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Windows XP Media Center Edition is a version of Microsoft’s Windows operating system that specialises in the home entertainment side of computing and is designed for use in the living room. It effectively turns a computer into a multimedia hub, allowing you to play music, watch movies, pause live TV, record video and view photo slideshows.

Media Center Edition, or MCE as it is widely known, has been available for several years, but only as pre-installed software on a new PC. This has meant that to enjoy the wide range of benefits that MCE has to offer, a whole new computer would have to be bought.

Critics suggest that Microsoft has been missing a trick here, as a wide community of PC users is eager to convert their existing systems into media machines. Microsoft’s reply has been that MCE requires very specific hardware configurations to work properly, although recently it seems to have relaxed its grip a little on software-only sales.

In the meantime, Microsoft’s curious handling of the situation certainly hasn’t stopped other software developers from stepping into the breach with their own media-centric applications to cater for those not willing to purchase new hardware.

Some are commercially available products, while others can be downloaded from the internet and installed at no cost. In this feature, we’ll show you how to use this kind of software to give your PC a media centre makeover.

Fishing for tuners
We’ve been able to watch movies, listen to music and browse through photos using our computers for a long time, but it’s only recently that people have cottoned on to the fact that a PC combined with a screen of a good size and quality makes for the perfect home entertainment system.

With the right software, a single computer can replace a DVD player, Hi-Fi, radio and video recorder in one tidy unit, and do more besides. You can surf the web on the TV screen, share media around the house via a wired or wireless network and even ‘timeshift’ video recordings.

That last feature is particularly exciting, because it means that you can start watching something while it’s still in the process of being recorded, as well as pause or rewind live television broadcasts.

Before any media centre software is installed, it’s worth making sure that the requisite hardware is in place first. The system requirements for each individual application should be checked as normal, but additional accessories may have to be purchased to make full use of the features offered by media centre software.

It’s quite useful to have a second, large, hard disk (about 200 Gb in capacity) for storing digital media files, and a recordable DVD drive will almost certainly come in handy for archiving recorded video content.

Probably the most important element is a TV tuner. This is something that allows a computer to receive, display and record television broadcasts. Simple, single-tuner analogue PCI cards such as Hauppauge’s WinTV Express can be purchased. TV tuners that pick up digital terrestrial TV channels (Freeview) are also available.

The latest models, such as Terratec’s Cinergy 2400i DT, include two tuners on one card so that one programme can be recorded while watching another. Dual-tuner cards tend to be a bit pricier, however.

Those with notebook computers, or who simply prefer not to open up a PC to install internal upgrades, could opt for an external TV tuner like Pinnacle’s PCTV 200e, which plugs in via USB and receives Freeview. The other crucial bit of kit for an entertainment PC set-up is a remote control. Devices like the Pinnacle PCTV 200e and the Terratec Cinergy 2400i DT come with remotes and infrared receivers.

If the one you’ve bought doesn’t, then refer to the manufacturer to see if a compatible handset is available.

Many TV tuner cards come with their own media centre software. Most Pinnacle TV products, including the PCTV 200e, include an imaginatively named Media Center. This is effectively Pinnacle’s own version of MCE, which works in almost exactly the same way, allowing features such as watching live television programmes, recording video, listening to digital music collections, radio stations and viewing photo albums all from one easy-to-navigate interface.

Something for nothing
As we have already mentioned, media centre software comes in two basic categories; the type bought in a shop or online and the type that can be downloaded and used free of charge. It’s surprising to learn that many of the freeware products, such as Got All Media, GB-PVR and Xlobby, are genuinely good.

All three of the media applications mentioned above offer TV, music, radio, CD and DVD playback and have been developed specifically for the living room experience. That means that they all have simple, easy-to-navigate interfaces with large-ish text and graphics suitable for viewing on a TV from the sofa.

It’s worth remembering that freeware often has a ‘work in progress’ feel to it. That’s definitely the case with Xlobby and GB-PVR, which appear less complete compared with equivalent commercial products, both in terms of their appearance and also their functions. Xlobby, for example, allows you to change skins, but doesn’t support TV recording without installing separate plug-ins.

GB-PVR, meanwhile, emulates much of MCE’s operation, but doesn’t do as well when it comes to browsing for music and movies, which works via Windows Explorer-type directories and looks frighteningly like DOS, rather than the kind of user-friendly, graphical menu systems that living room use generally requires.

Of the three freebies, Got All Media seems to be the best. It supports a wider range of TV tuners and it also has a very efficient and easy-to-understand (although quite slow) set-up wizard. The default menu system has a pleasant underwater blue theme and, while the on-screen text could be made a little easier to see, it’s pretty easy to navigate around.

Each section (TV, Movies, Music, Photos, Media, DVD, Net Radio) has a small selection of simple context-sensitive controls. It’s also one of the only media centre applications to include web surfing from the main menu.

Unfortunately, even Got All Media is flawed. Once again, technical support is pretty thin on the ground, so if you get unstuck, you’ll need to consult online options. It also has no built-in EPG (electronic programme guide) for UK television broadcasts.

You can download and set up a separate plug-in, but be warned that this is a slightly complicated process and instructions on how to do so are buried deep in the online user forums.

Getting what you pay for
There is a surprising dearth of media centre software on the shelves of Irish retail stores. In the US and the rest of Europe the media centre craze seems to have gathered more momentum than in British homes, which means that a lot of the products available, such as J River Media Center and SageTV come from the States, while Wellton Way MultiMedia Center comes from a Swedish-based software developer.

Thankfully, each one caters for the Irish television standard (PAL) and can be downloaded from their respective websites – although it’s definitely worth experimenting with trial versions before you commit to buy.

SageTV (about $80 from SageTV.com) has many interesting features, including the ability to view live TV over a network. It also makes very low demands on your system, meaning that it can run on older PCs fairly well. Some aspects are lost in their transition to these shores, however. There’s support for HDTV but the EPG won’t work on Irish computers.

River Media Center is a considerably cheaper option (about $40) and combines all the TV, video, music and photo features found in many other products. It seems to be designed for more of a desktop experience, however, working a little like Apple’s Itunes.

Wellton Way MultiMedia Center is the most expensive product of the lot, costing around €110 if bought within the first 30 days of the trial period and a whopping €160 if you wait three months.

It’s a fairly good system, though, with full support for Irish users, including a 14-day EPG. The interface is clear, easy to navigate and offers plenty of room for customisation. It also neatly integrates broadband functions into the mix, offering living room access to websites and online services via your remote control.

The entertainment starts here
Though it might be hard to get hold of and install Windows XP Media Center Edition software, there are plenty of options for those looking to convert an old computer into a modern day media machine. Of all the non-Microsoft media centre applications we tested, the MediaCenter software that comes with the Pinnacle PCTV tuner card was our favourite. It was easy to use and comes with customer support too.

It might be tempting to go the freeware route, but all the free options we tested required a reasonably high level of technical proficiency. If you’re on a budget or building a media PC as a hobby, however, then the freebie challenge may well prove worth taking.

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