Living with a Digital Living Room - Getting others to use Media Center
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Now us tech gurus have the patience to deal with some of the problems we are bound to come across. We probably know how to fix it, and can have it back to the state we want it to be in quickly. Chances are that your significant other isn't as much of a tech guru as you are, and probably doesn't know how to deal with issues that can occur when using a media center PC. I have come up with a few ideas that should help make the transition for others smoother.
First I wanted to keep it simple to use. With a traditional TV, there are channel buttons, volume buttons and a power button; it can't get much simpler than this. The media center application isn't that hard to navigate, but I went through and showed her how to do the things she would want to do. There are times that I needed to use it to install software or mess with it; I did it when she wasn't watching TV, or heck, even at home. As far as she knows, it works and hasn't had any changes.
Finally I left the cable from the cable box to the TV still connected, so if for any reason it stops working or she can't figure out how to get a channel, she can use the cable box connection to the TV and still use the TV until I get home and fix it. These tips are what have allowed me to use a home media center and still keep my girlfriend happy.
Conclusion
Many people are moving over to a digital home, and this is one of the first steps in doing that. I made the leap last month, and it's worked out fairly well for me. Out of the box, a media center isn't as ready as you may be. It needs to be tweaked to mold it into something that the users want it to be. Luckily there are a lot of tricks and programs out there that help transform it into something that is useful to you. I hope if you make the dive into a digital home with Media Center, you have as much success as I did.
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