How to Use Xbox One or PC as a TV DVR

[coip]

I've preordered an Xbox One as it seems pretty badass. However, I don't have cable TV so I don't think I can take advantage of its badass TV integration, is that true? I watch TV using a digital antenna.

I've also heard Xbox One has a DVR, but I think this is only for gaming, not for TV too, is it? Can I use Xbox One as a TV guide and DVR for free digital TV via an antenna? If not, I can use my PC as a DVR instead, right? For Windows 8 I would have to buy the Windows Media center pack, though, I think, and a TV tuner. Anyone ever do this on here?

 

[dgr_874]

Yes, I do all the above that you mention. From what we understand, the XBOX One will not have a stand alone TV DVR capability in it. What it will do is overlay it's programming guide onto your cable box and control it through HDMI pass-through so you will have to have a cable subscription. I have not heard anything about it being able to use an OTA antenna for shows.

To make the XBOX One work as a DVR will require a large setup. You will need the following things;

A computer running Windows 7 or 8
Media Center Pack
A TV card for your computer (I use a Hauppage 2250)
An XBOX 360
An XBOX one

Connect your cable TV subscription to your TV card in your desktop computer. Connect your XBOX 360 to your computer as an extender and run Windows Media Center to extend it to the XBOX 360. Then connect your XBOX one to the XBOX 360 using the HDMI pass-through. That should allow you to use it as a DVR.

This is how the setup would have to work based on available information. Everything is subject to change as more features are reviled. Check out the guys at www.thegreenbutton.com for expert help as there are many threads on exactly what your asking.

Good luck with what ever set up you choose!

 

[coip]

Thanks. So, my plan is to use Windows Media Center as my DVR (is this good software, or is something else better? Perhaps the TV Tuner comes with some) on two computers, as stated above: 1 laptop and 1 ultrabook, both running Windows 8 Pro with Media Center. I see the Hauppage 2250 that you use is something I need to insert into a PC. It looks like it needs to be installed and is not easy to remove and swap into another PC. Is it possible to get something that is a bit more 'swappable'? I want to be able to use it back and forth between a laptop and an ultrabook. Would something like this work? It seems to just plug into the USB port.

 

[dgr_874]

I haven't found anything that is more slick than Media Center. It really is a shame that Microsoft is neglecting it. Its worth the money to buy it for Windows 8 in my opinion. The USB thing you linked looked like it would work ok.

The DVR function would only work when the computer is plugged into the USB dongle that has the cable tv (or OTA antenna if it supports it).

Are you planning on watching the content you record on a TV or just the computers?

 

[coip]

Thanks. My plan is to use my PC (I think I will buy the Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 2 Pro) as a DVR so I can record some shows using Windows Media Center (it's only $9.99 more to add it to Windows 8 Pro, so I think I'll buy it). Then, I plan to connect my PC to my 39" HDTV via HDMI and watch the shows on there. I like the USB thing because, as an ultrabook, the Yoga 2 Pro isn't going to have the ability to install the type of TV tuner that you use.

Right now I have my TV connected to a digital antenna and get really nice reception on all the major networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, PBS, etc.). So, I can buy this USB thing, plug it into my Yoga 2 Pro, then disconnect the digital antenna's coaxial cable from the TV and plug it directly into the USB thing on my Yoga 2 Pro, open up Windows Media Center on the Yoga, record some shows (or actually watch some shows too, live, right?) to the hard drive and then play them back later on my TV by connecting my Yoga to the TV via HDMI and playing the shows in Media Center, right?

 

[Coreldan]

In finland we also need boxes for antenna connection, I for one have a box with HDMI in and out, so while I cant take full advantage of all the live TV features, I should be able to pass through the TV signal to xbox so that I can switch between gaming and TV, even if I had to use a remote to further control the TV part, but not having to switch inputs from a 2nd remote is still one less annoying stage to do when switching to TV. Also then while watchin TV it should still be able to overlay notifications etc.

