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[YellowRose]

I have been searching for a quality, stable, and "one stop shopping" Media Player for days now - my eyes lit up when I read about Media Center 12!   
I've had my share of horror stories.  Bought all future upgrades of MusicMatch Jukebox Plus way back in 2000 because I loved it so much; that got sold to Yahoo! Music (not so hot in my opinion & they did not honor my MusicMatch Jukebox Plus), signed on with Urge = now both Yahoo and Urge are bought out by Rhapsody which I loathe for many reasons.  Lost many DRMs and $ for music purchased through Yahoo & Urge.  Microsoft Media Player is ok because you can choose your download store, but not good for much else.

Please tell me Media Center 12 is really as is advertised.  I'm looking for "one stop shopping" for my music library, video and music downloads (where I don't run into the DRM no longer available issue).  Where I can load my ZenV Plus, burn CDs & DVDs.  Will Media Center 12 do all this?  Not had any experience with Amazon MP3 downloads - is it reliable and does it honor purchased music DRMs?

If I choose the trial Media Center 12 download and decide I want just the Media Center Jukebox version, what will I need to do?

Boy do I hope you say Media Center 12 is the answer!

Thank you very much,
Sheri

[tinear]

MC12 will do all of that and sooo much more!
Amazon music store features MP3s, hence no DRMs to worry about. I've downloaded many a track from them without a hitch---it's an excellent site and well worth adopting as your primary music source; additionally, it's accessable directly through the free MediaJukebox player.
Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Fred

[glynor]

It is most likely exactly what you are looking for.  Best of all, there is a 30 day free trial, so no real risk.

The Amazon MP3 store is completely DRM free.  The tracks are extremely high quality (LAME VBR -V2 if you know what that means, if not, it is better than 256kbps MP3).  They have almost everything available, it seems.  A collection roughly the size and scope of the iTunes store, anyway (and includes more indie, classical, and small-label artists than Apple's does).  And, best of all, their prices are generally better than iTunes (many tracks are $0.89 and albums are $8.99, though brand-new and hot stuff can sometimes be a bit more).  Plus since it is Amazon, you probably already have an account there, and it is certainly not "locked" to this one player.  If you decide to switch away sometime in the future to iTunes or Windows Media Player or whatever... It'll keep working.

It is NOT a subscription service though, similar to the old Yahoo! subscription service or Rhapsody.  However, JRiver announced that with MC13 one is coming, if that floats your boat.  I'm not a big fan of the subscription services because of the related DRM problems, but if you want it, one will be coming down the pike here before long.

Try it out.  If you have any questions, just ask.  This forum is pretty amazing if you use it.

[jack wallstreet]

MC 12 IS an amazing program! To say nothing of this forum where the company remains highly responsive to user issues (that's rather an understatement).

[YellowRose]

Great feedback everyone, thanks.  I did download it this afternoon and, you're all right on, it's great.  My library loaded like a breeze and my Zen seems to love it too!  Even tried out an Amazon download.

I dumped Rhapsody like a hot potato!

One question any way I can set it up to be my default Media Player?

[zxsix]

Tools > Options > File Associations.

[221bBS]

Zen seems to love it too!

I thought Zen didn't play well with anyone?

NM I'm thinking of ZUNE

[mabes]

Great feedback everyone, thanks.  I did download it this afternoon and, you're all right on, it's great.  My library loaded like a breeze and my Zen seems to love it too!  Even tried out an Amazon download.

I dumped Rhapsody like a hot potato!

One question any way I can set it up to be my default Media Player?

Can you tell yet if MC recognizes the Zen playcounts etc?

[bwaldron]

The Amazon MP3 store ... tracks are extremely high quality (LAME VBR -V2 if you know what that means, if not, it is better than 256kbps MP3). 

Not always -- I've found that a fair number of the "albums" purchased from Amazon have been 256K CBR. Still good quality, but not quite so good as the VBR encoding.