High Tech Household

I have been wanting to build a Home Theater PC for a while, but was waiting for the launch of Windows 7 to do so.  When Windows 7 was released on October 22, I started researching what I would need to assemble my own Home Theater PC, and began ordering parts.  Last week, the parts arrived for building my home theater PC using Windows 7 Media Center.  I spent a good deal of Friday night and Saturday putting it together and getting it ready for use.  By Saturday afternoon, I had the PC up and running and connected to my television.

Windows 7 Media Center has a lot to offer as a Home Theater PC (or really, a Home Entertainment PC), including Recording and Playback of TV (DVR-functionality), Movies and Netflix, Hulu and Internet TV, Music and Photo Libraries, and more, all controlled via a remote control and optional wireless keyboard.  Media Center also supports hardware (called Media Center Extenders) that allow you to stream your Media Center content to other TVs throughout your home.  What sets Media Center apart from just a traditional DVR or TiVo is the extensibility.  Third party developers, enthusiasts, and hobbiest programmers can create programs that extend the functionality of Windows 7 Media Center, much like people write apps for smart phones such as the iPhone and Google Android.   Best of all, it comes included in all editions of Windows 7.

Windows 7 Media Center Main Menu

While more of an afterthought in Windows Vista (and a separate version in Windows XP), Media Center in Windows 7 has matured and become a real usable product.  With the new availability of hardware to support CableCards (a small card provided by your Cable provider to decrypt your channels), it is now possible to hook up your media PC to watch and record your digital cable television.  A media PC can do away with the need for a set-top box, and give you more flexibility than a TiVo or traditional DVR, such as copying recorded shows to your laptop or portable media device to take with you on a trip.

Over the next several weeks in a series of posts, I will be providing details on Windows 7 Media Center’s functionality, and how it can be used as the media hub for your home.  I will also provide a more advanced post of the parts and process I used to put my media PC together.  In reality, you can purchase any modern PC, add a tuner or two, and have a viable media center.

Windows 7 Media Center is an example of software done right.  While there are always things that could be better (that’s what upgrades are for), I’m finding it to be intuitive, well-performing, and very flexible, making for a winning product.