 

[dgr_874]

Thanks. My plan is to use my PC (I think I will buy the Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 2 Pro) as a DVR so I can record some shows using Windows Media Center (it's only $9.99 more to add it to Windows 8 Pro, so I think I'll buy it). Then, I plan to connect my PC to my 39" HDTV via HDMI and watch the shows on there. I like the USB thing because, as an ultrabook, the Yoga 2 Pro isn't going to have the ability to install the type of TV tuner that you use.

Right now I have my TV connected to a digital antenna and get really nice reception on all the major networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, PBS, etc.). So, I can buy this USB thing, plug it into my Yoga 2 Pro, then disconnect the digital antenna's coaxial cable from the TV and plug it directly into the USB thing on my Yoga 2 Pro, open up Windows Media Center on the Yoga, record some shows (or actually watch some shows too, live, right?) to the hard drive and then play them back later on my TV by connecting my Yoga to the TV via HDMI and playing the shows in Media Center, right?

Yup, looks like that would work. Make sure your USB tv tuner can do OTA signals for sure and then run the TV tuner set up in media center and you should be good to go.

 

[smoledman]

I'm planning to use my XBox One as my media center/gaming system to replace a 2010 Mac Mini. I'm sick & tired of having to watch video streaming services through web browsers which have to be restarted all the time(running OS X). I tell you OS X is not the nirvana I was promised at all. I'm really looking forward to the voice control and instant switching, along with native apps for Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll and so on.

 

[coip]

Just an update: I bought the AverTV Hybrid Volar Max - Windows Starter Kit (what a name, eh?). It is a TV Tuner that connects to your PC (compatible with Windows 7 and Windows 8) via USB 2.0, then you can plug either a coaxial cable into the other end and either stream cable television or OTA (over-the-air) digital television from an antenna to your PC using Windows Media Center (free with Windows 7, $99 for Windows 8, $9 for Windows 8 Pro). This is my first time every using Windows Media Center and I'm really impressed with it: not only is it great for picture and movie viewing, but the live TV function and DVR function are amazing! It's a pity they didn't include Windows Media Center with Windows 8 for free. I have Windows 8 Pro so I didn't mind too much the $9 upgrade to buy it, but for Windows 8 users the $99 is exorbitant (although, that also comes with other features like Bitlocker).

On my HDTV streaming OTA digital cable (from an antenna), I don't get a guide like satellite or cable users have, so there is no way to know what's on (although, I found that there are actually two helpful Windows Phone apps for this: BuddyTV is one, Fast TV Listings is another). But, if you watch live TV through Windows Media Center there is a fantastic on-air guide with all the TV listings, program info, etc. Windows Media Center also allows you to toggle on and off closed captioning, pause live TV and, of course, record TV and watch it later. It really is quite amazing.

After I plugged in the AverMedia USB TV Tuner, it installed the driver automatically, then I went to Windows Media Center and set up live TV by having it scan for channels. And within minutes I was watching TV on my computer. What I did after that was connect my computer to my HDTV via HDMI and got to watch live TV on my HDTV, which I could already do, of course, but this time it had a DVR capabilities, live-TV pausing, and the live-TV listings guide! I also tested it with a VGA connection instead of HDMI and was equally impressed with the picture quality, although unlike HDMI a VGA connection cannot bring the sound over to the TV too, just the picture, so you'd need to get speakers unless your laptop speakers are super awesome.

After that I installed the PC Remote Pro app to both my Windows Phone and my Surface RT. These apps both allow you to connect to a PC on the same WiFi network and control it with fully mouse and keyboard input using the touchscreens on your phone or tablet. Better yet, though, they also come with built-in Windows Media Center controls (like an app within an app) so you can easily control your new TV setup! What I'm going to do now is find an older laptop with Windows Media Center on it and set it up so that it still runs with the lid closed, and then just use it like a set top box: a DVR and 'cable' box so I can enjoy most of the benefits of cable TV without the price!

