Alternatives to Windows Media Center?

D

davestradamus

Junior Audioholic
Hello all! I have a question about alternatives to the media center app built into windows7. I have been using it and find it sluggish when responding to my input with keyboard and mouse. And the netflix plugin is really lacking good navigation. What I use my HTPC for and specs.

AMD 2.8ghz
4gb ram
320gb internal hdd
1tb external hdd
superdrive (blu-ray soon)
onboard vga

The source of my lag might be the video card performance, but when playing DVDs the picture quality is quite nice. (1600x900 resolution)

I watch netflix and hulu desktop app. i listen to a fair amount of music using winamp. i surf the web a bit if i have to.

I have used mediaportal and wasnt very impressed. And if I'm not mistaken there is no Neflix, hulu plugin for mediaportal?? And a web browser would be nice.

What is out there?

THANKS!!

-davestradamus
What else is out there?
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
I use PDVD-10 Ultra exclusively for my blu-ray files.

I don't use Windows Media Player at all.

Another option is TMT3, but I don't use that anymore since TMT3 does not offer TrueHD/DTS-HD MA with the 5xxx ATI graphics cards.:D
 
GlocksRock

GlocksRock

Audioholic Spartan
I use PDVD-10 Ultra exclusively for my blu-ray files.

I don't use Windows Media Player at all.

Another option is TMT3, but I don't use that anymore since TMT3 does not offer TrueHD/DTS-HD MA with the 5xxx ATI graphics cards.:D
TMT3 does if you use the ATI HDMI driver instead of the realtek driver.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
GlocksRock

GlocksRock

Audioholic Spartan
I installed the latest patch from the above link I provided, and even with the realtek driver I'm still able to get lossless audio, but if I skip chapters, or pause the playback, the audio stays dropped out, but it does give you the option of using PCM, or mixing to dolby digital or dts, but I want lossless with no issues, so for now I'll just stick with PowerDVD 10.
 
Ito

Ito

Full Audioholic
As for individual players I would first recommend Windows Media Player Classic - Home Cinema with the combined community codec pack. You can tweak the hell out of it and get some really great performance.

Some other ones worth checking out are VLC and GOM Player.
 
GlocksRock

GlocksRock

Audioholic Spartan
I like the new VLC version with hardware acceleration, it works very well with the newest ATI 5xxx series drivers for excellent playback. After upgrading to the latest version of VLC and ATI drivers, videos I have that used to not playback at all playback perfectly, but before the upgrade I used media player classic home cinema 64bit edition and it works perfectly. I also installed ffdshow and have the K-lite codec pack.
 
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davestradamus

Junior Audioholic
i use vlc all the time, and i like winamp for music.

what i want is a GOOD 10ft interface for my media.

the netflix plugin for media portal and windows media center SUCKS!!

id rather just use the website.

maybe i need a bluray player with netflix support.

errrrrrrg!:mad:
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
i use vlc all the time, and i like winamp for music.

what i want is a GOOD 10ft interface for my media.

the netflix plugin for media portal and windows media center SUCKS!!

id rather just use the website.

maybe i need a bluray player with netflix support.

errrrrrrg!:mad:

Boxee/XBMC both offer 10ft 'face and Netflix support but neither support BR media. You could get WD-TV Live - it includes remote and you can relocate your existing htpc to closet and convert it to nas :)

Honestly thou - it'll be hard if not impossible to find ideal htpc software which does it all :(
 

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