- December 8, 2007
- 3
- 0
- Home Country
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United States of America
Alright folks... I am so new to MP that I havent even downloaded it yet. I have been through the HTPC gammet and I have read pretty much every magazine out there, viewed everything from Kaliedescape to home brewed options that used hacked X-box's and linux... I have heard, and lobbied for and against ripping movies, and DVD Changers. End result? I have two Firewire Sony XL1B3 changers connected to a home built HTPC running Vista.
This setup works...I love being able to view a list of all 385 of my DVD's by name, or cover art, select the movie and 30-45 seconds later be watching it on my TV...having never left the couch, didnt sacrifice video quality, audio quality, didnt spend time ripping (which is arguably legal/illegal) didnt have to convert, am not worried about a drive in my RAID array dying - and losing all my work ripping, converting, etc...
BUT, the only catch is this. MS Vista (besides having more bugs than a budget hotel bed) eats up more resources than my spare parts HTPC has. On the other hand, XP runs great. Its quick, proven, responsive, etc... so I figure my options are as follows:
- Continue to use Vista and be frustrated by slow response times and hung actions
- Buy WinXP Media Center and go forth
- Switch to Linux and move forward with other options
- Find a program that does all I need and runs on XP... such as Media Portal...
I like option, 4...use Media Portal, however, without support to run, manage, my DVD changers this is a no-go. So, I am looking for someone to help me develope a complete plug-in for the Sony XL series firewire changers. With prices in the high $200 range, they are becomming very popular and I know that I am not the only one that would benfit here.
My skills are limited to Database development (MS Access, SQL Server, Express...) and programming in VBA, VBS and VB....
Here is a link to the largest thread of its kind on this changer: http://avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=692413 In there is some very good programming info (mixed in with a lot of nothing about auto batch-ripping CDs) and some example hacks...
Once again, I would like to create a complete Plug-In that would require no special skills to use for other users of Media Portal that purchase one of the DVD Changers. WHo knows... this might make Media Portal the de-facto choice for people with these changers...
Please e-mail me at "NJPhillips01 AT Google Mail" if your interested.
Thanks,
Nick
This setup works...I love being able to view a list of all 385 of my DVD's by name, or cover art, select the movie and 30-45 seconds later be watching it on my TV...having never left the couch, didnt sacrifice video quality, audio quality, didnt spend time ripping (which is arguably legal/illegal) didnt have to convert, am not worried about a drive in my RAID array dying - and losing all my work ripping, converting, etc...
BUT, the only catch is this. MS Vista (besides having more bugs than a budget hotel bed) eats up more resources than my spare parts HTPC has. On the other hand, XP runs great. Its quick, proven, responsive, etc... so I figure my options are as follows:
- Continue to use Vista and be frustrated by slow response times and hung actions
- Buy WinXP Media Center and go forth
- Switch to Linux and move forward with other options
- Find a program that does all I need and runs on XP... such as Media Portal...
I like option, 4...use Media Portal, however, without support to run, manage, my DVD changers this is a no-go. So, I am looking for someone to help me develope a complete plug-in for the Sony XL series firewire changers. With prices in the high $200 range, they are becomming very popular and I know that I am not the only one that would benfit here.
My skills are limited to Database development (MS Access, SQL Server, Express...) and programming in VBA, VBS and VB....
Here is a link to the largest thread of its kind on this changer: http://avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=692413 In there is some very good programming info (mixed in with a lot of nothing about auto batch-ripping CDs) and some example hacks...
Once again, I would like to create a complete Plug-In that would require no special skills to use for other users of Media Portal that purchase one of the DVD Changers. WHo knows... this might make Media Portal the de-facto choice for people with these changers...
Please e-mail me at "NJPhillips01 AT Google Mail" if your interested.
Thanks,
Nick