 

[dgr_874]

Just an update: I bought the AverTV Hybrid Volar Max - Windows Starter Kit (what a name, eh?). It is a TV Tuner that connects to your PC (compatible with Windows 7 and Windows 8) via USB 2.0, then you can plug either a coaxial cable into the other end and either stream cable television or OTA (over-the-air) digital television from an antenna to your PC using Windows Media Center (free with Windows 7, $99 for Windows 8, $9 for Windows 8 Pro). This is my first time every using Windows Media Center and I'm really impressed with it: not only is it great for picture and movie viewing, but the live TV function and DVR function are amazing! It's a pity they didn't include Windows Media Center with Windows 8 for free. I have Windows 8 Pro so I didn't mind too much the $9 upgrade to buy it, but for Windows 8 users the $99 is exorbitant (although, that also comes with other features like Bitlocker).

On my HDTV streaming OTA digital cable (from an antenna), I don't get a guide like satellite or cable users have, so there is no way to know what's on (although, I found that there are actually two helpful Windows Phone apps for this: BuddyTV is one, Fast TV Listings is another). But, if you watch live TV through Windows Media Center there is a fantastic on-air guide with all the TV listings, program info, etc. Windows Media Center also allows you to toggle on and off closed captioning, pause live TV and, of course, record TV and watch it later. It really is quite amazing.

After I plugged in the AverMedia USB TV Tuner, it installed the driver automatically, then I went to Windows Media Center and set up live TV by having it scan for channels. And within minutes I was watching TV on my computer. What I did after that was connect my computer to my HDTV via HDMI and got to watch live TV on my HDTV, which I could already do, of course, but this time it had a DVR capabilities, live-TV pausing, and the live-TV listings guide! I also tested it with a VGA connection instead of HDMI and was equally impressed with the picture quality, although unlike HDMI a VGA connection cannot bring the sound over to the TV too, just the picture, so you'd need to get speakers unless your laptop speakers are super awesome.

After that I installed the PC Remote Pro app to both my Windows Phone and my Surface RT. These apps both allow you to connect to a PC on the same WiFi network and control it with fully mouse and keyboard input using the touchscreens on your phone or tablet. Better yet, though, they also come with built-in Windows Media Center controls (like an app within an app) so you can easily control your new TV setup! What I'm going to do now is find an older laptop with Windows Media Center on it and set it up so that it still runs with the lid closed, and then just use it like a set top box: a DVR and 'cable' box so I can enjoy most of the benefits of cable TV without the price!

I agree 100%. Its such a shame that Microsoft didn't push this further. It really is an all in one home entertainment solution. Using Media Center had me buy three xbox's so i can stream and record live tv through the whole house. Microsoft had the fight for the living room won and just dropped it. I'm glad everything is working for you. Welcome to the Media Center Club!!!

 

[coip]

Yeah, I'm really impressed with Windows Media Center. I can't believe I never used it before on Vista or Windows 7! And I can't believe Microsoft didn't advertise it more (I think most of their consumers had no idea how cool it is), and worse, that they took it out of the off-the-shelf version of Windows 8 (now it will not only never catch on, but it'll probably slowly fade away).

I have a question about linking it to Xbox One. You say you have 3 Xbox 360s that you use to stream Live TV throughout the house. I Binged it, and I see now you can link it to Xbox 360 as some sort of "extender" where you can wirelessly stream media from a PC in a different room to your TV via your Xbox 360, right? That sounds totally badass. And you say you use it to stream live TV too? Or just computer files (music, movies, etc.)? That is, you're saying I can connect my antenna to my PC and then live-stream that to my Xbox One (either wirelessly or some wired connection into the Xbox One that would allow me to use the Xbox Dashboard UI to easily swap back and forth between games, Skype, and Internet Explorer running on my Xbox, and Windows Media Center [running on my Xbox via my PC]? If so, I'm probably going to burst out in song as that would be awesome! I don't have an Xbox 360 but I do have an Xbox One preordered. Day One edition, FTW!

