media center questions

[Guest]

i'm on the fence about upgrading to ultimate (i have biz)... i'd like a media
center but have been checking out cheaper alternatives (open source,
beyondtv, etc).

Here's my questions...

I have a NAS, i assume i can record tv to it and use media on it (this
includes backups of my purchased dvds, mp3s ...).

one feature i like about other media alts is the ability to watch recorded
tv on other pcs... if media center records, say Heroes last night, can i hit
that file (on the NAS) with my XP laptop and watch it from there or am I
locked out (via DRM)...

finally, and not super critical, any plans to stream (extend) tv to other
computers around the house from the vista media center?

 

[Slugsie]

See in-line:

I have a NAS, i assume i can record tv to it and use media on it (this
includes backups of my purchased dvds, mp3s ...).

Media Center can only record to local hard-drives, it will not record to any
networked storage, even if you use a mapped drive.

However you can use media stored on the network easily enough. If you
copy/move recorded TV files to a network location then you can play it back
with no problems.

one feature i like about other media alts is the ability to watch recorded
tv on other pcs... if media center records, say Heroes last night, can i
hit
that file (on the NAS) with my XP laptop and watch it from there or am I
locked out (via DRM)...

Given the above restrictions, yes you can.

finally, and not super critical, any plans to stream (extend) tv to other
computers around the house from the vista media center?

Unknown at this time, although there are solutions around that allow you to
stream media files over you network, it's not a built in capability.

I think that allowing Media Center to be an extender in itself would be a
great idea. That way you can have one (or more) central Media Center PCs
that record TV, store music etc, and multiple Media Center PCs on the
network used to play it back. Maybe this sort of capability will come with
MS Home Server. Who knows?!