HTPC Tip Of The Day: Vista EPG

Getting the most out of your Media Center PC depends on knowing every little in and out of the programs. Little design decisions by the team can really impact the Wife Acceptance Factor.

An example of this is using the category function of the EPG. As pictured in the screenshots below, the category is off to the left hand side of the EPG and has several sort functions that can make finding a program that much easier. Available for sort is Most Viewed, Movies, HDTV, Sports, Kids and News. This is especially useful when you have 70,000 channels and a limited amount of HD channels.

This function enhances the notion of leaving "Live TV" behind. After awhile you should find yourself using the EPG to find programs to record to build a nice inventory of shows to watch when it is convenient for you rather then surfing for channels during that time slot. Lets face it, something is always on you want to watch, just not when you want to watch it. For this reason, I do appreciate SageTV’s intelligent recording algorithm. Though not always accurate, it does ensure you have an inventory of shows to watch.

Though not covered in this particular Tip of The Day, keyword based recording is another feature that should help you reach this goal :).