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What's the best media center software for watching your movie/TV library in your living room?

I'm looking for something that has the following:

  • download movie/TV posters and details.

  • keep track of what episode I'm on.

  • Resume where I stopped watching last time.

  • Easy navigation using a remote.

I don't want to know hardware details, only if your using mac mini, PC, other? What OS does the software require? Is there any Bit torrent integration? Will it automatically discover new downloads?

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9 Answers

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Windows Media Center

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Media center by itself will not even get close to filling any of those requirements. That's why you need mediabrowser.tv (disclaimer im the manager) or another plugin like OML, MyTV or Jacks Video Library – Sam Saffron Jul 16 at 1:32
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I just put XBMC on my Windows PC and it's amazing. (Well, okay, maybe not amazing, but still really, really good.)

Discovering new downloads isn't entirely seamless, but I've got the process down to two clicks, so that's pretty close.

So far, it's the best MediaPC front end I've been able to find.

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I was amazed by the complete change of interface with changing skins – nsharish Mar 15 at 12:36
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I personally use MediaPortal ... used to use MythTV for a while, but got fed up after a Linux upgrade messed-up the sound configuration for the nth time...

Runs on Windows (using the .NET Framework) and is completely open source (C#) for those that care about such things.

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(And it requires Windows... forgot to add that in the answer) – jerryjvl Jul 15 at 16:03
I tried MediaPortal for a while, but couldn't get it to work with my TV card (Terratec Cinergy 2400DTi). The device support didn't seem to be that great. – alastairs Jul 15 at 16:15
@alastairs: I cannot really speak to that... I have 2 TV cards that work, and when it does, it works well... @Kellls: but I would recommend checking that the hardware you have is on the 'supported' list for whatever suggestions are made. – jerryjvl Jul 15 at 16:17
What I like about MediaPortal is the ability to forgo an indexed media "library" and just play things straight from the browsing the file system. – Matias Nino Jul 26 at 23:24
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Window Media Center + Media Browser (I'm the project manager)

Will:

  • download movie/TV posters and details.
  • keep track of what episode you are on. (watched unwatched tracking)
  • Resume where I stopped watching last time.
  • Easy navigation using a remote.
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vote up 2 vote down

Boxee is getting better every day. I like that they are opening up the platform so you can write your own plugins/modules for the media center.

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Note that to use Boxee, you need to have an OpenGL-capable driver. – MachinationX Jul 15 at 16:26
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I use Vista64 Media Center for music and recorded and live TV with the (currently free) Media Browser plugin for Movies and ripped/downloaded TV show. It's beautiful, does everything you've mentioned (except for BitTorrent) integration and was the only one that 'just worked' for me.

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vote up 1 vote down

SageTV has worked out great for me. It fits all of your requirements, and there are plenty of plugins to support just about anything. (cc, netflix, program info, etc.) It will automatically import media from certain directories, and keep track of what you have and haven't watched, even if you deleted the original file.

One of the biggest benefits in my opinion is the HD Extenders. They allow me to view content without building / maintaining / tweaking a PC for each TV I want to watch the shows on. It's a very small and silent box that generates no heat and plays everything including HD files and Blu-ray rips with absolutely no studder. (and no codec / video card tweaks / registry hack madness). All that's required is a network connnection.

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vote up 0 vote down

MythTv (mythtv.org) rules. Really. Run it on Ubuntu and It Just Keeps Working.

Runs on Linux (and other OS'). I'm using a custom PC.

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I use XBMC on ubuntu netbook remix on an Asus Eee, which I really like, but that might just be nostalgia for when I had an original Xbox as a media center PC 7 years ago.

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