How to build a DIY DVR on a windows platform?

[StraightPipe]

I?ve been thinking lately that I need to get more out of my cable (I?m only paying $12/mo for 80 channels + $45/mo for cable internet), but I rarely watch cable. I?d love to get one of my PC?s running DVR software to catch all the shows I?m missing. Keep in mind that my cable is standard definition, and I have no intention of paying $100+/mo for HD.

There have been 2 directions I?ve been thinking about taking this.

1. Integrating this to my HTPC. I?ve got a beast in my living room, and I spend most of my time on it anyway (Movies, Music, and Games). It?s a 2.0GHz core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 150GB Raptor (OS) 1TB RAID0 (storage), and an ATI1900XTX Pro (see sig)

My main concern with using this machine is that I?d need to buy a separate graphics card with a TV tuner (or two tuners). If I want to watch and record, I need a nicer card with 2 tuners. I have a really nice mouse (Logitech Revolution) with programable extra buttons, so I could probably live without a remote or media center. Another big advantage is that I could now watch all my TV through my PC.

2. setting it up on a background computer. I've got a dell 2.oGHz core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, ATI 1600XTX. This way all the recordings land on a network share, and can be viewed from any PC in the house. It?s basically like having a VCR in the back room to record everything. I can get a cheaper card with one tuner. Then in a couple years I could get a HD card with dual tuners for my HTPC.

I?m really leaning towards option 2. If I could find a polished solution that works well as a secondary graphics card, I?d probably go option 1. I figure, I can go SD now, and in a year or two, move to HD on my HTPC. That way I learn the software before I invest in the hardware (dual tuners).

The next question is which software solution is best for windows, and what cards should I look into?

 

[Matthias99]

My main concern with using this machine is that I?d need to buy a separate graphics card with a TV tuner (or two tuners). If I want to watch and record, I need a nicer card with 2 tuners. I have a really nice mouse (Logitech Revolution) with programable extra buttons, so I could probably live without a remote or media center. Another big advantage is that I could now watch all my TV through my PC.

You can get just a standalone TV tuner card; there's no need to get a second graphics card (I'm assuming the 'HTPC' is already hooked up to the TV as its monitor; you could put the TV as the second output of the video card, but you may have issues playing video on the secondary display unless you just mirror the main desktop). You only need dual tuners if you want to record two things at once (or watch one live program while recording another live thing at the same time). With one tuner you can still watch a previously recorded program while recording something live.

I like the Hauppauge PVR-150; however, if you have CPU power to burn, a software encoding card can work just as well. I use BeyondTV (http://www.snapstream.com) as DVR software; SageTV is also supposed to be good, and Windows Media Center Edition is actually also supposed to be good. If you don't want a fancy GUI with a nice program guide and sophisticated recording options, Hauppauge's basic software might work fine for you.

Just be prepared to deal with some quirkiness and tweaking. If you don't want to screw around with it, just get a TiVo or rent a DVR from your cable company for $5 a month or whatever they charge.

 

[zylander]

You could get one of these. Dual HD tuners and a network adapter. You can watch tv on your PC and your HTPC. You can also get over the air ATSC and unencrypted QAM HD channels. This is what I plan on getting once I get my server and HTPC setup the way I want it.

 

[Trevante]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116628

That's really all you need. It's has dual tuners so you'll be able to watch and record at the same time. It's also compatible with Windows Media Center.

 

[StraightPipe]

Thanks for the input everybody.

I think that I'm just going to slip a tuner into one of the extra computers in my home office.

I think the PVR-150 will be all that I need. maybe in a couple years I'll want to go with a dual tuner HD solution, with a remote for my HTPC. Right now I think simple recording is all I need.

Now I just need to figure out what software to use. I'm looking for something with a tv guide grid. I just want to be able to search for programming, and set it to automattically record. So I can grab all my shows easily.

It sounds like Beyond TV or Myth TV are the best solutions out right now.

Can anybody tell me the differences?

 

[tdawg]

I think MythTV is only available for Linux, but someone can correct me on that.

BeyondTV is quite nice and has some great features. Yahoo also offers a product based on MeedioTV that is free. XP Media Center is ok, but fragile. Vista MCE is quite a bit nicer than XP MCE, in my opinion. I've never tried SageTV, so I won't comment on that. ATI's TV cards come with their own guide system and software.

I personally use two ATI Theatre 550-based tuners and Vista Ultimate and am more than happy.