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Posted: 9/5/2005 8:39:13 AM EDT
[#1]
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Posted: 9/5/2005 8:40:20 AM EDT
[#2]
people have been doing it for years using ATI All-in-wonder pro boards.
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Posted: 9/5/2005 8:40:41 AM EDT
[#3]
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Posted: 9/5/2005 8:40:47 AM EDT
[#4]
Yes and no. TIVO is the simplest way to get that. With a PC setup you need all sorts of high end hardware to do what TIVO has. Also there really isn't a DVR software package out there that works as well as TIVO. I have both. My computer with the equipment just sits there while I use my TIVO all the time.
By the time you buy the TV card, the video card with TV out put, and a hard drive you will have spent way more than you would have on a TIVO. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 8:41:10 AM EDT
[#5]
And you wold probably want a large secodn hard drive just for the TV capture. Iy would end up being cheaper to just buy a Tivo and it would work better anwyay.
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Posted: 9/5/2005 8:42:08 AM EDT
[#6]
You can do it with an All-in-Wonder card. I would not even consider any other card for that application. Preferably one of the larger, more robust all-in-wonder packages (like an all-in-wonder 9800 or X800 or something, not a 9600 - the lower ones lack features).
You will definately not be disappointed with an all-in-wonder, and should do exactly what you want it to do. I am pretty sure it comes with all neccessary software to get it to work. Processor speed shouldnt be a huge issue, the faster the better sure, but what you realy want is lots of hard drive space and lots of RAM. All-in-Wonder 9800pro All-in-Wonder X800XT All-in-Wonder X600Pro |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 8:42:37 AM EDT
[#7]
IMHO, just get a TiVo.
I tried the HTPC thing and it was a PITA. The software never worked quite as well as the TiVo software, the machine was noisy, and the whole thing was not quite as polished as the TiVo. FWIW, I have a ReplayTV right now because of the ability to rip the video directly off the machine. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 8:43:20 AM EDT
[#8]
The tv tuner card will come with the software. Here is a cheap tv card that will do the job nicely. It even comes with a remote and an interactive online tv guide for program schedualing.
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Posted: 9/5/2005 8:43:37 AM EDT
[#9]
Plus tivo will find programs you like and record them for you. The pc versions just don't work as well.
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Posted: 9/5/2005 8:44:16 AM EDT
[#10]
Wouldn't it just be easier to sign up with one of the sat. providers and get a Free DVR?
here is a news story I found for you. www.tvpredictions.com/directvfreedvr080105.html "News Analysis DIRECTV Offers a Free DVR The satcaster tries to curb the growth of cable's DVR service. By Phillip Swann Washington, D.C. (August 1, 2005) -- DIRECTV announced today that it's offering a free Digital Video Recorder to new and existing customers. This was predicted to happen last year by TVPredictions.com. The DIRECTV offer, which was posted at the satcaster's web site, provides a $100 rebate on a $99 DVR, effectively making the receiver free. The offer, however, requires a 24-month commitment to a DIRECTV "Total Choice" programming package, which start at $41.99 a month. In addition, you must pay $5.99 a month for the DVR service. In its offer, which is good until November 5, 2005, DIRECTV does not mention if the DVR service will be provided by its current DVR partner, TiVo. DIRECTV and TiVo have a marketing agreement that's not scheduled to expire until 2007. But the DIRECTV-TiVo relationship has been cast in doubt since last January when the satcaster announced that it would launch its own DVR service this year. The new DVR service will come from NDS, which is owned by DIRECTV's parent company, News Corp. However, NDS is not expected to be ready with the new DIRECTV DVR until later this year. Consequently, the initial free DVRs will include the TiVo service, a DIRECTV spokesman confirmed on Monday. But DIRECTV's decision to downplay TiVo's involvement at its web site could suggest that it will only use NDS in the free DVR campaign when it's available. Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corp., has hinted that DIRECTV would offer free DVRs since his company took control of the satellite TV service in 2004. Murdoch believes that a free offering is necessary to persuade reluctant consumers to try the new recording features, which includes pausing live TV and fast-forwarding past commercials at blinding speeds. But there's another reason why DIRECTV would offer a free DVR at this time. Cable on the March DIRECTV launched a DVR service in 2001, two to three years before most cable operators did. The satcaster -- along with satellite rival EchoStar -- dominated the DVR market in the early years. If a consumer wanted a DVR, chances are that he got it from a satellite company. (Today, DIRECTV and EchoStar each have more than two million DVR customers.) But a few years ago, cable TV operators from Comcast to Time Warner started aggressively rolling out new DVR services across the country. And, unlike DIRECTV, cable's DVR service did not require the purchase of the set-top. (EchoStar does have a lease option, just like cable.) Consequently, cable's DVR subscriber numbers have been climbing impressively in recent months. The DVR arguably has been turned around to become a marketing advantage for cable. So, by announcing a free DVR offer, DIRECTV is trying to slow the growth of the cable DVR. And, before year's end, DIRECTV will announce that its DVR from NDS will include several exciting new features such as movie downloads. The DVR war has just begun" |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 8:44:36 AM EDT
[#11]
Doing with a PC, IMO is a much better route, plus there are no fees. And if you do with the all-in-wonder cards, you can also get a bonus of a gaming card along with the all-in-wonder features. Screw TiVo.
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Posted: 9/5/2005 8:44:36 AM EDT
[#12]
I thought about doing that. I don't think you can get all the features of Tivo with a "media center PC"
Tivo has wishlists. Tivo has season passes. Tivo has the "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" feature. You can "thumbs up" programs that you like, and it will automatically record things that it thinks you may like (same genre, maybe same actors, etc). Thumbs DOWN stuff works the same way, except it doesn't record things that are similar to programs you "thumbs down" The interface is just awesome. You can schedule things to record over the internet. I'm not sure if a media center PC can do all that. Now, I could be mistaken, as I haven't looked into them in a couple of years (we got Tivo instead). But when we were considering Tivo, I looked into making a "media center PC" instead. Tivo beat it out by leaps and bounds. Edit: If you're going to go with a satellite just to get a DVR, Go with DirecTV. They have REAL Tivos. The DISH Network DVRs? Suckage. There is just no product out there that is as polished and specialized for DVR recording than a Tivo. I was horribly skeptical before we got it (told my wife it was stupid to buy, I can just build a PC to do it, waste of money, etc), but now? I'm converted 100%. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 8:47:22 AM EDT
[#13]
www.mythtv.org/ and here,
www.linuxprofessionalsolutions.com/pavlicek/tv.html www.linuxjournal.com/article/6690 KnoppMyth, possibly a drop-in solution here. Jim |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 8:54:17 AM EDT
[#14]
What is the source of your TV programing,OTA,Cable or Sat.? |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 9:18:27 AM EDT
[#15]
I have the cheapo $12 a month cable. I dont need all of the extra jee wiz features of tivo, just a w3ay to record shows, rip them and record to DVD.
Should I get a vid card that has a ton of memory? |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 9:24:20 AM EDT
[#16]
Not so much a video card that has tons of memory, that is mostly for gaming textures, and stuff like that. I would make sure that it is an all-in-wonder of somekind. Where you want to have lots of memory is in hard drive space, and system RAM. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 9:24:53 AM EDT
[#17]
XP Media Edition.
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Posted: 9/5/2005 9:26:38 AM EDT
[#18]
SorryOccifer, seriously man don't bother with the PC solution. If your wife is anything like mine she's not going to want to dick around with a computer to record a TV show.
