HOW-TO: Using a Media Center PC through your Xbox
posted December 28th 2004 1:15PM
We finally got around to setting up a Media Center PC 2005 box and we've got to say, it's a great deal better than the previous version(s) of MCE. Especially with its ability to use Media Extenders. A Media Extender is basically just software or a device used to extend the Media Center PC's interface and content to another PC, or, in this case, an Xbox. So, if you have videos, pictures, recorded TV, podcasts, and downloaded media (like we showed you here and here) on your Media Center PC, you can use the Xbox to access them all just like you would on the Media Center. It was a little more complicated than we think it needs to be for average users, but it's certainly nothing you probably couldn't handle.
Before we get started, if you just want to check out the video to see what this is all about, click here to view (WindowsMedia).
Getting StartedTo make this happen we're going to need, of course, a Media Center 2005 PC; the previous versions of MCE do not work with the media extender feature. Since no one's really all that sure sure what the upgrade path is for current non-Media Center PC 2005 users, you should check with your manufacturer, or just pick yourself up an OEM copy. In general, 2005 is a huge upgrade in terms of features, speed and stability, and our favorite feature (at least for now): using extenders.
Our hardware is a HP Media Center PC running Media Center 2005; on the Xbox side, an
Xbox Media Center Extender, of course. The
Xbox Media center extender basically turns your Xbox in to a Media Center PC, giving you all the features, applications
and control as you have on your Media Center PC. You can also log in to Xbox live and get messages, game invites, and
so forth.
Installing the extender software
The first thing you need to do is install the Extender Software on the Media Center PC.
The software comes with a remote for the Xbox, an IR dongle to control the Xbox with the remote a DVD for the Xbox and the software to install on the Media Center PC.
Here are all the installation screens for the Media Center PC.
Pop in DVD in the Xbox.
The TV then displays the key you'll need to enter on the Media Center PC, so you'll need to run back and forth between the rooms to do this.
The Media Center has a new "Resource Monitor" so when the Xbox is accessing the Media Center you can see how much data/CPU is being used.
Now when you crank up the Xbox with the special disc, the Xbox will look for the Media Center, connect and you're now
using the Media all through your Xbox.
While using the Xbox in Media Center mode you can also be logged in to your Xbox live account.
A bit about networks
The is the odd part about all this is that the "best" way to send data (according to the documentation) is to have the
Xbox on a wired connection, which almost totally defeats the purpose of all this since you'd have to the far reaches of
your house wired. The other alternative is, of course, to use 802.11a/g (leave the b out of it, trust us), again
according to the documentation. The results may not be perfect; live TV and videos might not play smoothly. We tried
wired and wireless (g and b), and as you'd expect, the wired connection performed the best. g worked alright, but b had
some issues.
No DVDs, sorta
One thing worth noting, the only thing you can't do is play DVDs from the Media Center PC to the Xbox, in fact you
don't even have the option on the Xbox. We suspect this is both technical and due to some weird worries about anti-DRM
stuff, since in order to play a DVD the Media Center one would need to stream it over the network to the Xbox. This is,
of course, very different from just sending the TV a signal. Besides, if you're going to watch a DVD on an Xbox you'd
mostly likely just pop it in the Xbox anyway.
On a more positive note the included remote and IR dongle for the Xbox can make the Xbox into a standalone DVD
player. For the hardcore geek, you've probably already ripped your DVDs to vid files and those will play fine over the
network.
It works
Overall, everything worked as expected and it's pretty convenient to be able to access all your content from the Media
Center PC on an Xbox in another room. While we think it's a little too complicated for your average home user to get
going (perhaps like Windows MCE itself), that might change in time. This could eventually become the ultimate strategy
for PCs and consoles, where the "main" device in your household is a super charged PC that handles all the TV
recording, holds all your pictures and media, and the console in the other room plays games as well as accessing all
that content.
The video
Here's a quick video we shot that shows all this in action.
Click here to view (Windows Media).
Next up?
Now that we can control and send media around the house to our Xbox, there are a few hacks and projects that might be
interesting to try out. We'll keep you posted what we come up with!
Phillip Torrone can be reached via his personal site: http://www.flashenabled.com
kick ass!
now all i need is an xbox and a media center pc....
Cool, but after all of that, the only legal video you can watch is Tv and your dumb home movies. Legally that is. Plus you just droppd like $3k for this setup.. Who needs it when you have an old fileserver and Xbmc. Xbmc still comes out on top if you ask me. Lets see you guys do a 1 on 1 challange between the two. And i want an honest review, from someone that actually knows how to get everything out of xbmc, not just the default. A power user's review. After all its just power users using media centers right now anyways.
I'm more than willing to toss along some info on xbmc if you're missing any :) Check out the weblog too for info
;)
i was actually thinking of doing that jon, great suggestion. i think the xbmc might win.
I can't believe you HAVE to keep the disc in just to use this! Grr!
Hell yeah, hands down the XBMC would win in every category, Plus is freee, and who the hell is microsoft fooling! Am not paying for something that the xbox should of been capable of doing from day one!
The make-or-break thing for me regarding Media Center Extenders is DivX (and XviD)! Any video device that doesn't support DivX is going to have a hard time getting my support. From what I have heard, the LinkSys and HP MCE's do not support DivX. Does the XBOX MCE support it?
yeah just install the mod chip, format the drive, and XBMC is way nice! and free!! yeah xbmc supports everysingle vid i have downloaded, if not just find updates
Yeah, the disk thing is a pain. Not only do I have to constantly switch disks to watch TV (cuz a game's usually been played in between) but I'm worried about the wear and tear on the disk. How long before it becomes unplayable and my TV's no longer a DVR? Eeek.
