HTPC for Mom

[Deleted member 4644]

My mom has one favorite thing in the world:

Recording DVDs of her favorite shows off her digital cable TV line. Right now she burns them on a Sony DVD recorder.

I want to build her a HTPC/HDD based solution.

Here is what I already have: fully functioning Intel i3 based system with several TB of storage.

Here is what I don't have:

-HTPC software
-Hardware interface to "pull down" the cable signal
-??? (Blu-ray burner for backups?)

Requirement:

Software must be absolutely easy to use. She is non-techie. Budget is basically unlimited, but I would prefer not to spend more than $3-400 on the above.

I am not sure about the specs on her cable box, but I assume its a basic HD box, with one tuner. It does not have DVR. She has an HDMI AV receiver, and an HD TV. I am willing to upgrade her cable box if needed. Record + watch on other tuner would be great. But remember she needs simple!

For this use, would a Ceton InfiniTV 4 Digital card be overkill?

This is on Cox Cable in CA. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

You can ask on AVSForum but, afaik, Cox has many of their channels locked down with Copy Once flags so your mom wouldn't be able to make freely-playable DVDs from the recordings of a Ceton, SD Prime, or any other cablecard based system except for possibly the Tivo. I don't know the specific restrictions for making DVDs from Tivo recordings.


Your best bet would might be the Hauppage HD-PVR or Hauppauge Colossus. You could even configure the HTPC to automatically cut out the commercials and save the files for your mom to copy easily.