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I guess you haven’t seen this article:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-10-Will-Launch-in-Several-New-Versions-Leak-Suggests-475967.shtml

It appears that WMC will indeed be available in Windows 10.

I can’t speak to any of the streaming services and associated apps since I don’t use them, but there are lots of other platforms for watching and recording OTA TV as well as watching movies.  With SageTV becoming open source, there should be some new and exciting things coming around the corner on that platform.  Kodi works great with the new HDHomeRun Live TV add-on.  MythTV has been around for quite some time and may offer some of the solutions you seek.  NextPVR, Media Portal, and probably a few others may also offer what you’re looking for.  For OTA TV, you are not limited to just WMC.

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Spoiler Alert!  There’s a router in the box!

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You’re definitely not alone.  Been using mine for about six years.  I’ve probably upgraded it at least 3 or 4 times over that period, but that was mostly due to a couple of flaky motherboards.  I have two HTPCs that get used on a daily basis.  The wife uses one for watching live TV and that’s about all.  The main HTPC gets a workout for recording and watching TV shows and watching ripped Blu-Rays and DVDs from my server as well as a few downloaded shows.

Before you do a complete overhaul I’d recommend doing a fresh install from scratch using a different hard drive.  Sometimes things get hosed along the way due to Windows updates or funky drivers so starting with a clean slate is usually the best approach.  This should fix your video errors as a minimum.  Install Windows and your motherboard drivers and then install all Windows updates to make the OS current.  Make sure you have the latest drivers from the manufacturer’s website for any hardware you’re installing.  Install your hardware and reboot often to ensure proper installation.  Add in your hardware one device at a time and install the associated drivers.  Install just what you need to support Media Center (i.e., tuners, drivers, cablecards, etc.) and then run Media Center setup.  Once you’ve got WMC configured go ahead and install any add-ons like comercial skipping apps and such.

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[quote=jasondean]

Any chance of a trade-in/trade-up offering? Please!!!!!!

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Any trade-in deals I’ve ever seen tend to give you much less for the original product than you’d get if you sold it outright.  I have a feeling we may start seeing an increase in the number of InfiniTV4’s on ebay when the InfiniTV6 gets released.  I’ve got two InfiniTV4’s in my HTPC, but six tuners would be the sweet spot for me.

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[quote=babgvant]

BTW, does the WDTB Live support DCTP-IP? Cox copy-once’d most of the channels I watch live here, so I haven’t been able to use the HDHR’s feature much.

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I have no idea.  I’m on FIOS and the only channels flagged are the premiums, none of which I am currently subscribed to.

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Any chance Ceton may be updating the ETH model to work with DLNA devices similar to the SiliconDust HDHomeRun Prime?  I’ve got my WDTV Live media player working with my HDHR Prime such that it not only allows me to watch live TV, but I can also play all of my Blu-Ray and DVD rips in mkv format streamed from my server.  It basically allows my WDTV Live to do what the Echo can’t.  A program guide would be nice, but there are lots of other ways to find out what’s on.

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Verizon has a setup where you can control lights and other electronic devices using your smartphone while you’re away from home.  The service is called Home Monitoring and Control.  The initial cost is $89.99 that’s paid in three monthly installments and then it’s $9.99 per month after that.  They also offer add-on packages for remote home entry access, remote thermostat adjustment, and numerous other items.  Check out their website for details.  If you’re not on Verizon you might want to check with your own provider and see if they offer something similar.

Since you’re renting you might just want to look into some X10 modules.  They just plug into an outlet and then the device you wish to control plugs into the module.  The modules can be controlled remotely in a variety of ways.  There’s a software program that allows you to control X10 modules using your PC.  Here’s a link for more info:

http://www.x10.com/products/x10_ck11a.htm

 

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IIRC, you need to set up your speakers in Windows as stereo and then configure your receiver or preamp for 7.1.  If you configure Windows for any other surround setup then you’ll run into issues with WMC.  I forget exactly what happens but it will affect proper playback.

