i'm having a hard time putting together the configuration I want... I'm not too confident in Windows Media Center in Windows Media Center 2005 Rollup 2. I wanted to use SageTV record and Windows MC to stream to my Xbox 360 and Other extenders. SageTV, as far as I can see so far, has a great recording engine. But Sage TV and Win MC don't get along on the same machine. Since I'm not dropping $200 on a SageTV HD media client, I want to stick with Microsoft and am considering an upgrade to Vista. I don't have the power to run Windwos 7. Any advice on differences in Win Media Center in Vista? Should I be lookign at Vista at all??? or is the recording in Win MCE 2005 good enough for streaming to a TV, eventually HD. BTW, I'm running a Hauppauge winTV HVR 1600 91183) with the MCE. And advice???

Have you tried using Windows Media Player to stream your Sage recordings to your Xbox? Not at all as pretty an interface, and I'm not sure what format Sage records in, but if it works then it's saved you the hassle and cost of an upgrade.

To answer your question, there is absolutely no functionality difference between XP and Vista Media Centres. Only difference is that Vista has a much nicer interface and better plug in support, which enables things like Media Browser, but there is no out of the box functionality difference.

However, if you don't have the power to run Win7 then I'd also like to suggest that you don't have the power to run Vista. Win7 is noticably lighter on system resources than Vista, though Win7 Media Centre does place heavy demands on your graphics card.

Finally, if you're determined to upgrade then don't waste time with Vista, you'll end up regretting it. Take the plunge and go for Win7 as it actually does offer some new functionality.

 

I dont understand why you dont have the power for win 7?  It actually performs better than Vista.  And if you upgrade your video card to a newer card, the CPU load from live TV will actually be much much less in win 7 than in XP or Vista because of increased use of hardware acceleration.

In my opinion, in order of worst to best, I'd rank the releases:

worst: XP
meh: Vista
best: win7

Win 7 has proven to be absolutely rock solid, something the other two releases never were.

Go to Win7 and skip Vista.

dmagerl:

Win 7 has proven to be absolutely rock solid, something the other two releases never were

I disagree. For me MCE2005 never crashed. That was rock solid. 7MC, does have the occasional blip, though I wouldn't call it unreliable.

 

dmagerl:

I dont understand why you dont have the power for win 7?  It actually performs better than Vista.  And if you upgrade your video card to a newer card, the CPU load from live TV will actually be much much less in win 7 than in XP or Vista because of increased use of hardware acceleration.

In my opinion, in order of worst to best, I'd rank the releases:

worst: XP
meh: Vista
best: win7

Win 7 has proven to be absolutely rock solid, something the other two releases never were.

Go to Win7 and skip Vista.

 

Good advice. I could not agree more.

Like the other posters if you're planning on upgrading to Vista ... skip it and go to Windows 7.  If your computer can handle Vista then it should be able to handle Win 7.

Some HVR 1600 support clear QAM, so I would go with Windows 7 for native QAM support, Vista requires TV Pack which seems to work for some others have nothing but problems with it.

The only other thing you may want to upgrade your video card (depending on what you already have).

mark1234:

Finally, if you're determined to upgrade then don't waste time with Vista, you'll end up regretting it. Take the plunge and go for Win7 as it actually does offer some new functionality.

 

Yeah, I wasted time initially going the Vista route, so listen to what these guys are saying.