1. Caddyshack -- Saturday December 23 at 11 PM EST on Showcase If you are looking for a deep thinking and thought provoking movie for the holidays, then this isn't one. If on the other hand you are looking for something light hearted, then this classic will surely suffice. If you have never seen this tale of a mad golf club, then do yourself the favor of setting your PVR to record it.
2. It's a Wonderful Life -- Sunday December 24 at 7 PM EST on CBC What would Christmas Eve be without this classic movie? Although this is an older movie (so old in fact, that it is in the public domain), it is also probably one of the most recognized holiday movies ever made. Even though watching the tale of this man's life can be depressing, the ending always gives me that good old holiday spirit feeling.
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl -- Monday December 25 at 8PM EST on CBC From Angels to Pirates, how is that for a not-so-smooth transition? Sure this movie may not have any sort of holiday season tidings, but I always get a kick out of watching it, especially when I keep in mind that Johnny Depp molded his character's mannerisms after Keith Richards.
4. World Jr. Hockey -- First game on December 26 at 9 AM EST on TSN Ah, the good old Canadian tradition of spending Boxing Day in front of the TV to watch the all-too-short World Junior Hockey Championship. This year it is being held in Sweden, so most of the games will start from somewhere between 7 AM EST to the early afternoon.
5. The Yes Men -- December 28 at 9 PM EST on TMN Although I haven't seen this documentary in a while, I still get a kick out of the whole premise. Basically these two guys set up an operation that closely mimics the WTO, and they start making public appearances while promoting outlandish ideas. It's amusing to see how far they could go, and what they got away with.
1. iRecord. Why pay for downloadable TV and movie content from iTunes if you can record you favorite programming right onto your iPod? Thanks to the iRecord, you can record the latest episode of Lost and have it automatically formatted and transferred to your iPod for later viewing. At $1.99 a show, and even more for movies, the savings can add up quick. The iRecord is priced at $199.99 and can be purchased through www.irecord.com.
2. Simplifi Digital AV Expander. One of the biggest problems that I ran into when I was building my Media Center Edition PC was the lack of options to connect video game systems to the computer. MCE inherently creates a two second buffer for all video input through a tuner card, but the Simplifi Digital AV Expander allows you to connect your systems to MCE and bypass the delay all together. If you want to pick up one of these for a friend or yourself, then check out Simplifi Digital's website, where you can get the card for $99.
3. ExpressVu HD PVR Plus System. ExpressVu has long been one of the larger satellite providers in Canada, and what would a TV provider be without a PVR? This PVR is can record up to 180 hours of SD TV as well as record HD TV, it features two tuners so you can record two programs at once, and it also sports picture-in-picture. The ExpressVu HD PVR Plus can be bought via Bell ExpressVu's site for as cheap as $325 CDN.
4. Creating a Digital Home Entertainment System with Windows Media Center. You may be asking yourself what a book is doing on this list, but let me say that this book is great if you are looking at building a Media Center Edition PC. Although this book does not deal with Vista, a lot of the background information will still be valid. Topics include deciding on the purpose of you media center, recommendations for hardware, and of course using the Media Center interface. List price for the book is $29.99, but you should be able to find it cheaper on Amazon.com.
One of the most common things that I use my MCE box for is to watch videos, whether they be full DVD's, DivX or XviD. The downside of watching non-DVD movies is that there are no chapter breaks, so if I want to pick up in a certain spot again, I am usually stuck either skipping forward or looking for a specific time frame.
Well BookMarkIt! takes care of a lot of these problems. This handy little plugin allows you to add bookmarks (which are similar to chapters on DVDs) to various video files so you can easily get back to where you left off.
Usage for this plugin is quite simple and straightforward. When you are watching a video and you want to add a bookmark, you can either hit the Info button on your MCE remote or you can right click with the mouse, and choose 'More'. Once you hit the 'More' button you can either save a new bookmark or open an existing one.
Installation of this plugin is quick and easy, and the best part is that it is free. For more information, and a link to download BookMarkIt!, just hit the Read link bellow.
One of the joys of building your own PVR is not only choosing what software to use, but you have to choose what hardware you want. Things aren't always clear cut with all of the various choices out there, so having second opinions on options is always a great thing.
For example, Andy recently posted a list of information and parts that he used to build his latest MCE box, and there is also a lot of sound advice in there. I completely agree with him that although cost is almost always an issue, there are some things you should not skimp on, like cases, the CPU or the amount RAM.
So what would I have done differently if I were building a system similar to Andy's? First off I would have used a different power supply (these things are real quiet – I have two), I would have either gone for a larger hard drive or more than one, and I would go for a dual tuner PCI card.
So what would you have done differently? Do you have any advice to offer to other homebrew PVR builders? Leave a comment below and let us know.
