Back for the first week of March and while news is slow, we’ve decided to take a look at some of the great plugins that are available both within the 10 foot interface, and that simply compliment Media Center. Whether we’re talking about metadata retrieval, content management or adding new functions, the apps we cover during this show are just a sample of what’s out there. You’ll find links to all the applications we discuss right below.
We didn’t have a whole lot of email this week and we’re hoping for more soon! If you use applications that we didn’t talk about this week please send them in to us so we can share them with other listeners. As well, we’re still hoping we can get a listener from the UK on to talk about some of the great content available to MCE users on that side of the Atlantic.
Show Notes:
- Big Screen EPG—remote
- DVR-MS Toolbox
- Show Analyzer
- Guide Tool
- My Channel Logos
- Heatwave
- Media Center Health Monitor
- Playon
- Media Browser
- ngRC
- YAMMM
You can always visit The HTPC.net where you’ll find a great list of Media Center plugins.
Click Here to download episode 67!
I know we have it listed above but if you don’t want to have to watch commercials, don’t forget to visit Dragon Global and grab your copy of Show Analyzer.
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So what do you guys think are the trends and effects for freeware MCE apps/plugins?
MCE has always felt like a hobbyist culture and I thank all the creative people out there who have given us everything from Meedio, xmltv scrappers, DVR-MS Toolbox, Mediainfo, ngRC and current my favorite MediaBrowser (you could even argue MCE is just a hobbyist feature built into Windows). On the other hand, MyMovies has pay features, metabrowser is going to try be pay apparently, BigScreen EPG will be pay. Playon is pay.
More importantly, I want to see if you think free MCE apps are holding back media center? The most obvious issues are that free apps don’t have consistent development, customer service or warranty… So the counter-intuitive problem is: do free apps HURT media center development?
Look at an example, MediaBrowser is a brilliant piece of software which I love and has completely taken over my 7MC. There have been very good updates and (it appears to me) many people now contribute to the various components that development possible. But perhaps as a result it is also inconsistent, as bits and pieces change version to version which sometimes improve and sometimes (perhaps unintentionally) hurt the product – like little GUI glitches that sometimes get better and sometimes get worse with new versions (if you use MediaBrowser and you upgrade to each version, you probably know what I mean). And this is the best free MCE product I have ever used!
Ultimately, I want MCE to get better. Do we need a commercial culture to make that possible? (I’m thinking of like Apple’s AppStore, which I love but it is a STORE) Or is part of the magic that MCE should be shared like a little basement hobby and suffer the tweaks that make hobbies, as opposed to shopping, fun?
Good show, guys. Keep it up.
Cheers, Joe.
Just to let you know, My Channel Logos does have both the color and white-washed logos. The color logos are on by default, but you can swap it with the white logos in the settings.
Just to let you know, My Channel Logos does have both the color and white-washed logos. The color logos are on by default, but you can swap it with the white logos in the settings.