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I bought a copy from Staples when they had the $40 sale price last week and I also got a key for the Media Center download.  I’ve installed Win 8 as an upgrade on a secondary PC that had Win 7 on it, but I probably won’t be installing Media Center on that particular PC.  At $40 it’s not going to break the bank just to check it out.  It’s going to take some time getting used to the new interface, but it definitely looks interesting. 

Considering the lack of support for Media Center and lack of Win 8 drivers, I see no compelling reason to “upgrade” my HTPC with this software.  Since MS has done nothing to update Media Center it makes absolutely no sense to change the OS just to see the exact same Media Center software, but with fewer drivers available and missing other features we enjoyed with Win 7.  There are more cons than pros to use it for this purpose, IMHO.  Things may change as Win 8 matures, but for now I’m sticking with Win 7 for HTPC use.  Win 8 is clearly aimed at the tablet market and not so much for desktop or HTPC users.

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Sorry, duplicate post.  Seems to happen every time I post from my office PC.

 

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I’ve got two InfiniTV4’s, a HDHomeRun Prime, a dual tuner HDHomeRun (latest version), and two Hauppauge 2250’s configured for my primary PC.  The HDHomeRun and HDHR Prime are shared with other PCs on my network.  The InfiniTV4’s and Hauupauge tuners are all PCI-e versions installed in my HTPC.  They all work in harmony and I rarely have issues with any of them.  I got my first InfiniTV4 in the first production run back in August of 2010 and it’s worked beautifully from day 1.

The first thing I’d do is uninstall any unnecessary software that could be causing conflicts with the tuners.  Some AV programs can wreak havoc with WMC so uninstall any third party AV, malware, anti-spam, etc., programs and install Microsoft Security Essentials.  Get rid of Zone Alarm or other extraneous programs running in the background and just keep the apps essential to supporting your HTPC functions.  The cleaner the install, the fewer chances of problems.

Secondly, consider swapping out any unnecessary hardware that could have flaky drivers.  If you’re using USB tuners, consider replacing them with PCI-e versions.  The only time I ever had issues with tuners dropping off the grid was when I was using USB tuners.  I’ve never had the problem after switching to PCI-e and networked tuners.

The absolute best approach is to perform a fresh install from scratch and only install the hardware and software that you need.  Start of with a barebones configuration that allows you to perform the basic functions you need using WMC.  Create a backup before attempting any other hardware or software installations so you have a working configuration to fall back on without having to reinstall everything from scratch. 

I like to get a stable system and then clone the hard drive with something like EaseUS Disk Copy (freeware).  Keep the backup handy in case you need to copy it back to your working hard drive.  If you have issues after adding hardware or software, don’t even bother trying to fix it by uninstalling the offending item as sometimes things are left behind that don’t get scrubbed with a simple uninstall.  Instead, simply copy the backup over to the working drive and you’re up and running again in short order.

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Sorry – duplicate post.

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Glad you were able to fix the problem.  I would have suggested uninstalling the tuners, reinstall them from scratch and rerun WMC setup.  Chances are that would have cleared out the phantom source.

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The tuners should work fine with the Ceton Echo extenders.  The Echo is an extender for both Windows Media Center and the upcoming Ceton Q DVR.  If the tuner works with Media Center it will work with the extender.

FYI – FIOS has recently changed their position on flagging channels as copy freely and now marks some of their premium channels as copy once.  All other channels are still marked copy freely.

FWIW, JR.com had the HDHomeRun Prime on sale yesterday via Amazon and Buy.com for only $130.  I just checked and Amazon is out of stock and Buy.com has the price back up to full retail.

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Your recording schedule won’t be affected, but your channel list will likely reset back to default.  I recently added a standard HDHomeRun to my setup in addition to my existing Ceton InfiniTV4, two Hauppauge 2250’s, and a HDHR Prime.  When I tried to watch live TV I got a message that all tuners were busy.  I reran the HDHR setup and scanned the channels for the newly discovered tuners.  After that I reran TV signal setup in Media Center.  When it finished it found the new tuners and added them to the mix.  My recording schedule was untouched.  I haven’t actually checked to see if my favorite channels list was still there, but I seem to recall that anytiome you rerun the TV signal setup it wipes any favorites lists you may have set up previously.

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