Ways to get windows media center on my TV besides xbox 360?

[phil901]

Right. After a year of me owning an xbox 360, I finally decided to look into what else it could do since I can't afford live/xbox games. I found out it has windows media center. I'm fully aware of how to play movies and the file types associated with them, etc, but I'm looking for ways to use WMC throughout my house without having an xbox in each room. Any good and cheap ways?

 

[profdlp]

You can set up a computer to act as a WMC box. Configured properly you should even be able to stream media from other computers on your network. (Caveat: I do believe there are some issues doing that with "protected" content.)

I'm getting ready to do something similar myself. Surprisingly, it doesn't take a killer-diller computer to do a decent job. Lots of people are cobbling together a machine out of not-so-latest-and-greatest components to achieve a decent result. You do want it to be able to handle high-definition H.264-encoded video.

A couple links to get you started:

http://www.sevenforums.com/media-center/105621-complete-media-center-set-up-guide.html

Tutorials - Windows 7 Forums (Click the "Media" icon)

How To: Stream Your Music Library to Any Computer | Maximum PC

The Green Button

Bleeding Edge:

How to Build the Ultimate 3D Home Theater PC | Maximum PC

General:

Maximum TV: How to Build a Hulu Desktop + Boxee PC | Maximum PC

 

[phil901]

Well I'm talking about to each TV in my house. One tv -- the one in my mom's room -- is a Samsung Lcd, etc, while the others are regular ones. I'll take a look at those links, thanks.

 

[profdlp]

Maybe check this out:

Set up a Windows Media Center Extender

http://www.google.com/products?q=Me...esult_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CD4QrQQwAA