Is TIVO the only solution?

[Jassi]

I am only interested in watching like 5-6 tv shows a week. Problem is, my parents hog the tv during prime time and I can't watch anything at all.

So, is TIVO my only answer? Will it let me record my shows while they watch their crappy shows? Would I need to buy sevice from TIVO for that or can I make do with just a recorder?

 

[thereds]

Killing yourself is another option.

 

[Keyur]

You'd have to get a different TV to use TiVo if they're in the middle of watching something. If you've got money to burn, you can get a TiVo, but I don't think I would do it for max 5-6 hours a week.

 

[Dunbar]

DirecTivo will record one show while you/they watch another. Comcast has the Motorola 6412, Adelphia the MOXI. Depends on who your DBS/Cable provider is.

 

[CrackRabbit]

No Replay TV is your answer, well that and another cable jack to plug it in to.

 

[aphex]

Are you on satellite or cable?

 

[theblackbox]

just build an htpc with two tuners, drop it inline, record your shows and nobody would be wiser

 

[Jassi]

Originally posted by: thereds
Killing yourself is another option.

I am sorry its the wrong time of the month for you.


Keyur - I have a crappy tv that I can use but since BT is now nerfed, I might not have a choice. All I want is to be able to watch Enterprise and Smallville and I might just ask them to buy it for my sanity.

So, will it record another channel while watching one? I am also hoping Comcast will have some sort of promotion on it as well.

I have Comcast as my provider and I have Digital Cable package. Will that be a problem?

 

[tami]

can't you use a vcr to tape another channel?

 

[hevnsnt]

bit torrent!

 

[Jassi]

Tami - I need something automated becuase they always "forget" to tape :/

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: Jassi

Originally posted by: thereds
Killing yourself is another option.

I am sorry its the wrong time of the month for you.


Keyur - I have a crappy tv that I can use but since BT is now nerfed, I might not have a choice. All I want is to be able to watch Enterprise and Smallville and I might just ask them to buy it for my sanity.

So, will it record another channel while watching one? I am also hoping Comcast will have some sort of promotion on it as well.

I have Comcast as my provider and I have Digital Cable package. Will that be a problem?

That depends, do you wanna record any of the digital channels?

 

[hevnsnt]

http://www.i-hacked.com/Comput...rrent-+-RSS-Tivo-.html

 

[theblackbox]

sagetv or beyondtv and a computer with two tuners and a dvd burner.

one of my two has been on now for 6 months and records whatever i need, and i've built a great collection of offline viewing.

and it uses something you most likely already have, a computer

 

[Kishan]

OT: If I have a digital cable box, can I use a TV tuner or the like to record my shows? The box has S-Video out(currently using out to TV), composite out, and coax out.

 

[tami]

Originally posted by: Jassi
Tami - I need something automated becuase they always "forget" to tape :/

can't you automate it? you don't have to physically be there. you can put it on a timer. at least that's how my parents did it when they went out of town for awhile (and when they wanted to watch something while something else was on tv). i never tried it.

 

[Crucial]

Originally posted by: KPSHAH316
OT: If I have a digital cable box, can I use a TV tuner or the like to record my shows? The box has S-Video out(currently using out to TV), composite out, and coax out.

You would need something that can change the channels on the cable box like the microsoft windows media center remote and receiver. You woul have to have windows MCE of course. I dont know if any of the other tv programs like sage or BTV can do this.

 

[Jassi]

To those that keep suggesting BT, I don't want trouble. I used to use BT but its not worth getting busted for TV shows.

theblackbox - How fast does the 'puter need to be? (will a dedicated P3 do?)

 

[Kishan]

Originally posted by: Crucial

Originally posted by: KPSHAH316
OT: If I have a digital cable box, can I use a TV tuner or the like to record my shows? The box has S-Video out(currently using out to TV), composite out, and coax out.

You would need something that can change the channels on the cable box like the microsoft windows media center remote and receiver. You woul have to have windows MCE of course. I dont know if any of the other tv programs like sage or BTV can do this.

Then I guess I'm SOL. This is the main computer and I don't wanna run MCE on it. Thanks for the reply.
Kishan

 

[Kilrsat]

Originally posted by: KPSHAH316

Originally posted by: Crucial

Originally posted by: KPSHAH316
OT: If I have a digital cable box, can I use a TV tuner or the like to record my shows? The box has S-Video out(currently using out to TV), composite out, and coax out.

You would need something that can change the channels on the cable box like the microsoft windows media center remote and receiver. You woul have to have windows MCE of course. I dont know if any of the other tv programs like sage or BTV can do this.

Then I guess I'm SOL. This is the main computer and I don't wanna run MCE on it. Thanks for the reply.
Kishan

Both BeyondTV and SageTV can use either serial cables or USB-IRT devices to control external cable boxes.

 

[theblackbox]

i use comcast digital cable with mine, with beyond tv. If the tuner supports digital, you'll be fine. I have digital cable, and run the cables straight to my tuner, not through the digital box itself. i have never had any problems.

since most good tuners use mpeg hardware encoding, you should be fine with a p3 1.0

just make sure you have a big harddrive.
i record everything at dvd hi res and an hour show will consume about 1.89 gigabytes.

i use winxp pro with beyond tv. I have been thinking about trying mce, but i am in no hurry, my system does fine how it is.

we set up a second box in the bed room that we use to watch and record also. it's nice to have, my wife isn't much on the extra computer, but likes the flexibility of never missing a thing.

 

[RossMAN]

theblackbox,

Do you watch your recorded TV shows on the PC monitor or TV?

What video card and TV do you have?

 

[Bootprint]

Originally posted by: Kilrsat

Originally posted by: KPSHAH316

Originally posted by: Crucial

Originally posted by: KPSHAH316
OT: If I have a digital cable box, can I use a TV tuner or the like to record my shows? The box has S-Video out(currently using out to TV), composite out, and coax out.

You would need something that can change the channels on the cable box like the microsoft windows media center remote and receiver. You woul have to have windows MCE of course. I dont know if any of the other tv programs like sage or BTV can do this.

Then I guess I'm SOL. This is the main computer and I don't wanna run MCE on it. Thanks for the reply.
Kishan

Both BeyondTV and SageTV can use either serial cables or USB-IRT devices to control external cable boxes.

And use a hauppauge pvr-250 for hardware encoding directly to mpeg-2, so it doesn't need any real cpu power.

 

[OREOSpeedwagon]

BTEfnet

 

[theblackbox]

my main pvr is on a 17" lcd, it's also my main gaming pc, so i usually use it just to record.
my other pvr is on a 27" samsung tv, and it looks as good as cable, no difference. just make sure the video card supports overlay.

my main pvr uses a bfg 6800gt with two happauge pvr 250s
my other box uses some no name 5600 with a usb2 pvr

just make sure to get a good tuner, the 250 is getting hard to find these days, it has been replaced by the cheaper 150.