Dell Media Center User manual

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Dell™ Media Center
User’s Guide
Media Center
start menu
back
arrow buttons
live TV
my music
my videos
volume
numeric buttons*
standby
guide
more info
my TV
my pictures
channel/page
clear
enter
media
control
buttons
Japan only
star pound
*Note: When entering text in a Media Center search or text box on a computer running
Japanese Microsoft®Windows®XP, you can enter extended characters using the numeric
buttons. Follow the instructions on the screen.

Notes, Notices, and Cautions
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer.
NOTICE: A NOTICE indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to
avoid the problem.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.
____________________
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© 2003 Dell Computer Corporation. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Computer Corporation is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell and the DELL logo are trademarks of Dell Computer Corporation; Microsoft and Windows
are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or
their products. Dell Computer Corporation disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own.
August 2003 P/N P1646 Rev. A00

Contents 3
Contents
1 Quick Start
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Remote Control Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Starting Media Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Watching TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Watching a TV program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Television Program Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Using the Television Program Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Recording TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Recording a Program You are Watching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Recording a Program Using the Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Recording a Program Using Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Recording a Program Manually. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Changing Your TV Guide Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Changing Recording Priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Watching Recorded TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Playing a Recorded Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Playing DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Playing a DVD Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Playing a DVD Already in Your Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Watching a DVD in a Resized Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Viewing Your Pictures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Viewing Pictures in Media Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Viewing Pictures as a Slide Show. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Sorting Pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Viewing a slide show with music. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2 Other Features
Using My Music. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Copying a CD to the Media Library.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

4Contents
Adding Files to Media Library and Creating a Playlist . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . 20
Playing Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Using My Videos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Organizing Your Videos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Playing Digital Videos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Quick Start 5
1
Quick Start
Introduction
Microsoft
®
Windows
®
XP Media Center is your all-in-one computer entertainment center.
Whether you want to watch or record TV programs, play DVDs, or view pictures, Media Center
does it all. The following instructions explain how to explore some of the more common functions
of Windows XP Media Center using either your mouse/keyboard or the all-in-one remote control.

6Quick Start
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Remote Control Buttons
1media control
center Controls features for a TV, DVD, and CD.
2Media Center
start menu Opens the Media Center start menu (see page 7).
3back Returns the computer to theprevious window
within Media Center.
4arrow buttons Helps navigate within all Media Center
windows.
5live TV A shortcut to the full-screen viewof live TV. It
also moves to the current point of a live TV
program after you pause the program.
6my music Opens the My Music window.
7my videos Opens the My Videos window.
8volume Increases (+) and decreases (–) sound.
9numeric
buttons Changes channels or enters text into the Media Center search or text box.
NOTE: When entering text in a Media Center
search or text box on a computer running
JapaneseMicrosoftWindowsXP,youcanenter
extendedcharactersusingthenumericbuttons.
Follow the instructions on the screen.
10, 19 clear Deletes the selection and functions like the
<Backspace> key on your keyboard.
11 standby Puts the computer into a reduced power state.
12 guide Opens the Television Program Guide (see
page 8) to display available TV channels and
programs you can watch and record.
13 more info Provides more information about TV
programs you can watch and record.
14 my TV Opens the My TV window (see page 7).
15 my pictures Opens the My Pictures window (see page 17).
16 channel/page Changes the TV channel and moves up (+)
and down (–), depending on available options.
17, 21 enter Selects the desired action or window option.
18, 20 text entry Allows you to enter text.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
11
12
13
14
15
16
10 17
20
21
18
19
Japan only

Quick Start 7
Starting Media Center
Watching TV
Media Center allows you to watch any program offered by your TV service provider. However, before you can
watch TV using Media Center, you must correctly set up your computer for the TV signal source (cable, satellite,
etc.) and run the software wizard. For more information on hardware setup, see "Other Features" on page 19 and
the setup diagram that came with your computer.
Using the Mouse and Keyboard Using the Remote Control
1
Click the Start button and click Media Center .
The
Media Center Start Menu window appears.
1 Press .
The
Media Center Start Menu window appears.

