Windows 7 Media Center

WavRuningNakd · 03-03-2009, 03:44 AM

First post.

I'm a newbie as far as carputers go, but as a sysadmin for the military, I have a clue about tech.

I'm surprised that Windows Media Center isn't listed as a Front End, especially with the advances in touch technology that accompany Windows 7. Has anyone tried it yet? My experience has been that build 7000 is faster and less demanding than Vista.

masterfred · 03-17-2009, 02:16 PM

I didn't had the chance to test Windows 7 yet, but I have to agree that the Windows Touch feature is pretty neat !

The only downside, and I think that is why nobody really invested time into Windows Media Center is the lack of plug-ins and skinning ...

speakers_86 · 04-01-2009, 08:08 PM

It looks nice, but I dont think it would be easy to navigate without a mouse. If you look at all of your artists in wmp, there is no button that scrolls left/right. You need a mouse.

upspace · 04-10-2009, 10:37 AM

in vista media center there was a tweak to have < > up down to stay permament to scroll left/right by clicking on it.

sure it is there for windows 7 as well.

ps. i am using windows 7 media center in my htpc now for almost two weeks. very fast, no reboot. thinking of using it in car soon too.

coucouillu · 09-12-2009, 11:24 AM

I am intereste in this way:

Win 7 Media Center as Front End.

Suscribed.

paultje_007 · 10-04-2009, 11:11 AM

I agree with MasterFred:
Windows 7 Media Center looks great and has a lot of potential but I also think it lacks the use of plug-ins and skinning...
Also what I don't know, cause I haven't tried W7MC yet, is the ability to search for files just by typing key words.
If I have 20000 songs of different albums and artist, how fast can I find a particular song, (if I know the name), by only having the option of scrolling through these 20000 file names and not having a simple 'search' box in which you can type the name of the song. Or is this possible? (like I said: I haven't downloaded W7 yet.)

Nevertheless, I do believe the looks, style and ease of use of W7MC is an idea for future software builders (like centrafuse) to build a new way of carPC software.

I seriously need to rock,paper,scissor to choose between using Centrafuse 3 or W7MC on my future carPC.

Any comments on this, please do.....

RipplingHurst · 10-27-2009, 11:31 PM

This looks interesting. Using a cheap Nokia 770 tablet pc (around $60.00) to control Media Center. Looks great for those in the back seat perhaps?

More info here: MCE Guru

Quote:

MCEGuru is a software for Windows Media Center users : It allows you to control it from several touchscreen devices : A brand new way of controlling your MCE Media Center !
On your touchscreen control device, you'll be able to :

See your photos
List your movies and videos, with their thumbnail image
List TV channels configured on your Media Center, as well as the program guide for them
List all the music available on your Media Center, and even listening to it directly on your controlling device
Manage current playlist on your Media Center
Control the currently playing media on your TV, browse in it, etc...
And so much more !
How does it work ?

MCEGuru is a software composed of 2 elements :
A 'Server' component, to be installed on your Windows Media Center PC.
A 'Client' component, to be installed on the controlling touchscreen device, which will communicate with the Server component.

Sounds good to me!

What I think it can be done is to embed Media Center in RR (full screen, like NAV or CAM) just to play media (video and music), all the plugin stuff (NAV, Traffic, Gas, CAM, etc.) could be handled by RR.

nobb · 10-27-2009, 11:50 PM

W7MC looks AMAZING, even much better looking than CF, which I consider hands down the best looking FE. As much as I would love to have it's great looks, it just doesnt seem feasible to use in a carpc since it's not designed as such. Most importantly, how would you get navigation to embed in it?

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