 

[dgr_874]

Yeah, I'm really impressed with Windows Media Center. I can't believe I never used it before on Vista or Windows 7! And I can't believe Microsoft didn't advertise it more (I think most of their consumers had no idea how cool it is), and worse, that they took it out of the off-the-shelf version of Windows 8 (now it will not only never catch on, but it'll probably slowly fade away).

I have a question about linking it to Xbox One. You say you have 3 Xbox 360s that you use to stream Live TV throughout the house. I Binged it, and I see now you can link it to Xbox 360 as some sort of "extender" where you can wirelessly stream media from a PC in a different room to your TV via your Xbox 360, right? That sounds totally badass. And you say you use it to stream live TV too? Or just computer files (music, movies, etc.)? That is, you're saying I can connect my antenna to my PC and then live-stream that to my Xbox One (either wirelessly or some wired connection into the Xbox One that would allow me to use the Xbox Dashboard UI to easily swap back and forth between games, Skype, and Internet Explorer running on my Xbox, and Windows Media Center [running on my Xbox via my PC]? If so, I'm probably going to burst out in song as that would be awesome! I don't have an Xbox 360 but I do have an Xbox One preordered. Day One edition, FTW!

I have one PC in the den that acts as the master for the whole system. It has my tv card and stores all my music and ripped DVDs. I have xbox 360's in each bedroom and one in the living room all hooked into Ethernet. Once you have media center set up on your computer, plug in your xbox and the go to "add extender" in the set up menu. It will ask you for an 8'digit code. Go back to your xbox and then go to the settings menu to connect it to your PC. It should give you a code. Put that code in on your PC and it will set everything up. From that point go to windows media center on your xbox and it will function the same as using it on your PC! You can do everything from your xbox that you can do from your PC including live tv.

sadly, it does not appear that you can do any of this with an xbox one, only the 360. The tv integration and control on the xbox one looks like it will require a cable box, something the 360 does not require. You could possibly attach an xbox one to an xbox 360 to get extender functionality but that seems to just further complicate the process.

Let eat me know if I can help ya with anything else.

 

[coip]

That sounds awesome and I can't believe more people don't know about this feature.

However, it seems you're right: what a shame that the Xbox One cannot be used as a Windows Media Center extender in same way as Xbox 360! Why the step backward? That doesn't make sense. By doing this and by not including Windows Media Center in Windows 8 for free, it seems like they're trying to phase it out. Why?

I guess I'll just have to use an older PC I have lying around and have it running Windows Media Center directly to the TV, but I sure hope they change their minds and add the functionality to stream live TV wirelessly from my PC to my Xbox One as you do with your Xbox 360s because, as you point out, it would be kind of silly to buy an Xbox 360 to use as an extender and then run it through Xbox One. Perhaps I can use that old laptop and connect it to the Xbox One and still use the Xbox One dashboard UI to access Media Center's features that way?

 

[dgr_874]

Time to put on the tinfoil hat i guess but, I think the real reason they are phasing it out is that they want you to buy everything from them and not record your own stuff. They want you paying 60 bucks a year for xbox live, 99 bucks a year for xbox music, and then what ever you want to spend to buy videos from xbox video. Sadly, i think they are really trying to chase after apple and itunes which i think is a mistake. I really hope they add the extender functionality to the Xbox one too, but I don't really see it happening anytime over the next year.

The good part about all this is that you can have a whole home entertainment set up for fairly cheap now. Almost any PC can run media center and xbox's can be had for as little as 60 bucks off of ebay sometimes. You dont even need to buy one with a harddrive or dvd player because nothing is stored on the xbox. The PC does all the number crunching and storage.

 

[Coreldan]

For a limited time you during the upgrade promotion you could get Media Center for free on Windows 8 too. I have no real use for it personally, but I decided to get it cos.. well.. it was free!

