Re: XBOX vs Extendor

1. Yes, you can burn a DVD while doing something else on another tv.
2. The DVD burn will be faster than realtime. There are two things going on - a re-encoding of the content and the burning itself. The speed of the CPU determines the re-encode time and the speed of the DVD burner determines the burn time.

I burned an episode of "24" the other day on my Gateway 901x (about a year old) and it took about 20 minutes I think (my memory's not that great, so give or take a few minutes there).

FYI, not all MCE machines have the plugin for burning DVD video. It's been a thorn in my side that MS didn't include it for everyone but instead left it up to the OEM to install or not. Most major OEMs have included it, but most small shops have not included it. Make sure you ask.

I use analog cable, not satellite.

As for Tivo vs MCE, I've never used Tivo so I'll be guessing. Let me assume for argument's sake that Tivo never hangs, never has problems, and is incredibly simple to hook up. Versus MCE 2005, which may hang on you, may have some issues, and may be somewhat complex to hook up. Personally I run MCE 2005 and haven't had to reboot the machine in months. However, obviously others have had issues. My advice to avoid these issues is to go with a major OEM who is likely to have actually tested the system and knows it works. Again, this is why I like the HP systems that in general seem to work well.

On the other hand, you get way more than you did with Tivo as well, including expandability, access to your pictures, ability to burn DVDs, ability to access all media over the network and (using Orb) the internet.

I'm obviously an MCE fan, but I tried really hard to be honest in my assessment above. I have to admit that if Tivo were available in Canada I might have gone with that instead in the early days if all I wanted was a PVR. But now I use MCE for PVR and digital photos primarily, and make heavy use of the extender concept. I couldn't do that with Tivo (at least I don't think so, they still seem to have something against us Canadians). ;-)

Pete

Joe Horton wrote: 
You use DirecTV or other?  I love my Tivo's and although we prob only see
the problems on this forum, I'm nervous the MCE won't work as well as the
Tivo.

I do have a TV DVD Burner that I use to burn programs either live or from
Tivo to make DVD's that play in other players.  One thing I really hate is
the "burn time" - it copies it as it's playing - so the TV is in use while
I'm waiting for the movie to record - then there's the 5 to 10 minute
finalizing stage at the end.  So to burn a 2 hour movie - the Tivo is in use
playing the recorded movie, hooked up to the DVD STB for 2 hours and 10 min.

1) Will MCE copy movies to a DVD independantly and allow me to record, watch
tv at the same time?
2) Will it burn the DVD fromt he HD much faster - or is it still a slow burn
copy?


"Peter Near [MCE MVP]" <peter@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uo0gqFWOFHA.2728@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They would be plugged into 1 analog card each.  Digital cards are for
OTA HDTV, at least in the US.  No way currently to harvest the digital
signal from directv, it's all locked up by Directv.

I personally have dual tuners running on the MCE machine.  The MCE
drives one TV set, an XBox Extender drives another, and an HP Extender
drives the other.  Works like a charm, everybody can watch whatever they
want.

Pete

Joe Horton wrote:

Pete - as an avid Tivo user now I agree with that concept.

You say 2 analog and 1 digital - when I plug 2 STB DirecTV boxes into 

WMC

would I be using both analog cards or one of each and what's the 

difference?

"Peter Near [MCE MVP]" <peter@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:O8oRI9VOFHA.2568@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


2 analog and 1 digital tuner is the max for MCE 2005.

The question comes up fairly often, and I always tell people not to
worry.  Once you get accustomed to using a PVR, the concept of Live TV
becomes quickly irrelevant.  You tell it to go out and record everything
that could be of interest to you and just pull it up on demand.  The
actual broadcast time becomes forgotten.

Pete

Joe Horton wrote:


Is there any reason I can't have 4 tuner cards - to be used for a 2 

room

system? Two tuners per room - so in theory if I had 2 media extenders, 

6


tuner cards - I could have 3 TV's working independeantly of each other.
Right now I have a Tivo in each room, which has 2 tuners in each box
already.



"WM" <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OsY%23ltVOFHA.1476@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Live TV, Only if your MCE has two tuners. If one is recorded, yes the 

other



could be watching live - with only one tuner.

"Joe Horton" <joe@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:O2CGqOVOFHA.1096@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



When using the the extender to use in Bedroom - will the main TV next 

to


the
computer work independantly?  I mean can people be watching TV or


recorded



shows in the living room off off WMC while I'm watching something 

else

in



Bedroom?


"Peter Near [MCE MVP]" <peter@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23gQVkaUOFHA.3560@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



You are correct.  I wrote a comparison of the extenders a few months
back, it can be found here:
http://www.thenears.com/?p=80

The XBox can be a cheaper alternative, and it's what I use for my
primary home theater system.  However, it has the following


drawbacks:

- component video out will cost extra
- digital audio out will cost extra
- picture quality is inferior to that of the HP/Linksys extender
- somewhat noisy, whereas the HP is silent
- wireless will cost extra

That said, it has the following advantages:
- can also play games
- can also play DVDs

Cheers
Pete

Joe Horton wrote:



Is it true I can buy an Xbox console for under $200, and the 

program

to



make



it an extender for about $70? While most other extenders are above 

$300?



So I could buy a cool game system that includes an extender for 

less

than



what an extender costs?

So the WMC computer I"m in process of buying will be near my 

projector



TV in



the living room - but I only need an Extender if I also plan on 

hooking



up



my bedroom TV to the same computer, it this also true?







.

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