Need advice on HDTV PVR (tivo like machine.)

First thanks to everybody for helping me solve my HDTV reception
problem. Now since that problem is solve.....it created a new
problem.

My PVR (tivo type machine) record only in analog reception. Now I
can't stand watching analog TV. I think I need a HDTV PVR.

I'm not going to pay monthly fees....so for sure I'm not interested in
HDTV Tivo. I would also prefer that the computer can get the TV
schedule through a analog telephone line over broadband internet.

Here are some of my possible suggestion....

1. Buy Microsoft Media Center computer.
2. Buy a used laptop, and get an external HDTV USB card, and get PVR
software with free channel guide.
3. Buy a used Windows XP computer, and add on HDTV card and PVR
software.

Any suggestions?

Also I've looked at various software and I would like suggestions.
Here are some of the software I was considering....

1. Microsoft Media Center
2. Beyond TV.
3. Freevo.

thanks,
stan

On Thu, 09 Aug 2007 16:13:14 +0000, theory4debate wrote:

First thanks to everybody for helping me solve my HDTV reception
problem. Now since that problem is solve.....it created a new
problem.

My PVR (tivo type machine) record only in analog reception. Now I
can't stand watching analog TV. I think I need a HDTV PVR.

I'm not going to pay monthly fees....so for sure I'm not interested in
HDTV Tivo. I would also prefer that the computer can get the TV
schedule through a analog telephone line over broadband internet.

Here are some of my possible suggestion....

1. Buy Microsoft Media Center computer.
2. Buy a used laptop, and get an external HDTV USB card, and get PVR
software with free channel guide.
3. Buy a used Windows XP computer, and add on HDTV card and PVR
software.

Any suggestions?

Also I've looked at various software and I would like suggestions.
Here are some of the software I was considering....

1. Microsoft Media Center
2. Beyond TV.
3. Freevo.

All I've ever used is MythTV. It replaced my Tivo and all other DVR/VCR's.
And while guide data has been free for years, it ends Sept. 1. At that
point, you'll either have to sign up with a new non-profit guide data
provider http://www.schedulesdirect.org/ or use the EIT function of myth
to get guide data from the stations signal and I really haven't tried
that. Or you could just do manual recordings. I've got 6 ATSC tuners in a
3 box/tv system (4 in master, 1 each in other two boxes). You can get
these tuner cards (Air2PC) on ebay for under $20 each. Only other cost is
PC, which could be as little as $100 up to whatever , depending on you.
But before you do anything, you need to consider every aspect of the type
of system you want to build and make sure everthing you buy is compatible
with and capable of doing what you want. The good thing about either linux
solution is that there's no software cost and there are several mythtv
linux distros like Knoppmyth and Mythdora that make install easier.
alt.video.ptv.mythtv

--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html Usenet alt.video.ptv.mythtv
My server http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php
HD Tivo S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm

Wes Newall,

Thanks for your response. I have a few questions....


All I've ever used is MythTV. It replaced my Tivo and all other DVR/VCR's.
How does MythTV compare to Tivo as in user friendly?


And while guide data has been free for years, it ends Sept. 1. At that
point, you'll either have to sign up with a new non-profit guide data
providerhttp://www.schedulesdirect.org/or use the EIT function of myth
to get guide data from the stations signal and I really haven't tried
that.
Hmmmm.... $15.00 for 3 months is still a bargain. What is EIT?

these tuner cards (Air2PC) on ebay for under $20 each.
I saw these on Ebay and I was wondering about the quality. I assume
sine you have a few of them, they work fine.

PC, which could be as little as $100 up to whatever
That would be so cool if I could build the whole thing for under
$200.00.

Thanks for your advice,
Stan

On Aug 9, 2:21 pm, wrote:
Wes Newall,

Thanks for your response. I have a few questions....

All I've ever used is MythTV. It replaced my Tivo and all other
DVR/VCR's.

How does MythTV compare to Tivo as in user friendly?

And while guide data has been free for years, it ends Sept. 1. At
that
point, you'll either have to sign up with a new non-profit guide
data
providerhttp://www.schedulesdirect.org/oruse the EIT function of
myth
to get guide data from the stations signal and I really haven't
tried
that.

Hmmmm.... $15.00 for 3 months is still a bargain. What is EIT?

these tuner cards (Air2PC) on ebay for under $20 each.

I saw these on Ebay and I was wondering about the quality. I
assume
sine you have a few of them, they work fine.

PC, which could be as little as $100 up to whatever

That would be so cool if I could build the whole thing for under
$200.00.

Thanks for your advice,
Stan

Other similar options would be a Hauppage ATSC card either PCI or USB
with the supplied software which runs under Win XP (maybe win 2000). I
use ATI HDTV Wonder and while it works OK, MythTV sounds slicker but I
don't do Linux (yet).

Athlon or Sempron 2500 with 512 meg RAM worked fine so a very modest
Pentium, would be OK too. The ATI software isn't exactly 'hostile' (in
contrast with friendly) but my wife won't touch it. I manually program
recordings all the time and have no problems playing the MPEG files
across the network to another computer. Any of the 3 can record HD and
playout HD streams to the other 2 computers and surf the net
simultaneously.

GG

On Thu, 09 Aug 2007 21:21:33 +0000, theory4debate wrote:

How does MythTV compare to Tivo as in user friendly?

