[hazey]

Hi All
I currently have a HTPC running Windows 7 media centre, dual TV tuners etc, Media Browser plugin for TV and Movies (MKV).
I have got to the point in my life that I'm sick of having to get the mouse and keyboard and fiddle with something on the media centre.

So are there any alternatives that will be able to:
- Dual TV tuner/recording
- EPG scheduling
- Play music and MKV files
- Interface with NAS device
Would be great if it has a nice interface with Cover Art and metadata like media browser. Does anything like this exist or will I have to stick it out with my media centre

Thanks

[jollster101]

hazey, on 05 April 2011 - 12:38 AM, said:

Hi All
I currently have a HTPC running Windows 7 media centre, dual TV tuners etc, Media Browser plugin for TV and Movies (MKV).
I have got to the point in my life that I'm sick of having to get the mouse and keyboard and fiddle with something on the media centre.

So are there any alternatives that will be able to:
- Dual TV tuner/recording
- EPG scheduling
- Play music and MKV files
- Interface with NAS device
Would be great if it has a nice interface with Cover Art and metadata like media browser. Does anything like this exist or will I have to stick it out with my media centre

Thanks

One all in one box that springs to mind is the TVIX S1 Duo as that will do everything you mention above.

Some people advocate not using one box to do it all and some do prefer to have an all in one box.

[AshW]

Not sure if anyone has seen these? I saw them advertised at centrecom for $220 and the specs and features look pretty good.

http://www.playondvr.com/en/#home

[logifuse]

A couple of things:

Have a look at the Media Players sub-forum on Whirlpool, some good discussion there.

You could look at alternative software. I'm having great success with a MediaPortal 1.2.1 & ForTheRecord 1.6 combination. There's a fair bit of work & learning to get them where you want them, but MP has great plugins for handling TV series & movies (don't know about music, but there are plugins).

You could move to Linux (MythTV/XBMC). It's an even bigger learning curve, but it's rock solid once it's running, & it's the basis for most of the hardware devices you'll be looking at, so that should give you a clue about the reliability.

Justin