JessZahn:

fdisker:

Why is this a surprise?  More and more channels are going HD and almost none of them are being broadcast over the air.  I can get abc, cbs, nbc, fox and pbs free over the air but hd channels like mtv, espn/espn2, tnt, discovery and many others are QAM only.  My over the air PC based tuners are quickly becoming obsolete. 

It's a surprise because QAM isn't supported in Media Center except through an OCUR, which the majority of you don't have. I guess a more interesting question would have been, how many of you QAM users are using QAM with Media Center today, and how?

I too just got the HDHomeRun working to pull QAM channels and I absolutely LOVE IT! No more signal drop out on windy days for my HD recordings and I now get ABC HD (my local affiliate sends the HD feed to the only local cable company in town but they don't send it OTA).

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i just signed up for this, now i felt the form didnt really address me as a user at all. i guess this probably means i'm totally unsuitable for the beta testing...and well, that being the case then i guess all is well.

but, here is why i felt the form wasnt suitable, just in case it matters.

this form assumes that i am a regular user of MCE.....but i'm not. however, i have spent quite some time playing with the thing, it has its own dedicated machine next to the TV just for this. The live TV watching is a big factor, i am testing MCE as a wife-friendly device, capable of receiving one, hopefully two sources of FTA tv. so far, media center fails me on account of the limited reception capabilites, on top of the fact that the OS it sits on is far from set-top-box friendly. so far i *was* going to look at embedded XP as a platform to host it. obviously unwise now that it's all vista based.

personally, the fact i dont use it much, but would very much like to, coupled with that fact that i'm an IT professional and microsoft partner would mean that i could be somewheat useful, as i dont have to rely on MCE, i can break the thing at any given time and not worry about the consequences. i try and setup the system in order to 'sell' the idea to my family.

additionally, the enature of my business means i get asked by directors of medium sized businesses about things liek media centers, it's 2007 and they want new toys to spend their dividends on. right now i'm telling them its just 'not ready for consumer use yet'.

if none of this matters, then sure i've wasted 2 mins of your time reading this, and sorry about that. i'm more than happy to wait for the beta to become a full release and play with it again, i just figured if people like me ARE a target beta audience, then form could be altered in order to reflect that. if i was a 'typical' consumer and heavy user of MCE, i'd really not want to play with it, i'd want to be using it.

just my thoughts, thanks for reading :)

I appreciate your comments.

To be in the beta, it's not a requirement that you already use Media Center. We are looking for people who do music, TV, photos, etc with their computers, though - meaning, the survey is targeted at consumers, not necessarily industry influencers. That's the nature of a beta survey for a consumer product.

But your feedback is interesting, and I'll pass it along to the beta team (who wrote the survey).

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This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Is this still open as i keep getting a page not found mesage when i follow the link, shame i guess i am too late :(

Gareth

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Sony VAIO VGX-XL100 - Vista Home Premium
Intel PentD 920, 1GB Ram, Gforce 6600 128mb, Sigmatel HD Audio CXD9872RD, Nova-T-500, Aver A16C DVB-T, 1x250GB, 1x200GB
Drivers:
Nvidia 6600-160.03(Beta), Sigmatel-6.10.0.5290, NovaT-4.3.25080.0, A16C-3.6.0.7

gazzer82b:

Is this still open as i keep getting a page not found mesage when i follow the link, shame i guess i am too late :(

Gareth, I get the same message.  It's not just you.

cheers,
Ben

Ugh...still pending...is it me or is this wait taking for ever ? oh, wait, it's not the 31st yet....

Sorry, checking my connect account every day waiting for the blessed moment or even hearing a rumor about it....

fingers crossed....and holding...

Jess, will you post stating that "testers have been selected and notified" so people like me waiting will know right away.....

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-Dave

MCP, MCSA, MCSE 2003
Windows Vista Connected Exp:Home Theater for Technologists
Windows Vista Connected Exp:Home Theater for Sales professionals

Home theater specialist (10+ years)

Yes. I have this question too, because I had the bad experience with pending status.

Is the beta still open? I'm getting a page not found. I'd love to join. I have a PC I can devote to beta testing. I tested Vista previously and submitted as many bug reports as I could.

Thanks.

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Specs:
Core 2 Duo E6300, Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 Motherboard, 4GB DDR667 Ram, Radeon X1650 XT, HD HomeRun, ATI TV Wonder 550, Vista Ultimate 32-bit.

Monitors:
Dell 1800FP 18.1 LCD, Sony Bravia 40" HDTV

We're no longer accepting applicants, and to be honest, I'm not sure I can say anything more. Our betas are closed and private; those chosen to be in it won't be allowed to talk about it or its timeline.

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This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

With that said, there are those news outlets that will report when the beta has started.  I will have them posted on my blog, but if you want to look out for them yourself start with Neowin, Mary Jo Foley, and ActiveWin.

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Chris Lanier
The Green Button Forum Moderator

Hmmm....time to take Chris off the list. :-)

(kidding!!!)

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This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Well, someone on the inside has to get Mary Jo her inside information.  Might as well be me rather than the people she has been working with the last 20 years. 

(maybe kidding)

(no, of course I'm kidding)

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Chris Lanier
The Green Button Forum Moderator

Completely tangential, but her blog site kind of freaks me out the way it attempts to solicit MS employees to talk to her.

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This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

>We're no longer accepting applicants, and to be honest, I'm not sure I can say anything more. Our betas are closed and private; those chosen to be in it won't be allowed to talk about it or its timeline.

Any idea when applicants will start hearing if they have been selected for the beta test?

Already answer...

Chris - Moderator:

With that said, there are those news outlets that will report when the beta has started.  I will have them posted on my blog, but if you want to look out for them yourself start with Neowin, Mary Jo Foley, and ActiveWin.

Most likely you will need to hear about it via third parties.  I'll have it posted on my blog once it starts and a third party sources has reported it.

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Chris Lanier
The Green Button Forum Moderator