XBMC is just so un-freakin-believable. It just gets better every week when someone puts up a compiled version of the latest code, and if there's a feature missing from the standard set it's probably available as a script - tv guides, shoutcast streaming, even movie trailers from Apple's Quicktime site. I'm currently in the process of hooking up all my TVs with Xboxen and feeding them with video goodness from my main PC.
I would say there's absolutely no reason to get this, but that remote looks spiffy. I'd like one of those to go along with XBMC.
How well does this thing stream TV via 10/100/1000 ethernet? I've heard plenty of issues over wifi with the streaming and delay issues, but was wondering if anyone has tried MCE and an extender (Xbox or other) with a hard wired connection?
P.S. Love the video review. Great addition to the posts.
oh yeah! i just finished watching a movie right now using wires streamed right off my computer. Its flawless here, I wouldnt trust having my own wireless network, being for the fact that i live here in new york city...
Nice Idea from Microsoft but XBMC def wins. First things first is the amount of content you can access using XBMC. Media Center cannot even come close! Plus why doesnt MS just use the hard drive and install it instead of swapping cds.
I thought about using XBMC.. The part I would miss is the DVR on the computer. How are you solving this?
XBMP/XBMC is great and all, but am I the only one who remembers where the original design and overall concept came from? Heck, for the longest time XBMP used ripped MCE graphics. Nice app, but give credit where credit's due.
After checking the XBMC site it looks like there is no support for the dvr-ms files that MCE records. That seems like a pretty big gap in functionality for XBMC if you're comparing it to the Media Center Extender.
I am also in the MCE 2005/MC extender owner "club".
I was amazed at how well it actually all worked together. I would say that the Extender almost seems to make the regular MCE work better.
I have not had a brilliant experience as a DirecTV customer connecting to an HP m480n MCE 2005 unit. The term "sucks ass" comes to mind, but I really think this particular box combination was mildly cursed. I believe that newer HP MCE devices are truly great.
So far, I am pleased as punch with the Extender. It has made my home network that much more connected, and useful.
I use a wired 100 megabit switched ethernet connection, so I am flush with spare bandwidth.
So far, so good.
Now, if DirecTV and MCE2005 could start working together a little better... Can anyone say, "3rd party PCI card based DirecTV tuner card"? Boy would that make a huge freakin' difference.
Especially now that Tivo and DirecTV/Hughes seem to be parting ways.
cheers,
Joel
(Secret club handshake /*)
i have been using xbmc since it used to be called xbox media player. it has always never failed to amaze as far as what they can do with it. python scripting, shoutcast, xlink kai, smb, xstream, xbmcmail, rss, etc. there is no comparison to anything else. xbmc simply rules all.
Why can't you cache the content you stream over on the media extender device? This should solve the problem of poor playback. Why can't you use the hard drive on the Xbox as a cache? I haven't seen any media extenders that work well over a wireless connection, so why not add a small/cheap hard drive and cache the content that's streamed to the media extender - if a CD player can have anti-skip capabilities, why can't a media extender have smooth playback capabilities over a decent wireless connection?
I like it, just would like to be able to play some videos that well wont stream over to the xbox extender.
I guess if you had both there would be nothing left out. I have been using XBMC for a while and I too am amazed at how easy it is to setup and use. I just bought a used xbox media center extender for $36 off ebay so now I can see how they differ. I will post my results soon.
P.S. Love the video review. Great addition to the posts.
A well done intro to MCE XP and using the Xbox with it.
anyone ever tried doing this kind of thing with a PS2 and a linux kit ?
I think it's funny how many people are bashing the extender. Someone said XBMC is free, but the Media Center Extender requires a $3K setup... this is wrong information. This product is for people who already have an MCE PC and Xbox, not for someone who has none of the required equipment! It's not like someone will see this and say "This is cool, so I'm gonna go out and buy this, plus a new MCE PC, an Xbox, and some networking equipment so I can set this all up!"
By the same logic, XBMC requires an Xbox to install it on (not free), a PC to set it up and to stream media to it (not free), and the Xbox must be modded in the first place (also not free). I am NOT bashing XBMC, I am simply showing how one-sided the argument is. Don't forget, XBMC cannot record, play, or timeshift television AT ALL - which is the main reason anyone would buy the extender.
Also, I bought the Xbox Media Center Extender online (brand new, not refurb) for $24. It's a nice addition to my MCE PC, because I can now watch TV using MCE features while my GF is playing games on the PC.
True, this product is not for everyone and yes, it does have its flaws - but please understand what it is you're talking about before you compare it to something else.
Geez, it amazes me how people are so darn sensitive when they disagree with someone! :) ROFLMAO, Take your pills John! Now then, the XBMP/XBMC crew started it all, perfected it as far as it can go, and then years later MS jumps on the bandwagen! GIVE ME A BREAK! The thing is an OUTDATED PILE OF CRAP (XBMC Extender that is!), WHETHER YOU WANT TO HEAR IT OR NOT....JOHN! I truly believe that those that find this to be a "useful" or "cool" enhancement to the MCE Experience are just plain out in left field, and more than likely still use VHS tapes to record reruns of M*A*S*H, LMAO! THIS IS ANCIENT TECHNO. BOYS AND GIRLS! GET WITH THE PROGRAM! Booting this pile from DISC!! OMG! Oh yeah, just FYI, there is a HDD in DAT DARE XBOX BILLYBOI! DON'T FEAR THE HDD!! IT DON'T BITE! :) IGNORANCE IS SO DAMN BLISS!!!