Vista and Media Center
Another busy weekend spent doing all sorts of things, but in amongst it all I managed to install Windows Vista on my PC. And I must say, thus far I like it a lot. The install process was painless, the user interface is nice, and the whole system is running faster and smoother than it has in a long time. I particularly like the Windows Media Center component which among other things allows me to tune into and record digital TV including high definition, and also connects to my X-Box 360 to allow me to access this in my home theatre room. So in effect it’s turned my Xbox into a DVR or TiVo type machine, with the added benefit of being able to record HD content, pause and rewind live TV etc. To buy a standalone box that does that would cost me over $1000 so for that alone Vista has been a worthwhile investment (I got an OEM version super cheap). The only limitation is that HD content doesn’t stream smoothly using a wireless connection to my Xbox. It did however, work perfectly when I ran a long ethernet cable through the house, so later this week I’ll be working with my brother to install a permanent ethernet connection from the computer room to the theatre room. After that I’ll be able to ditch my digital set-top-box (or at least move it to the living room TV which is currently only running SD TV).
Almost all the software I have tried works fine on Vista, with only 2 exceptions that I can think of. One is that I was unable to get Trackmania running (a car racing game that the kids like) and the other is that despite Microsoft saying it should work, I kept getting errors when I tried to apply the WA daylight savings patch. Need to try and fine another way around that bug since the TiVo functionality needs accurate time to programme recordings.
But overall, Vista seems great so far!
Categories : Personal, Technology, Television | 0 Comments
