Floppyhead – Digital Media and Streaming

Engadget recently had two articles about its writer’s experience with a Vista media center with CableCard support. One writer had a promising installation experience while the other was mired in CableCard hell. While the articles are interesting and worth the read, the comments on the articles left by readers prove to be even more interesting. Apparently, Microsoft has not marketed the idea of CableCard computers very well. With prices for most CableCard system over $3,000, this does not bode well for the future of the media center platform as a rival to Tivo. Media center computers are going to be a niche product for years to come I think.

Engadget has a follow-on article answering questions posed by readers. The article answers many of the common questions about CableCards and is worthwhile reading if you are thinking of spending $3,000 on a new system. The article did confirm one thing for me: recorded TV can be saved to an external hard drive or network attached storage. This is good news because your storage space can grow with your tv show collection. Overall, Microsoft has a long way to go for media center computers to be a viable alternative to Tivo or a Cable/Satellite provided DVR.