With USB tuners gaining more and more popularity, PC Magazine decided to take Artec's new T174A digital tuner for a spin. Along with the ease of use that a USB tuner can offer, this particular device also offers access to OTA HDTV signals, but as the reviewer found out, the tuner is only as good as the software.
First off, the good stuff, like the antenna that comes with it. It's nice and easy to hook up, it has a suction cup so that you can position it in a variety of places for the best signal reception, and it also has pretty good signal strength.
Now although the tuner itself seems to be pretty reasonable as far as functionality goes, the bundled software is horrible at best. The user interface is poorly laid out, and when watching live HDTV it can be choppy, although recorded HDTV playback was alright. One other point worth mentioning is that after the reviewer gave up on the included software, he ended up trying it out in MCE. Now although he was able to get MCE to recognize it without much trouble, he was having issues with playback, but they may have been related to a weak signal since they eventually came in when he moved around.
Now although the bundled software really drags this thing down, I would be interested in seeing how well it works with other PVR software. The minimum requiremets are a little steep (P 3.0 GHz CPU and at least a 128 MB video card), but that is due mainly to the HDTV processing.
One of the points that is reiterated a lot when it comes to Windows Media Center devices is that underneath that slick interface, there is still a computer running Windows XP. Although MCE offers a wealth of uses by itself, you can also use it for common tasks that you may perform on a regular computer.
In this day and age for example, who doesn't have an email address? Although a lot of us have webmail addresses (like Hotmail and Gmail), there are a lot of us who still like to use Outlook for our email and daily planning.
That's where the plugin MCE Outlook steps in. This dandy little plugin will give you access to all of your IMAP and POP3 email accounts that you have configured within Outlook, and all of this is viewable right in Media Center, so there is no need to leave the interface.
MCE Outlook not only gives you access to your email, but it also allows you to access to other features such as Notes, Tasks and Contacts.
MCE Outlook is a free download and can be found here.
Pcalchemy, the makers of various media center based systems, and One Voice Technologies, the creators of a voice recognition system for MCE, have announced a new joint partnership which will bring a new and interesting look to the market.
As a result of this deal, Pcalchemy's Extreme Edition Media Center systems (which will run Vista Home Premium) will now include the One Voice Remote and Media Center Communicator, which is the processing component of the One Voice suite.
Some of the features include:
• A simple voice recognition system that requires no training • Ability to play MP3s (even through iTunes) using voice commands • Ability to use the remote to use Skype for phone calls • Creation of your own voice commands that can carry out tasks (e.g. launch applications)
What is interesting about this remote, aside from the built in microphone, is the range on it due to the fact that it uses RF technology: over 100 feet. With that, you could easily be in another room and still be able to use Skype via the remote to make calls.
Over at the SnapStream blog, there is a simple post titled "New Beyond TV coming later this week...", which includes a little teaser in it. First off, they state that the new version will be out Thursday, and it will have "some of the usual bug fixes and minor improvements", but it will also have "one significant new feature".
Anyone have any insight into what this new "significant" feature will be? Could it be the inclusion of the "Columbus" website which we have mentioned a couple of times (here and here)? Or is it something more ominous and out of the blue? Either way we can expect an update on their blog soon.
Also in this post are two video clips comparing their old intro video, and their new intro video. Go over there and have a look and decide for yourself if the new video is a good change.
Are you looking for a PVR that is not only full functional, but also offers the peace of mind of knowing that you are doing your part to help out the environment? Well if you have been, then the TVonics DVR-150 is just up your alley.
The DVR-150 is quite similar to most other PVRs, with its 160GB hard drive, dual tuners, 8 day EPG and the standard audio outputs. But what sets this unit apart is the warm and fuzzy feeling that you get by knowing that you are using an eco-friendly device (NOTE: you may not actually experience a warm and fuzzy feeling by using this device).
This device uses only 20 watts of power when it is in use and only a mere 3 watts when it is in standby mode. Further to that, the unit has been constructed using materials and components which limit its environmental impact.
Overall this does look like a nice, sleek device, and I don't think anyone would argue with the thought of using less power and cutting down on the electricity bills. The DVR-150 is manufactured by Sony, sold by TVonics, and can be found in Tesco stores for £189.99.
A lot of PVR enthusiasts are excited to see what Apple will bring to the table with the iTV, which is scheduled to be released at some point next year. If you are like many others out there who want it now, you have to ask yourself, is it worth waiting for or could you build one on your own now and for a cheaper price?
InformIT has taken this question to heart and they are going through their thoughts in a three part series, entitled Building a Mac Home Media Center. The first part focuses on what we know the iTV will deliver, and it speculates on features that it may offer.
After they get through the facts and speculation, we are left with a simple list of reasons why you should wait for the iTV and why you should do it yourself now. There seems to be a lot of good reasons to start doing it on your own now, which includes reasons such as potentially lower cost, you can choose which PVR software and hardware to use, and the big one: immediate availability.