 

[DavidinCT]

I agree 100%. Its such a shame that Microsoft didn't push this further. It really is an all in one home entertainment solution. Using Media Center had me buy three xbox's so i can stream and record live tv through the whole house. Microsoft had the fight for the living room won and just dropped it. I'm glad everything is working for you. Welcome to the Media Center Club!!!

If anyone has any Windows Media Center questions, I am a certified expert in Windows Media Center (yes, certified from Microsoft on it, I did the tests etc). I was a WMC MVP for 2010-2011. I am one that is very sad still that Microsoft broke up the ehome team. Media Center is a awsome product if your looking to get away from Cable's DVR or even DVR fee.

Did Microsoft publicly say that Xbox One can use Windows Media Center tuners (networked) for a tuner source ? How about using the Xbox one as a Windows Media Center extender (that you can use 360's for now) ?

Just so everyone knows, there is NO DIFFERENCE between Windows 7 Media Center and the $9.99 Windows 8 addon package for Windows Media Center. Check the version numbers, they are the same, infact they removed the option to "Start Media Center when the computer starts" option from settings so if you are using a computer as a dedicated Home theater PC, you will run into little issues with it.

If you want to go full with a HTPC option, I would suggest Windows 7 (Home premium or higher), as there is no difference in WIn 8 and it comes free with Windows 7....

I have a nice setup with cablecard tuners, so it works great as a DVR, Media Player, Movie Library, etc...and have 2 Xbox 360s just for exenders...

 

[dgr_874]

If anyone has any Windows Media Center questions, I am a certified expert in Windows Media Center (yes, certified from Microsoft on it, I did the tests etc). I was a WMC MVP for 2010-2011. I am one that is very sad still that Microsoft broke up the ehome team. Media Center is a awsome product if your looking to get away from Cable's DVR or even DVR fee.

Did Microsoft publicly say that Xbox One can use Windows Media Center tuners (networked) for a tuner source ? How about using the Xbox one as a Windows Media Center extender (that you can use 360's for now) ?

Just so everyone knows, there is NO DIFFERENCE between Windows 7 Media Center and the $9.99 Windows 8 addon package for Windows Media Center. Check the version numbers, they are the same, infact they removed the option to "Start Media Center when the computer starts" option from settings so if you are using a computer as a dedicated Home theater PC, you will run into little issues with it.

If you want to go full with a HTPC option, I would suggest Windows 7 (Home premium or higher), as there is no difference in WIn 8 and it comes free with Windows 7....

I have a nice setup with cablecard tuners, so it works great as a DVR, Media Player, Movie Library, etc...and have 2 Xbox 360s just for exenders...

At this time it appears it will not be able to be used as a media center extender like the 360 can.

Microsoft: Xbox One won't be a Windows Media Center Extender - Neowin

 

[Coreldan]

I somehow think the key word here is as a "Windows Media Center" extender.. I dont think the functionality is going away totally. Not sure if it will be there at launch, but I'm sure somewhere down the line there will be an alternative.

 

[ncxcstud]

There's a site where you can get the 'HD/Hi-Res' channel bugs for the viewer guide too. Makes it look even more professional instead of seeing 57.1 or 10.3 or just the letters NBC or what not.

Incredibly impressed with Windows Media Center. Makes things a BREEZE to use on Windows 7/8

 

[coip]

I somehow think the key word here is as a "Windows Media Center" extender.. I dont think the functionality is going away totally. Not sure if it will be there at launch, but I'm sure somewhere down the line there will be an alternative.

It seems that their strategy is to get buddy-buddy with the cable and satellite TV providers to use the Xbox One as a set-top box, and perhaps one way to do this was to ditch Windows Media Center (which many people use to watch OTA digital TV). I think this is a mistake: the trends is toward 'cord cutting', isn't it? Regardless, why not both options? If I can't use my Xbox One as a Windows Media Center extender to watch OTA digital TV, then they sure as heck better let me directly plug my USB TV Tuner card into my Xbox One and let me watch OTA digital TV that way. I don't watch a lot of TV so cable is not worth the price tag.