August 23rd, 2007

Vista Media Center takes over the living room

Posted by Ed Bott @ 2:38 pm

Categories: Digital media, Windows Vista

Tags: Media Center PC, PC, System, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows, Vista Media Center, Ed Bott

[Update 24-August, 2:00PM: By popular request, I've assembled a list of the parts that went into this system, including specs and prices.]  

In June, I recounted my out-of-the-box experience with a new Dell PC running Windows Vista, starting with a failed BIOS upgrade, undergoing a successful repair, and establishing that the basic hardware and software setup was rock-solid.

The reason I bought this PC in the first place was to use it as the hub of a home theater system, integrated with a 5.1 surround sound setup and a 50-inch Sony HDTV with Vista Media Center as the front end. So, at the beginning of July, I took the plunge and moved this system out of the office and into the living room. It took about two weeks to assemble all the pieces I needed and get everything working together correctly, but today I am thoroughly pleased with everything about this system. If you’ve considered doing the same thing, I have some advice in this post, and I’ve documented the whole thing with an image gallery so you can see what it looks like.

Image Gallery: “Using Windows Vista as a home theater hub” 

My goal with this system was to consolidate all of our digital media - photos, music, and home videos - into a single location accessible over the network. I want to be able to play back any album or song, create playlists on the fly, launch slide shows, and view home movies, all using a remote control. I had no doubt that the Media Center interface would work, because we’ve been happily using Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 for the past two years, with an Xbox 360 in the living room as an extender. Bringing the PC into the living room simplifies the equipment lineup, reduces the cost, and potentially offers better performance because it’s not bound by network speeds.

The bottom line: It works. Spectacularly well, in fact. I originally approached this as a proof-of-concept experiment, and I was half expecting to run into at least one roadblock that would cause me to give up and go back to my old setup. Surprisingly, the only obstacles were minor ones.

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