There are already a handful of movie movie trailer plugins for Windows 7 Media Center, though they may require the user to download the trailers or install additional codecs to work. My Trailers 2.0 from MCEZone is simple to use and relatively easy to install though the full version will set you back about six bucks. There is a trial version available now however so you can try the plugin before you shell out for the full thing. How does the trail version stack up to the alternatives out there? Let’s find out.

To get started, download the trial version from MCEZone’s plugins page and go through the standard installation process. After installation launch Windows 7 Media Center, disappointingly the default installation doesn’t add an icon to the Movies strip and you’ll need to launch the plugin from the Extra Programs menu. This can, of course, be remedied by Media Center Studio if you’re so inclined. Upon launching the trial version you’ll be met with a 20 second notice that you’re running a gimped version.

The notice let’s you know that this is the trial version limited to 10 trailers at a time total and directions on how to purchase the full version. Once the program has launched you’ll quickly notice that there are only five trailers listed. Though they do blend well with the default look of Windows 7 Media Center in the default settings. To change the layout and mode press the Play button on your remote or the ctrl button for those at a keyboard.

In the settings notice that there are two modes listed under Trailers. This is why there are only five trailers listed at a time in the trial version of the plugin, that’s five trailers for each mode – ten total. There are also options for changing various aspects of the plugin’s layout including sorting by Date, changing the way covers are displayed, the background and the movement effect. Though there are a number of options for each (and to each his own) none of the additional settings seemed to blend as well with the default look of Windows 7 Media Center.

One interesting setup was the VideoMode setting which seemed to want to put the trailer behind the line-up, somewhat obscured from view, but only managed to accomplish it whenever the back button was pressed during trailer playback.

The selection of movies available in each mode was somewhat disappointing unfortunately. It certainly would have been nice to see at least a single title I recognized but they seemed to be relegated to more obscure titles as many streaming trailer apps seem to be. Perhaps with the ten title limit removed bigger name titles begin to appear more frequently in the listing. One extremely great thing going for this plugin, however, is that it streams videos in HD WMV which will require no extra codecs installed and no downloading videos. This means it should work just fine with any Media Center extenders .

So the line-up of trailers was slightly disappointing as was the lack of an icon in the main Start strips by default but is it worth the six large? Sure, I actually even managed to find an obscure Ed Norton movie I’d be interested in watching (and isn’t that the point of trailers?), plus it’s only $6. So head on over to MCEZone and at least give the trial version a go.