At 03:44 PM 3/27/2011, Ismael wrote:
I have a question for you guys is it possible to control the TV and VCR with
the computer
Yes I have done it using a USB-UIRT IR Blaster ($50) and a free program called EventGhost to learn IR codes for any device. I used it to control the cable box, ir fan and vcr. I setup this page years ago explaining it http://www.makoa.org/jlubin/tvremote/
You can add an "X10 IR-543 Infrared X10 Command Console" ($16) to control x10 modules.
I have since gotten a slingbox solo ($140) and mainly use that. The slingbox is connected to the DVR and I can control that using the slingplayer program on the computer through your home network. Your tv/cable box/vcr that you connect to the slingbox needs to connect to your network router. You can only connect 1 device to the slingbox solo. With the Slingbox Pro ($250) you can connect multiple devices.
I also have a tv tuner in my computer connected to a cable box. I use BeyondTV software to record/watch tv on the computer. I use this instead of the Windows media center since it records in standard mpeg files I can edit and burn to dvds.
I saw someone else mention that you can also use Comcast Xfinity web site (if Comcast is your cable provider). I have used that also and it worked.
Jim Lubin
jlu...@eskimo.com
http://makoa.org/jim
disAbility Resources: http://www.makoa.org
http://www.makoa.org/jlubin/charitybadge