I don't know where you live but here in Florida with Brighthouse cable (old TimeWarner) they GIVE you a DVR (generic TIVO) device with the digital cable service. It's not quite as polished as Tivo but it's about 20x better than using a computer. I've done both (ATI card with computer) and the difference is night and day. You're probably going to spend more for a solution that isn't as good. Just my take. -Observer |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 9:26:51 AM EDT
[#19]
Just buy a TiVo. Then it will actually work and you won't have to mess with your home brew unit every time you want to watch TV.
For the record, I used to have the DirecTV/TiVo unit, and just switched to Dish Network and got their free DVR. The interface is not nearly as good as TiVo, *but* it multiplexes two satellite signals through one cable coming into the house, so you can watch two things at the same time or record one thing and watch something else. Also it has more recording time than the TiVo unit we had. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 9:28:54 AM EDT
[#20]
Personally, I'd rather mod my Tivo. It's not particuarly hard to grab the recordings off of it. Hell, mine's even running a web server.
 There are plenty of Tivo hacking sites out there. Google 'em! |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 9:34:08 AM EDT
[#21]
all in wonder, or if you already have a good video card their TV Wonder
the TV wonder comes with software that uses Guide Plus to get tv listings and no monthly fee like tivo |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 9:38:56 AM EDT
[#22]
Tivo is the shit. I know lots of people who have tried it with linux and windows media center. They all ended up buying Tivo.
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Posted: 9/5/2005 9:43:19 AM EDT
[#23]
have you tried myth with linux? |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 9:44:41 AM EDT
[#24]
seriously! A guy I work with set up a myth box for abour $400 and it's amazing. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 9:47:01 AM EDT
[#25]
That's what I'm going to be trying. I might use MythTV on top of Fedora, though. I want to set up a whole box as a media center and use it for recording and DVD playing. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 11:16:57 AM EDT
[#26]
fixed |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 1:10:23 PM EDT
[#27]
Does your solution have all the features that Tivo has? Why is it "shit", in your opinion? |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 1:12:10 PM EDT
[#28]
+1 All in Wonder rocks! |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 1:17:53 PM EDT
[#29]
When it doesn't flake out and: Not record at all (Sunday Morning) Record without audio (it's been a few months) Just totally space and record at the wrong resolution and corrupt the software so that the peoper resolutions are no longer availabe and you spend hours installing, removing, reinstalling, the latest driver only to find out that it has a known problem with the scheduling agent so ATI tells you to back up one version which still doesn't work for you so you remove it all and start over again with your original software (Feb 2004) all in all 20+ hours of trying to troubleshoot it. (July) In general I like it alot, but when it messes up it really messes up. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 1:34:24 PM EDT
[#30]
+1 ATI All In Wonder card
Mine came with remote and the software necessary to record shows in advance. I just use the Guide Plus applications to search and tag TV shows to record. Makes it easy to burn them onto DVDRs. They have a ATI HDTV tuner card which I will upgrade up to next. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 1:49:48 PM EDT
[#31]
Ever owned one? I doubt it... |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 2:15:15 PM EDT
[#32]
I read that you can have a Tivo DVR and not have to pay for the subscription. What features can you still use, and which ones do you lose?
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Posted: 9/5/2005 2:16:32 PM EDT
[#33]
All i know is that I fuckin' love my Tivo!! I can't imagine life without it now.
I'm serious! |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 2:30:16 PM EDT
[#34]
140 hour (140GB drive) Tivo unit: $250 at Amazon.
link ETA: It's apparently $12.95 a month or $299 one time fee to use it... |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 2:41:32 PM EDT
[#35]
$250 + $299 to record anything, any time, for as long as you OWN the unit = $549 One can build a computer to do the same for less. Or just use an old computer with an added in TV tuner card. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 2:41:39 PM EDT
[#36]
The monthly fee. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 2:42:42 PM EDT
[#37]
the myth box will also allow you to rip all of your DVDs onto the hard drive as divx files and play them at will. Get the right tuner card and it'll have a fully functional remote control as well. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 2:43:22 PM EDT
[#38]
The Tivo subscription just gets you all of the scheduled program data. It's usable without it, but at that point you have to do all of your own programming.