8Quick Start
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Watching a TV program
Television Program Guide
Media Center provides a Television Program Guide that allows you to scroll through a list of the current TV
programs and channels available from your TV service provider. The Guide displays the channel and network, as
well as the show title and scheduled time block. The number of days displayed in the Guide depends on your TV
service provider. When you select a program title, a detailed description of the program appears at the bottom of
the window.
Using the Television Program Guide
• The Guide is a shared programming schedule that is visible to all users. When someone attempts to
schedule a recording when another recording is scheduled, a message appears.
• If the Guide is not updated, the number of days displayed decreases each day.
• You can have Media Center automatically connect to the Internet and update your Guide. Not all Internet
Service Providers (ISPs) support this feature. Check with your ISP.
If your ISP does not support automatic Guide updates, you must update the Guide manually in the
Settings window. You can manually update the Guide at any time even if you have set up automatic
updates.
• If the Guide is not updated, the following message appears next to each channel:
No data available .
Using the Mouse and Keyboard Using the Remote Control
1
In the Media Center Start Menu window, click
My TV
.
The last channel selected or the first channel
available appears next to the
My TV menu.
2 To change channels, click on the
bottom
Media Center toolbar or press the
channel number on your keyboard
(<Num Lock> must be enabled).
NOTE: The Media Center toolbars appear when you move
the mouse.
3 Tomaximize the TVwindowto full-screenmode,
click on the TV image. To return to the smaller
TV window, click on the top
Media Center
toolbar.
1 Press the MY TV button.
The last channel selected or the first channel
available appears next to the
My TV menu.
2 To change channels, press the CH/PG button or
enter the channel number using the numeric
buttons.
3 To maximize the TV window to full-screen
mode, press to scroll down to the smaller TV
window and press
OK . To return to the smaller
TV window, press the
BACK button.

Quick Start 9
• If your computer does not automatically disconnect from the Internet after updating the Guide, manually
disconnect from the Internet.
• Your TV service provider determines the number of channels and calendar days that appear.
• The Guide does not display past TV listings.
NOTE: If you are using your remote control to navigate through Media Center, you must use the arrow buttons to
highlight a specific function.
Recording TV
Media Center allows you to record TV programs so that you can watch them at your convenience. You can record
the program you are watching or a future program or program series using the Guide, using
Search or manually.
If you schedule the recording of several shows or a series, you can change the priority order in the
Settings
window in
My TV . See "Changing Recording Priorities" on page 13.
Using the Mouse and Keyboard Using the Remote Control
1
In the Media Center Start Menu window, click
My TV .
2 Click Guide .
3 To see a program description, move the cursor
over the program.
The description appears at the bottom of the
window.
4 To navigate through the channels, click in
the window or press on your keyboard.
5 To watch a program, click the program.
6 To view upcoming programs on a specific
channel, move your cursor over the channel
number and station call letters. Future programs
appear at the bottom of the window.
You can also click in the window to scroll
throughfutureprogramsfor thechannelsthatare
displayed.
1 Press the GUIDE button.
2 To see a program description, highlight the
program and the description appears at the
bottom of the window.
3 To navigate through the channels, press .
4 To watch a program, highlight the program and
press
OK .
5 To view upcoming programs on a specific
channel, highlight the channel number and
stationcallletters.Futureprograms appear atthe
bottom of the window.
You can also press to scroll through future
programs for the channels that are displayed.

10 Quick Start
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Recording a Program You are Watching
Recording a Program Using the Guide
NOTE: Depending on the time of day, some networks share the same channel. The Guide may display the programming
for one network, which can cause recording options to be unavailable. You may need to manually update the Guide
before scheduling a recording.
NOTE: During scheduled recordings, you can only watch the program being recorded. If you change channels while
recording, the recording stops.
Using the Mouse and Keyboard Using the Remote Control
1
Click on the bottom Media Center toolbar.
The
Record icon appears in the Guide next to
the program.
1 Press the REC button.
The
Record icon appears in the Guide next
to the program.
Using the Mouse and Keyboard Using the Remote Control
1
In the Media Center Start Menu window, click
My TV
.
2 Click Guide .
3 To navigate to the program you want to record,
click in the window or press on your
keyboard. If the program is scheduled at a future
time and does not appear, click in the window
or press on your keyboard to scroll through
future programs.
4 Click the program.
5 Click Record to record the program or click
Record series to record the program series.
The
Record or Record series icon
appears in the Guide next to the program.
•
Advanced record — Displays the recording start
and stop times and other recording settings.
1 Press the MY TV button.
2 Highlight Guide and press OK .
3 To navigate to the program you want to record,
press . If the program is scheduled at a
future time and does not appear, press to
scroll through future programs.
4 Highlight the program and press OK .
5 Highlight Record and press OK to record the
programorhighlight
Record series and press OK
to record the program series.
The
Record or Record series icon
appears in the Guide next to the program.
NOTE: When you schedule a recording in the Guide, you
canpressthe REC button once to recordaprogram,twiceto
record a series, or three times to cancel the scheduled
recording you just selected.
• Advanced record — Displays the recording start
and stop times and other recording settings.