box? I don’t understand what’s so special about the server moniker.
Steve (May 30, 2005 @ 7:38 am)
I already have 5 200gb drives in my server. I guess the way I differentiate it is like this:
1) I dont want my server running XP - I want 2003 on it (which it already does).
2) I dont need gigabytes in the living room. I want it in a closet, that’s accessible by multiple lightweight devices throughout the house.
3) I dont need the overhead of MCE (however, a simple, web based UI would be great) to have a box in the closet with multiple tuners just recording stuff. Playback would be handled by the boxes themselves.
Sean McLeod (May 30, 2005 @ 1:31 pm)
Pu the MCE machine in the closet with loads of disks and multiple tuners. This machine will do the recording and serve MCE extender devices including the new XBox 360 and media connect devices, upnp devices etc.
The MCX devices and media connect devices etc. will perform the playback and provide the UI.
Only real difference is that it won’t be running on top of w2k3 server but rather on top of XP. There probably isn’t a technical reason that MCE couldn’t run on w2k3, probably more a packaging/marketing reason.
Steve (May 30, 2005 @ 7:40 pm)
Sorry, not putting the MCE in the closet. I need 2003 running my setup.