How XBMC is Keeping Me Alive

I will admit it.  I am usually a hold out.  In this particular case, I held out as long as I could in fear that an upgrade wouldn’t work the way I liked it to.  For a long time I had been using a combination of WMC (Windows Media Center) and XBMC to front end my Home Theater PC.  WMC handled my Live TV streaming with a cable card and an HDHomerun Prime, while XBMC did everything else.  To be honest, XBMC had some level of PVR functionality built-in to handle live TV… but it was crap in comparison and a major headache to configure with my setup.

I had gone through all types of hoops and trials to get the feel of a single application, but it wasn’t enough.  To my family, it was a pain in the rear to try to figure out how to get what they wanted, when they wanted it.

To give you an idea of what it was like in the C.O.D. household…

First, the PC fires up and you are instantly thrust into everything WMC.  Live TV works like a charm! Controls are handled by either a Logitech Harmony One or My Media Center from Ceton on the iPad.  iPad usually won the battle, because its cool to control stuff from an iPad (remember Bow-Ties are cool).  If you wanted to watch a move or one of my archived TV shows, we would have to navigate to the XBMC icon in WMC.  Once clicked, WMC would minimize and XBMC would occupy our attention.  This means that control, once handled My Media Center on the iPad, would now be transferred to XBMC Constellation.  Close the app on the iPad and open the new one. Endless struggles for my family with rhythmic chants of “I can’t control this stupid thing” hurled at me, accompanied by threats of mutiny if I didn’t return the cable box to the TV stand.

The cable box will not win…

Thankfully, XBMC was able to return order to my home.  The WMC.PVR client released by a group of heroes made it easy to obtain the finesse and function of Live TV found within Windows Media Center inside of XBMC.  The XBMC addon requires only a simple utility to be installed for complete functionality, down to the grace and beauty of the WMC EPG.  Live TV had been working flawlessly in WMC and now in XBMC.

If you have WMC configured for Live TV already and want to expand into all the wonderful possibilities using XBMC can provide, the door is now wide open.  After all, the endless add-ons for XBMC make doing nearly anything entertainment related possible.  All you have to do is download this simple utility, install it, and configure it.

For a detailed list of instructions: Click Here

With this new PVR add-on, I am now able to focus on one front end for my Home Theater PC.  Order has been restored in my household and all is well.  I get the benefits and strengths of both applications in one now, with one set of controls, and I win… no more cable box and a computer has made its way into another room in this house… without further argument :).  XBMC and this add-on have now restored my confidence and my position as master of the media center.  The remote is now firmly held in the hands of a man restored (until they snatch it from me).  Happy wife… happy life.