# Substitute For Windows Media Center **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 13, 2011, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/substitute-for-windows-media-center/588823 "2011-07-13T02:43:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lil\_Ol\_Lady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@Lil\_Ol\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lil_Ol_Lady)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/substitute-for-windows-media-center/588823/1 "2011-07-13T02:43:45Z")
I have a netbook from Dell that runs on Win7 starter so it does not have Windows Media Center. This is fine but I would like to add my TV tuner to the netbook. On my laptop (Win 7) or Desktop (Vista), I can use the Artec t18ar which is a usb tv tuner just fine with Windows Media Center. But since the netbook doesn’t have Media Center, I can’t use it. The Artec t18ar came with software that installs a TV player but unfortuntely it doesn’t work with Win7. I contacted Artec and they said, it won’t play sound. Which is exactly what it does. I have the drivers for Win7 but those apparently are only for the TV tuner, not the software. So what I was was wondering if there was any, preferably free, substitute for Windows Media Center, that would allow me to attach a TV tuner to it. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/substitute-for-windows-media-center/588823/2 "2011-07-13T04:14:34Z")
Since this is for a netbook, which are not very powerful, I tried to find something that was just a TV tuner, since that’s the only part you seem to need, but all I can find are full-fledged replacements. Fortunately, it seems that [MediaPortal](http://www.team-mediaportal.com/mediaportal/about-mediaportal) can work on a netbook, as it’s minimum requirements are of a processor that is slower than all the Atom processors netbooks usually use, and a DirectX 9 compatible graphics card, which most netbooks have. So check it out. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/substitute-for-windows-media-center/588823/3 "2011-07-13T05:10:00Z")
MythTV (big, like WMC) or the VLC media player. ---
**Author:** ![Lil\_Ol\_Lady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@Lil\_Ol\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lil_Ol_Lady)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/substitute-for-windows-media-center/588823/4 "2011-07-13T05:17:21Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Since this is for a netbook, which are not very powerful, I tried to find something that was just a TV tuner, since that’s the only part you seem to need, but all I can find are full-fledged replacements. > > Fortunately, it seems that [MediaPortal](http://www.team-mediaportal.com/mediaportal/about-mediaportal) can work on a netbook, as it’s minimum requirements are of a processor that is slower than all the Atom processors netbooks usually use, and a DirectX 9 compatible graphics card, which most netbooks have. So check it out. I tried Media Portal but unless you have Aero turned on, which I can’t do with Win7 starter, it’s all choppy and the sound and picture are out of sync. I tried to install it just to see, but it is a mess unless you have Windows Aero on ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/substitute-for-windows-media-center/588823/5 "2011-07-13T14:35:14Z")
You might try [GB-PVR](http://www.gbpvr.com/). I used to use that until I just turned all my DVRs into Windows Media Center boxes. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/substitute-for-windows-media-center/588823/6 "2011-07-13T15:00:49Z")
Nothing beats Media center in terms of features and usability at the moment. You can upgrade your starter version to home premium for $56. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/substitute-for-windows-media-center/588823/7 "2011-07-17T10:14:02Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > the VLC media player. Oh, cool! I didn’t know it had that feature. Here’s a [guide](http://tbreak.com/forums/topic/41283-guide-use-vlc-as-tv-tuner-software/) on how to get it to work as a TV tuner. > [@Kinthalis](#): > > Nothing beats Media center in terms of features and usability at the moment. > > You can upgrade your starter version to home premium for $56. True, but there’s a reason netbooks come with Starter. It may not be powerful enough to run Home Premium comfortably. Before you go that route, google your netbook model and Windows 7 Home Premium to see how well it runs. Or post it here, and one of us can check it out for you. (There are a few other ways to check.)