Review Horizon

Introduction:

I promised an in-depth look of the mediabrowser plug-in for Windows Media Center and I am ready to deliver. My experience with mediabrowser started more than a year ago after I built my first Home Theater PC (HTPC). I used for a while the Movie Library provided as default, but something was lacking. After a while, I installed My Movies but it just wasn’t reliable enough for my configuration. I store all my movies on a central server and , My Movies client just didn’t work properly. So I looked around some more and found mediabrowser, a plug-in which at the time wasn’t as mature as My Movies but worked better for my configuration.

I will start describing mediabrowser by using it’s authors own words:

Formerly known as Video Browser, Media Browser is a personal media aggregator that takes your recorded, digital, or ripped media and presents it in a simple, easy to use interface. Media Browser prides itself on delivering a fast, intuitive, media rich experience for the whole family.

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I promised to blog about my HTPC software configuration, so here it is:

As we all know, nothing works anymore without software, as buggy and inefficient some of it it.  But I am here now, to talk a little bit about that software used specifically for entertainment. I was always a fan of Windows Media Center, starting with its earliest incarnations inside Windows XP, but we have come a long way since then…not necessarily in terms of what is offered out of the box (although Netflix and Internet TV integration are something to write home about), but especially in terms of plug-ins.

Talking about plug-ins, as a personal opinion, we would see way more if Microsoft would move their corporate might and create a Marketplace for Media Center, but it may be that WMC did not penetrate in terms of usage as much as an iPhone would do, and probably never will. It is just us, the technology aficionados…

OK, enough ranting. I will start by saying that I don’t use WMC for watching TV, so no TV tuners are involved. For TV, I have a VIP 722 Dish Network DVR that serves me well. And, when VIP 922 will come, I will get that as well. My current software configuration is oriented around consuming the media I already have (my legal purchased DVDs stored on a server for convenience), my music, family movies and pictures and access to any media available online (HULU, YouTube and Netflix mostly). Lately, I found WMC plug-ins to access Facebook pictures as well, so life is pretty good.

Here is a brief description:

Operating System – Windows 7 Home Premium, 32bit. The reason for choosing 32bit instead of 64bit is due to compatibility issues many of the plug-ins still have with 32bit. Because I don’t have that much time to tinker around, I choose the safe path.

Windows 7 Codecs – Windows 7 codec pack offered by Shark007. Nothing else! Shark007 covers everything I need in terms of codecs, from DIVX to MKV containers with H264 and DTS, including the dreaded MOV format from some of the current digital cameras. I never found any format that this plug-in pack won’t play. Alternative hardware accelerated (DXVA) H264 codecs are also provided to be used by all players.

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Media aggregator – mediabrowser is by far the best (in my opinion) plugin for WMC. It takes your recorded, digital or ripped media and presents it in several absolutely Read More…

Intro:

Hickory Dickory Dock, the mouse ran up the clock…except the Philips NP1100/37 is not merely a clock even if it looks like one. And if the mouse keeps running away, we’ll conclude that he’s a low-tech mouse with no love for gadgets (and for some weird reason, I remembered that the French translate all the tech words including mouse)

Well, before I bought the Aluratek internet radio for my bedroom, I actually got my appetite opened up by Philips NP1100/37. The long, pompous and official title is “Philips NP1100/37 Streamium Network Music Player with 3.0″ B&W Display” and it is exactly that. It streams music from the internet via the included Rhapsody music service (subscription required). It also streams music from any DLNA server on your network (Windows Media Player is one example, PS3 media server is another one). It also does a glorious job at streaming internet radio stations (over 10,000 at the last count). All these might features come with a puny little remote control. But we’ll talk later about that. Let’s get into some details. Read More…

Introduction:

I like to have everything at a finger’s touch so I started to build a home theater system more than a year ago. Since then the system went through several upgrades, both hardware and software but functionality is the same: To provide me with easy access to my movie library and also with TV access to continuously growing offer of digital media available online.

My main goals for a Home Theater PC were the following:

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1. Good looking case that would integrate easily with my other components

2. Able to play everything there is (and that includes 1080p stuff). As simple as that.

3. Low noise level

4.Reasonable price (under $1000)

5.Fast boot time

6.Remote control capability

Configuration:

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Many of my friends are scattered around the world so I was looking for a cheap solution to stay in touch for quite a while. I am a frequent Skype user for international calls due to their prices and high call quality, so I wanted something that could use Skype service , but without a computer. I used a Linksys Yahoo phone for a while, but I like Skype better for voice so I started to test WiFi Skype phones.

I ended up buying a two pack IPEVO S0-20 WiFi Phone, I kept one phone while giving the other to my parents. We’ve been using them for more than six month now and I want to share my experiences:

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Main features:

1. Call Quality – crisp and clear with only marginal latency.

2.Size – it is about the size of a cell phone and very light.

