Derek and I have had Comcast cable for years and a one of their HD/DVR’s for the past year, and this past weekend we made a big push to pry ourselves from the cold clammy grasp of this evil cable giant.  (I would also like to add that they have the worst commercials for their product offering…but that is another discussion)

Today, I want to show everyone the amazing set-up my dear husband created for us so that we can begin our exit strategy from Comcast Cable.  Derek with a little help from a teeny tiny company most have never heard of, Microsoft.  Simply by using Window’s Media Center (MC), that comes on most home editions of Windows & a tuner card in our home computer, Derek feeds a coax cable (your standard cable cord) to the computer, and streams cable TV to his X-Box 360 in the living room.  Media Center Extenders (MCE), like an X-Box 360, allows anyone with the right computer hardware & running Windows with Media Center to stream media to their xbox console and display it on the connected monitor or TV.

Below is a view of Comcast’s HD/DVR menu (what we previously had)

Yikes….they offered different colored themes that more so made you not want to watch TV due to the lack luster and dismal color selection.  Seriously, who wants mauve and faded gold for anything accept silk jogging suit that you borrowed from your eccentric aunt Louise?  Seriously!

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Now take a look at our menu using the MCE over the xbox!

The MCE interface is sharp, sleek, bold, and not to sissy on the colors either.

A couple years ago my dad, who is also a technology geek, bought Derek a Harmony Remote.  Derek loves this thing.  The remote lets you assign tasks to individual buttons. However, unlike most other remotes, it also lets you create new functions to specifically match your component, such as when controlling multi-angle playback or zoom on a DVD player. (This works well for our xbox MCE set-up)  So, Derek has created a lovely little set-up on the Harmony Remote so that the task of operating MC on the computer upstairs from the xbox & TV downstairs is a dream.

I almost forgot to brag about all the nifty things you can do & access with this sweet cable set-up. First up, there is the main menu that allows you to browse all types of media.  The MC menu allows you to browse cable TV listings, pictures, home movies, music, movies, and recorded TV you have stored on your network.

For the cable TV portion of our set-up we still have basic cable with Comcast, and have an HD antenna for over-the-air channels. (Yes, I know…we hope to one day cancel basic too, but internet TV like Hulu, Boxee, and Joost still need a bit more content for my viewing pleasure.)  Believe it or not, but MC shows more info on a live TV show than I could ever seem to locate on the Comcast DVR.

:: Movies ::

Or if you are tired of the ridiculous amount of reality shows on TV and you would rather watch a movie…MC will search for and display, with album art I might add, all movies currently on the channels you receive.  This feature will list movies up to two weeks into the future.  You can search by date, title, year, or rating.

* Side Note: MC will display a small PIP of the channel you are currently watching.

Once you have found a movie worth looking into you can then view info about the cast, a brief description of the plot, ratings, year released, other dates the movie airs, and set up advanced recording for future dates.

Select the Cast + More link to view cast info, a full review of the movie, or a listing (including air dates & channels) of similar movies set to air in the next few weeks.

:: Sports ::

Sports nuts, you’re going to love this feature……

If you are in a fantasy league or just like following players from college to pro, like say uhhhhh, Derrick Rose this will float your boat. You have the option to choose from NBA, MLB, & NHL players and track their stats throughout the season.  How sweet is that!?!

Watching one game, but wanna see the score to another?  What’s that…you can’t stand to miss a minute of the action on your current game?  Don’t worry MC has got you covered.  While still watching your current game, you can peruse the score ticker just by using the sports “scores” feature in MC.  And if you see a game in the ticker that you have to switch to for just a second, just hit select and the game will appear in the window just below the ticker.  This makes it really simple to jump back & forth between games on game day.

Wanna see what games come on later today, or how about this week?  The sports “on later” module gives your scheduled games set to air for up to 2 weeks.

:: Music ::

Occasionally, I get the itch to clean the house from top to bottom, and want something besides the hum of the vacuum & silence to surround me, so I crank up the radio.  Now, instead of listening to the same song 3 times in a two hour period on the local radio station, I can listen to our massive music library.  The best part is that the music library on MC gives you album art in a cover flow type interface.

You can search your music by artist, album, year, playlist (I love me some playlists), or just pick something the old fashioned way…song title.  Below I am doing a search for all music released in 2007.

On the “now playing” menu you can view your music queue, play a slide show, buy music, or just handle the basic shuffle/repeat options.

:: Pictures + Videos ::

Unfortunately we haven’t set up the picture + video portion of our MC, but judging from the seamless & like mannered flow of the other menus one can imagine this option isn’t far off.

In all…I am grinning from ear to ear over our new TV set up.

Thanks Microsoft!

BTW :: My darling husband just ran downstairs to tell me that a Hulu plug-in is in the works!  Check out a short video of it…here.

For info on how to convert your computer & xbox 360 to a media center mecca…go here.

P.S. – Thanks to my lovely assistant…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 11:05 pm and is filed under Geek. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.