The mythfrontend is menu driven just like the Tivo. To be honest, it's
been so long since I sold my Tivo I don't remember much about it. But even
my wife can use MythTV. She couldn't use the Tivo or RCA DVR without
getting inputs and modes on the remote confused. Myth can do a lot more
than a Tivo. See link in last line of sig.

And while guide data has been free for years, it ends Sept. 1. At that
point, you'll either have to sign up with a new non-profit guide data
providerhttp://www.schedulesdirect.org/or use the EIT function of myth
to get guide data from the stations signal and I really haven't tried
that.
Hmmmm.... $15.00 for 3 months is still a bargain. What is EIT?

They're shooting for $20 a year if enough people sign up. That's why they
started with a 3 month sub. Hopefully it will go down coinsiderably.
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/EIT

these tuner cards (Air2PC) on ebay for under $20 each.
I saw these on Ebay and I was wondering about the quality. I assume
sine you have a few of them, they work fine.

They work fine for me. I don't care about NTSC or QAM. They are ATSC only.

PC, which could be as little as $100 up to whatever
That would be so cool if I could build the whole thing for under
$200.00.

That's totally possible. Just find a decent used system for $100 and add
tuners. But you will probably want a minimum of a 300GB drive, although I
ran mine with 2 80GB drives in raid0 for a while. Later I replaced them
with 2 320GB drives but have never had them more than 30% full. but as
cheap as drives were I put 300GB drives in the other 2 myth boxes for
1.2TB of storage space. Don't need anywhere close to that but it makes me
feel good.:-)

--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html Usenet alt.video.ptv.mythtv
My server http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php
HD Tivo S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm

I'm also looking for a DVR that could be used instead of TIVO or the
DISH 622, and I also don't want to get locked into an arrangement
requiring I pay monthly fees. However, I don't need to see the
programming on the DVR or TV. - I can get the programming information
from our Dish TV guide and key it in myself.

From this discussion, I understand that several have or are planning to
use a PC, with hard-drive, to process and store the recorded programs. -
My question is, why should I have to put together such a complicated
system (my HT room is already full of equipment), since there are
several stand-alone DVRs with built in hard-drives on the market? I
don't really need to record in HD (although that would be nice), since
the programs I want to record are mainly news, commentary, talk shows,
etc. broadcast in STV.

Jim




Wes Newell wrote:

On Thu, 09 Aug 2007 21:21:33 +0000, theory4debate wrote:


How does MythTV compare to Tivo as in user friendly?


The mythfrontend is menu driven just like the Tivo. To be honest, it's
been so long since I sold my Tivo I don't remember much about it. But even
my wife can use MythTV. She couldn't use the Tivo or RCA DVR without
getting inputs and modes on the remote confused. Myth can do a lot more
than a Tivo. See link in last line of sig.

And while guide data has been free for years, it ends Sept. 1. At that
point, you'll either have to sign up with a new non-profit guide data
providerhttp://www.schedulesdirect.org/or use the EIT function of myth
to get guide data from the stations signal and I really haven't tried
that.

Hmmmm.... $15.00 for 3 months is still a bargain. What is EIT?


They're shooting for $20 a year if enough people sign up. That's why they
started with a 3 month sub. Hopefully it will go down coinsiderably.
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/EIT


these tuner cards (Air2PC) on ebay for under $20 each.

I saw these on Ebay and I was wondering about the quality. I assume
sine you have a few of them, they work fine.


They work fine for me. I don't care about NTSC or QAM. They are ATSC only.


PC, which could be as little as $100 up to whatever

That would be so cool if I could build the whole thing for under
$200.00.


That's totally possible. Just find a decent used system for $100 and add
tuners. But you will probably want a minimum of a 300GB drive, although I
ran mine with 2 80GB drives in raid0 for a while. Later I replaced them
with 2 320GB drives but have never had them more than 30% full. but as
cheap as drives were I put 300GB drives in the other 2 myth boxes for
1.2TB of storage space. Don't need anywhere close to that but it makes me
feel good.:-)

On Fri, 10 Aug 2007 21:14:56 +0000, JimC wrote:

I'm also looking for a DVR that could be used instead of TIVO or the
DISH 622, and I also don't want to get locked into an arrangement
requiring I pay monthly fees. However, I don't need to see the
programming on the DVR or TV. - I can get the programming information
from our Dish TV guide and key it in myself.

With digital cable or pay satellite TV your best bet is probably to rent
one from your provider for several reasons. It's cheap with no hassles.
It's not easy to interface multiple tuners to a STB that only provides one
channel of output. And lastly, most don't output a standard mpeg file
designed to be received by a tuner.

From this discussion, I understand that several have or are planning to
use a PC, with hard-drive, to process and store the recorded programs. -
My question is, why should I have to put together such a complicated
system (my HT room is already full of equipment), since there are
several stand-alone DVRs with built in hard-drives on the market? I
don't really need to record in HD (although that would be nice), since
the programs I want to record are mainly news, commentary, talk shows,
etc. broadcast in STV.

Each person has their own wants and needs. A regular old vcr/dvr might
suit you just fine if all you want to do is record one show at a time and
watch it on the same TV you record it on. PC based recorders are more for
people that don't want to be limited to what you get in a canned box like
a vcr/dvd recorder or dvr. You won't find any canned boxes that allow you
to record 6 HDTV shows at the same time. You can do this or more with a
single PC or a network of PC's.

--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html Usenet alt.video.ptv.mythtv
My server http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php
HD Tivo S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm