Show Us Your Home: Steve Lindsay Edition

Posted By: Brian Johnson | Dec 3rd, 2007 @ 1:20 PM

Steve Lindsay has an amazing Windows Media Center system that includes support for remote access, Windows Home Server, Xbox 360, and even his home phone.

I went up to Long Island to talk to Steve about his setup, which consists of mostly standard PC gear: a Windows Vista Media Center PC, a Windows Home Server, and a few Xbox 360s used to show the Media Center content on the televisions around the house. Of course, Steve takes these components to a whole new level with the addition of multiple high-definition television tuners, gigabit Ethernet, home telephone integration, and a massive raid array of hard disk storage.

One of the coolest parts of this story is the way that Steve uses WebGuide to access his Media Center remotely, allowing him to get to his television content from the office, on the road, and even through his Windows Mobile smartphone.

Here are some links to the technology Steve uses in his house.

Windows Media Center - included with Windows Vista Ultimate and Vista Home Premium
Windows Home Server - for massive storage and reliable data backup
WebGuide - for remote access (This is now a free product.)
TapiRex - for home phone integration
Windows Mobile - for smartphone access

Now here's the best part. When we saw this setup, we knew that On10 viewers and enthusiasts would love to get more information about setting up similar home entertainment systems. So we asked Steve if he would like to be a contributor to On10.net - and he agreed. You can find Steve's first post here, and you can visit Steve's blog directly from this link.

Welcome Steve, and thanks for sharing your system with us!

Tags: Home Tech, Show Us Your Home, Vista, Windows Media Center

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Comments (31)

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Crazysamz

How do you get that application on your phone, what is it called?? I looked everywhere to get it, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Does it run on windows mobile 5 or 6 or both? because I have WM6. What desktop applicatiokn does it require? Links please.

EnglishBloke

In reply to Crazysamz

#Dec 3rd, 2007 @ 8:35 PM

It's linked above, it is called WebGuide. It runs on top of Media Center.

brianjo

In reply to Crazysamz

#Dec 3rd, 2007 @ 8:35 PM

It's part of WebGuide. You just add /mobile to the end of your Media Center name and you get the mobile version. So if your server is myserver.com:50113/ just use myserver.com:50113/mobile and you'll get the mobile version. It's great.

Cheers,

Brian

eagle

Beautiful system Steve, nice to see a true enthusiast appearing on10.

speedygo

In reply to Crazysamz

#Dec 3rd, 2007 @ 8:35 PM

Great show - but this is Windows playing catch up. I've been doing most (if not all) of the above for six months now using a Slingbox Pro (I love the Slingbox Mobile feature on my Verizon EVDO Treo 700W).

Having said that - I'm looking forward to trying all of this out at some point.

Tden

Nice setup!

What was the name of the HDTV tuner you were using?

tim2u

Loved the show, but I have two major questions that have alread been asked but want to ask them again so they will be noticed:

1) What was the name (brand/model) of the high def tuner that hooked directly to your switch

2) What is the windows mobile app that you are using that allows you access to your media center? Orb?

Thanks again.

EnglishBloke

In reply to speedygo

#Dec 4th, 2007 @ 8:49 PM

Thanks Smiley

True to an extent your right, However all of this functionality has been around in some way and another both on and off windows for a long time. The Slingbox is a great device and I tried one myself, however its additional hardware and I already had my MCE system setup.

But the real key point is this. All of this is one integrated system, sure the mobile and web element are nice, the ability to use the dash on the 360's or the extender functionality is nice if I want to do that. The ability to do multiple tuner recording and playback is nice, or ever the backup facilities of Home Server making me feel secure knowing my MCE server is backed up automatically nightly.

But this is the bit for me which really made me stick with this solution (bear in mind, I've been with Media Center a long time now and have used many MCE machines from 2002 right up to Vista Ultimate including pretty much every itteration of extender along the way.

I tried many other solutions but the one thing which kept me here is the fact everything is integrated. I have one look and feel across the board, no matter if i'm remote, web based, local in my kitchen, frontroom or bedroom. My phone calls come in, they are integrated and look slick.
I show my photos and listen to my music (and even stream it from my zune) and it feels like one flowing experience. I want to monitor the sports results and I have an insanely content rich sports interactive dashboard. I can order movies on demand, watch from my own collection and even burn a backup right from the same familiar interface.

I also have the sense of security knowing my recordings are centrally located with folder level duplication so my kids videos are always safe.

Another feature I didn't mention which I love is the Internet TV functionality, now in addition to the other integrated media experiences I can access many sources of Internet video via Internet TV. Be it watching a new concert or the lastest funny clip on MSN Video, it's right in front of me in the same way everything else is.

In the coming months I'll show you some of the magic which Media Center can really do, We're at channel 10 here. expect us to go a little crazy Wink