The first part clocks in at over 5000 words, so needless to say there is a lot of thought and background info in it. Although turning your Mac into a media center is nothing new, this has to be one of the most extensive resources I have seen on it yet.
As some of you may have noticed, we have covered parts one and two of Chris Lanier's experience with controlling his home lighting via MCE. Well the series has been wrapped up with parts three & four.
Part three discusses some of the major features included with mControl, such as Macros, the OneVoice Media Center Communicator, and even controls for things like HVAC and IP security cameras. Chris limited his experiment to just lighting, so these other features did not get a workout, but its great to know that there is such an extensive list of supported devices.
Part four is the final part in this series and it covers remote access to mControl through the various methods available. First off, since the Xbox 360 is such a popular Media Center Extender, it can be used to control mControl as long as it is connected to your MCE device. You can also pull up the control page via a web interface (SSL is optional), which is nice because that way if you are away from your MCE device or extender, you can still control it, whether you are on your own home network or over the internet.
This has definitely been an interesting series and great place to get started it you are interested in home automation.
It's Thursday and that means that another new edition of The Windows Media Center Show is ready for you to download and listen to. This week Ian's guest is Andy Zhulenev who is the creator behind BuildMediaCenter.com, a site that is dedicated to building and learning about home theatre PCs, including MCE.
If you have been wondering what components you should put in your HTPC, this show is for you. There is a good conversation that revolves around what a HTPC can do for you, and how what you choose for hardware is affected by what you want to use your media center for.
Another topic that they touch on during the conversation is one that is the holy grail of HTPCs – one that runs quiet or even silently. After all, if you have a PC sitting in your living room, you don't want the sound of the fans to drown out the background noise in the shows that you are watching.
The podcast can be downloaded from Ian's homepage, and be sure to check out The Media Center Show Extra #3 in which we get to see the new Vista's UI for Media Center in action.
The fine folks over at NotebookReview.com are hosting a review of the fairly new Hauppauge WinTV HVR 950 USB 2.0 Stick (whew, what a mouthful). The 950 is a nice little USB tuner that is slightly bigger than most memory sticks, it has OTA capabilities, and it can tune into both SD and HD signals.
I've always liked the idea of a USB tuner because of its portability and ease of use, but I have never owned or used one, so I am never really sure what to expect. But from the sounds of the interview, this little fella is a solid performer, of course that shouldn't be surprising when you see the name Hauppauge on the packaging.
One nice feature about this stick is that is powers itself via USB, so there is no need to lug around an adapter, and that also means that it is highly portable and can be used on a laptop in situations where power is not available, assuming that you have sufficient battery power.
The review ends off with a nice bullet point list of the pros and cons of the device, but I won't spoil those for you. Instead I suggest going over and checking out the review, especially if you are interested in one of these.
So far in the MCE Plugin Spotlight series, most of the plugins that have been highlighted have brought some sort of technical capabilities with it, whether it is something trivial like weather forecasts, or something more advanced like playing your music purchased through iTunes via MCE. So I decided to take a look at something a little more lighthearted this time around.
Every now and then we all feel like doing something a little different than just sitting in front of the TV and watching shows, instead we need a bit of interaction and stimulation. Well Funspot should be able to fill that role with the array of games that it adds to MCE.
Funspot is by no means for a die hard gamer looking to play a 3D first person shooter, rather it is for someone who wants to play the occasional game of blackjack, or perhaps try to solve a sudoku puzzle. The plugin installs quite a few different games, and although they may not be the best games known to man, they are a nice change from time to time.
Funspot is a free download that can be found on Download.com, and it is also worth noting that all of the games can be controlled via your MCE remote, so there is no need to use a keyboard and mouse.
Recently we brought you a story about Chris Lanier, the MCE enthusiast, who went ahead and rigged up his lights so that he could control them from his Media Center via mControl. As you may recall, Chris gave us a primer on what technologies he choose and why.
Now that a bit of time has elapsed since his first installment, he has posted part two of his experiment. As with the first part, this installment is once again broken up into easy to read sections, starting off with the installation of his INSTEON kit.
From what Chris writes, the actual install and synchronizing of the devices was fairly straightforward. As he points out, it is imperative that you trip any breakers before you start to work on anything that could send electricity through you, after all, you don't want to end up dead before getting a chance to play with your new toys.
Finally the post gets to the control interface for all of this to work: mControl via MCE. Judging from Chris' experience, setting up and configuring mControl was one of the easier parts of this whole experiment, and it seemed to work without a hitch.
Part one of his experiment can be found here, and it seems like we can expect a part three soon. Great stuff Chris!
1. Caddyshack -- Saturday December 23 at 11 PM EST on Showcase
