Windows Media Center Edition 2004 goes PrimeTime By Larry Anders, Librarian, Tampa PC Users Group Larry@AndersNet.com

Well, it’s almost Christmas again and if you’re thinking of purchasing a new computer for the family, let me give you a suggestion or two. Microsoft has recently released a second rendition of its digital media operating system, Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 [MCE]. I originally wrote about MCE back in our May issue of this year. That article can be found here: http://tpcug.org/newsletter/nl_2003/May2003/media_center_pc.htm.

As a reminder, MCE is a superset of Windows XP Professional with additional features allowing the user to access the operating system's digital media features through the keyboard or via an included remote control. Microsoft does not currently sell the software separately, although I purchased my HP 854n Media Center PC last March and received my upgrade a couple of weeks ago from HP free of charge. Consumers must buy a Media Center-equipped PC to obtain the entertainment-based MCE. The media center PC is built around the included TV Tuner and the digital video recorder (DVR) for recording TV shows to the PC's hard drive. Replaying a recorded DVR segment of video in MCE is very similar to what you can do with a VCR. What is different in MCE is a TIVO-like function: being able to pause, rewind, and skip ahead live video. But now in MCE 2004, you can also do it with radio broadcasts.

You can digitally record an entire TV series or program category [educational, kids, lifestyles, movies, news, sports, etc.], watch DVDs and videos, organize and play your music collection, or showcase your digital photos. And, you can do all this from the couch, or your favorite chair, by just picking up the remote control.

It is no secret that Microsoft is trying to move the computer out of the den and into the family room by merging the television and the PC. With most PC distributors offering the larger 42-inch plasma wide-screen TV monitors, with the media center PCs it can easily replace the family TV. I have mine set up in our den [home office] with a 5.1 surround sound system and a 19” flat-panel monitor. I also have a couch opposite my TV and have MCE optimized for viewing from up to10 feet away. If I didn’t already have quite an investment in the TV in our family room, I could see this computer setup easily relocating in there. Maybe in the future, but for now, I’m satisfied with my media center PC being located in our den.

I could take most of this newsletter to tell you about all of the features built into MCE but it’s easier for you to go here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/ and check it out for yourself. It’s worth your time.

The one thing I was disappointed about with the original version of MCE, and now 2004, is that Microsoft had not built into the operating system the ability to create DVDs or video CDs from your digital recordings without going to a lot of trouble and a couple of conversions in the process. In the first edition of Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition, Microsoft introduced the *.dvr-ms file format. Similar in format to *.asf, the *.dvr-ms file enhancements allow the creation of key Personal Video Recording functionality, including such things as time-shifting [record for later viewing], live pause, and simultaneous record and playback. Until now this file format would not allow for direct recording of the saved video. But… enter Sonic PrimeTime™.

PrimeTime is the first [and only] application designed exclusively for, and which integrates into, Media Center PCs. PrimeTime allows for DVD or Video CD burning of saved videos with just a few clicks of the Media Center’s remote control. Once installed PrimeTime integrates a “Create DVD” button directly into the Media Center menu so that you can create copies of your recordings on standard DVDs or CDs that can be played back on virtually any set-top DVD player.

PrimeTime creates discs that are compliant with OpenDVD specifications. A PrimeTime rewritable disc may be revised without access to any of the original source files that went into creating the existing material on the disc. If the existing disc is a rewritable format, Sonic’s Edit-on-DVD™ technology allows the changes to be written directly back to the same disc without first transferring the entire project to the hard drive. PrimeTime uses high-quality MPEG-2 video encoding allowing up to 4 ½ hours on one DVD. Dolby Digital is also converted to a much tighter compressed PCM format to save space but still receive cinema-quality sound.

I have created both DVDs and Video CDs [VCDs]. The DVDs are of excellent quality and sound, while the VCDs leave a little to be desired, but considering you can buy a CD for as little as twenty cents in quantity, you may be willing to forgo a little quality. I personally use re-writable DVDs for most of my recording. That way, at some point in the future I can always reuse the DVD. Hopefully soon Sonic will also allow you to burn Super VCDs and the quality should get better. Oh yeah, it took about one hour and fifteen minutes to burn a one hour program that I had previously recorded, and I did it all from my couch.

I was impressed with its ease of use and its integration directly into MCE. There were no surprises during installation and not much reading before I was burning my first DVD. PrimeTime retails for $79.99 and is an indispensable tool if you’re an owner of a Window Media Center PC. You can find out all you want to know about PrimeTime here: http://www.ravisent.com/products/primetime/default.asp. Keep up the good work, Sonic, and … Merry Christmas to all! u