I have two DirecTivos and they're totally worth. Been doing the Tivo thing since they first came out in 2000. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 2:45:28 PM EDT
[#39]
As pointed out above, you can purchase a Tivo unit, plus pay the "lifetime" deal (which means no montly fee) for ~$550. Can you build a "media center PC", with all the features of the Tivo (including the "wishlists", season passes, recommended recordings, etc) for that price? If so, let's see it. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 2:47:07 PM EDT
[#40]
I just did a fair amount of research on this stuff since I was buying a capture card.
For free windows based pvr programs www.gbpvr.com/ mediaportal.sourceforge.net/ For info on TV cards www.tv-cards.com/messageboard/ For deinterlacing the signal if you watch TV on your computer deinterlace.sourceforge.net/ The best cards out there right now are the hauppauge pvr series cards and cards based off of the ATI Theater 550 pro chip. ATI's all-in-wonder cards use older versions of the Theater 550pro. I chose a hauppauge pvr150mce ($66) because it has the least hassles and it looks great. The pvr500 is a two tuner version so you can record a show and watch a different channel at the same time. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 2:49:04 PM EDT
[#41]
Dude, Time is money. Tivo is your friend. Just get her a Tivo man. Its got lots of cool features that help you find the shows and movies you want and record them.
I want to hook mine up to my computer to burn some shows, but I know some of the new ones need physcially hacked, and I dont want to mess with that. Hopefully this USB port will connect to my router with an adapter and I will be in business. Any way - get Tivo - I dunno HOW I lived with out on previously. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 2:51:36 PM EDT
[#42]
With Tivo's "Home Media Option", you can transfer shows to your PC, and burn them onto DVD. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 2:53:34 PM EDT
[#43]
You can easily build one for under $550, not sure about the full feature list of the tivo, but here's the list for a box running myth ...
http://www.mythtv.org/modules.php?name=MythFeatures |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 2:57:36 PM EDT
[#44]
What's the cost breakdown of the box?
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Posted: 9/5/2005 3:08:26 PM EDT
[#45]
Depends on how powerful you want to make it . All you really need is the case, MB/proc/memory, hard drive, and tuner card (assuming you get a mb with built in sound, otherwise also add a sound card) the knoppix myth page has some guidelines Depending on how computer friendly you are you can set it up to store files on your PC's hard drive, and you can borrow the disc drive, mb, monitor, mouse, etc. from your pc while getting this one running. Once it's up you just leave it connected to the tv, run it with the remote control, and admin the box remotely over a network from your main pc. www.mysettopbox.tv/basics.html
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Posted: 9/5/2005 4:27:40 PM EDT
[#46]
without the subscription it's basically a vcr, if it will record at all. I think some second generation ones won't do much of anything without the subscription unless you hack the OS |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 4:30:24 PM EDT
[#47]
Yep. Its allready been said, but you can build a computer system that will do the same thing, and a lot of other things, for the same price or cheaper. You will end up with a far superior way of doing it as well. |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 4:32:15 PM EDT
[#48]
I still haven't gotten a price breakdown of a box with the same capabilities as my Tivo. What's the scoop here, and how is the "media center PC" superior to the Tivo? |
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Posted: 9/5/2005 4:36:12 PM EDT
[#49]
TiVo is worth the money.
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Posted: 9/5/2005 4:49:40 PM EDT
[#50]
I've worked on computers for years and the last thing I want to do in my free time is dick around with yet another computer system when I'm trying to watch TV and relax.
There are few things more frustrating to me than to have to fix a computer problem before I can do anything. I have been running a hacked Tivo for about three or four years now (paid $99 for it off Ebay) and it is by far the best money I've ever spent on any home entertainment gear. The interface is very easy and intuitive, and the box requires no maintenance whatsoever. |
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