3.Keypad is lighted and usable in the dark.

4.Wireless – it can connect to an existing WiFi network, B or G and supports all the encryption standards (WEP, WPA, WPA2). I am using currently WPA2 and works like a charm. It will store the access keys for the networks.

5.Screen is very clear, bright and good resolution.The menus are simple and intuitive.

6. Battery life is very long, with at least 3 days between charges. I usually leave mine in the dock while not in use though. You can charge it from the supplied mini dock or directly via a mini-USB cable.

7. Features – most desktop Skype features are available, including adding new contacts, view call history, change status and the balance is always shown on the screen.

Cons/Issues:

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I use my HTPC every day to watch movies, but I don’t like to wait until it boots. To be honest, it was never that slow to boot, I have a AMD Phenom II X4 Deneb at 3.0Ghz on a Asus M4A785-M motherboard, and the system is pretty nimble as it is. However, there is always room to grow, so after a long wait I got myself the Intel X25-M SSD.

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At 80GB, the size is perfect for a HTPC, a Windows 7 installation plus various 7MC  plug-ins only takes about 25GB with enough to spare for additional media-related applications.

Installation:

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I am lucky, really really lucky. I received a new laptop at work. Like many other people around, I have a long commute. Fortunately I can take the train, but even so, I am more than 3 hours a day on the road (or railroad to be precise). A notebook is mandatory.

Now, I mentioned I am lucky and the reason is that I can decide of what hardware I buy at work. So I looked around really hard and noticed that HP launched their new HP TouchSmart tm2 Convertible Tablet PC, so I bought it. I really like it, so here are the details:

HP TouchSmart tm2 is HP’s first convertible laptop for consumers featuring multitouch technology. This model also adds a stylus to use when the laptop is folded in tablet mode. It uses a 12.1″ LED display with a resolution of 1280×800. The touch-pad is fairly large and the mouse buttons are embedded in it. That means you can also navigate on the mouse buttons surface, as they are part of the touch-pad, but I find myself missing the touch feel of the real buttons.

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I built myself a really nice Home Theater System around my LG 60PS80 Plasma TV, VSX82-TXS Pioneer Receiver and a custom build HTPC. I will add more details in the following days, when I’ll begin a new series related to Windows 7 Media Center (7MC) and various available plug-ins. Stay tuned. Meantime, enjoy these pictures.

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I suppose I am old fashion, but I like to listen to radio, I always did. I still remember being a kid and listen in the dark at Radio Free Europe with my family when the electricity was cut of by the government to save money. But that was a different country and different life. The nostalgia remained though. So I looked around on the internet to buy a radio that would receive international stations (I already have a Sony World Band Receiver ICF_SW7600GR – who the heck comes up with these names?) which is a very good receiver in its own right, but the reception sucks in my city and anyway, they are very few foreign radio stations that broadcast strong enough to receive them in SOCAL.

Enough ranting, I managed to find two different internet radio receivers, a Philips NP1100/37 and an  Aluratek AIRMMF01F (another weird name). I bought both of them! The last one is the subject of today’s review. Read More…

Well, well, guess what, I got myself a new TV. With the reluctant acceptance of my wife, I went on Amazon (which at the time had a pretty good deal including free shipping and interest free for a year) and I bought the LG 60PS80 Netcast connected TV.

Without going into details about image quality, sound and so on (there are already a number of sites concentrating on this aspect and I am not the type of person to hunt for minor differences) I want to talk a little bit about the connected part. According to some recent articles, about a quarter of the TVs sold/launched this year are connected. That means they have wired/wireless network connection and a number of clients embedded that support popular services.

This particular TV supports the following clients:

NETFLIX – Arguably the most popular movie streaming service in the world. NETFLIX can be accessed currently on a large number of   TVs, set-top boxes and it might come very soon on iPhone.

There are two main interfaces implemented to access NETFLIX. The so-called Version 1.0 displays your current queue and that’s about it. If you want to see something not currently available in your instant queue, you need to go to your PC and add movies to it. Not necessarily a hard thing to do but I don’t want to access my computer when I am watching TV.

The NETFLIX interface version 2.0 (similar with the one implemented on XBOX 360, PS3 and 7MC) allows you to browse and select movies from multiple categories, so you are not limited only to the movies from your instant queue.

Well, unfortunately LG 60PS80 has only NETFLIX 1.0 so you are stuck with the old style interface. Version 2.0 is available on LG 2010′s TV line and they don’t seem willing to update the firmware for 2009 line (even if the price paid, around $2000 would entitle someone to better support, at least during the first year of ownership). From this perspective, LG as a company seems to not care too much once they sell you a product. I have seen this behavior on their DVD/Blu-ray players as well. However, while I can imagine buying a new Blu-ray player every year, especially with the costs going down, I’ll certainly won’t get another TV for the next 5 years (my wife could read this post ). OK, enough ranting.

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