Is WMC worth it?

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ld7

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Is WMC worth it?

#1

Post by ld7 » Sat Mar 24, 2018 12:59 am

I recently bought an old PC with Windows 7 Professional (with Media Center) and I haven't tried it yet, because the PC doesn't have a tuner card... but I was thinking of buying one. But before I do that, I guess, I was wondering if it was worth it! Is WMC all it's cracked up to be? ... I like the UI ... but does it come with a reputable guide for listings Broadcast channels in Canada? Is there DVR function any good? ... I dunno, I guess those are all the questions I have.

Thanks!

cwinfield

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#2

Post by cwinfield » Sat Mar 24, 2018 1:06 am

WMC has replaced my cable boxes since 2010, it was superior to most set top boxes until recently. I'm not sure of canadas pay tv as you guys don't use cable card but ota tuners should be fine. The guide is ok but not without some problems, updating, accuracy incorrect images and such. The DVR works great, I would suggest picking up a used tuner and see what you make of it yourself.

dab2kab

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#3

Post by dab2kab » Sat Mar 24, 2018 2:01 am

I live in the US near the Canadian border and get guide listings for cbc, ctv, and several other Canadian ota channels. As long as the guide is consistently updating (which sometimes doesnt happen, but has been good recently) the Canadian guide data is good for OTA channels.

Paul Anderegg

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#4

Post by Paul Anderegg » Sun Mar 25, 2018 4:43 am

For $200 you can get a Ceton InfiniTV 6 tuner card. For $2 a month, I rent a CableCard from Cox cable, which allows me to record up to 6 HD shows at once. I can also dump all those shows onto a 4TB $80 HDD, so never run out of space. $15 gets you a WMC IR remote...mine moves the mouse around the screen as well or normal Windows desktop clicking. WMC only works on Windows 7 at this time, so don't upgrade or it dies.

Paul

Space

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#5

Post by Space » Sun Mar 25, 2018 6:37 am

Note that SiliconDust has recently announced a new HDHomerun Prime with 6 tuners for CableCard (I think the price is said to be around $200)

I would rather wait for that then get an old Ceton card for the same price. It will be newer and supported (unlike Ceton) and most likely be less buggy (time will tell).

Note that SD had announced this device years ago and it never materialized (hopefully this time it will), and I guess you also don't know how good it will be (assuming it is released). But they do have a good track record (once they actually release a product). It is also not known if it will work with WMC (although I assume it will).

mdavej

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#6

Post by mdavej » Sun Mar 25, 2018 12:35 pm

The biggest barrier to WMC these days is finding an old PC with Win 7 Pro. So you've already done the hard part. The next thing you'll probably want to do is add an MCE IR dongle so you can control WMC with a remote like Paul said. I wouldn't necessarily use the remote that comes with it. Instead use a universal remote that controls all your devices, including WMC. For mousing around, a smartphone app (like Hippo Remote) works better than an actual remote, in my experience, because it works just like the touchpad on a laptop.

The Ceton is only about $80 on ebay ($200 was the new price). For that kind of money, I'd take my chances rather than wait (possibly forever) for the 6 tuner Prime.

Alan G

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#7

Post by Alan G » Tue Mar 27, 2018 9:46 pm

mdavej wrote:The biggest barrier to WMC these days is finding an old PC with Win 7 Pro. So you've already done the hard part.
You can still purchase legitimate Win7 product keys and the USB ISO is easy to download. I just updated my whole system to a new Intel Skylake build and found a Win7 Home product key for $29. It activated fine and that's the HTPC that is working nicely for the past three months. The problems will come if you are trying to do a build with Kaby or Coffee Lake CPUs as you have to go through some kludges to get Win7 to install and properly update.

tardyturtle

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#8

Post by tardyturtle » Thu Mar 29, 2018 12:32 am

I say go for it. Once you get it set up, turn off auto updates :D

Fresh on your install, start with EPG123 right off the bat. That will future-proof you at least for a little while.

The SiliconDust tunes are supported by Plex for the DVR functionality. While it may not be fully baked now, Plex may be an easy alternative to switch to if WMC becomes obsolete.

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