Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Need a crash course in Media center extenders

So I've been tossing around the idea of setting up media center for a while, but didn't really want a computer sitting in the family room in the rack with the other equipment, and didn't want to get a prebuilt box for cablecard HD support (I only watch HD, so a media center that can't record HD channels over cable instead of OTA is useless to me).

I believe problem 1 was solved with the thread I posted a while back about being able to buy HD cable card support separately now. I should just be able to buy this, put it in any networked computer in the house (wireless is fast enough?) and be able to control it to watch/record shows through a media center extender, correct?

I'm asking because problem 2 was solved today. I was at a Microsoft event and won an XBox 360 (arcade edition). It looks like I have myself a media center extender!

So, is this as simple as buying the HD capable cable card, installing it in my computer, and I just leave the computer on and manage everything through the XBox to watch shows on my main TV?

We have our first child on the way in December and don't have a DVR currently, so having a way to record/pause TV when the baby starts crying and being able to pick up where we left off would be a nice benefit

anybody on this? I had read the digital cable cards are available without doing an OEM build. Is this a reality at this point, or just coming soon?

Is my thought about the media center extender correct?

I'm skeptical about HD over wireless, but that might just me being me.

Congrats on the XBox! That's cool.

Yeah, I know, I'm not helping. Just didn't want you to think that nobody cares. I mean, there is a difference between useless and neglectful.

You wont be able to do HD over wireless G or N-Routers, heck I cant do SD over wireless w/o heavy pixelation every 5 secs or so.


What ext. video card are you getting?

I don't have extenders so I cant answer your question regarding using the XBox as one. The TheGreenButton.Com site is a great MCE resource. I'm sure you'll find answers there. AFAIK yes, it's that simple; you need to config the main MCE with the XBOX ExtID and that's it.

Hmmmm....that makes it more complex then. I don't have a wired network connection back where the TV is. I'd have to see if I could run one, which I'm not anxious to try. If I ever finish the basement with a media room I'll have to make sure I run a wired network connection down there.

As far as the video card goes, I thought the ATI digital tuner could now be used without an OEM media center setup. That might be still coming soon though, don't know if someone can confirm.

If this isn't feasible, I may just sell the XBox. I don't feel the need for one for games since I just got the PS3 for Blu Ray/games.