PVR software

[Homerboy]

finally got my TV Tuner card hooked up (Hauppauge 250) on my workstation at home. I mainly want to use it to record a few shows daily for my kids and a few for me and the wife.

I'm using the default software that comes from Hauppauge right now, and honestly it works perfectly fine EXCEPT that I wish it wouldn't "pop-up" the actual app when recording the shows. There are options to mute it while recording and to close the app when done recording, but that still doesn't help for when somebody is on the PC and the recording kicks-in.

Are there any thrid party (pay or free) apps that record in the background etc?

 

[wexsmith]

GB-PVR is a full fledged free PVR program.
SageTV and BeyondTV are popular pay for programs.
Meedio recently released MeedioTV which looks good, it costs money.

and if you're using Linux there's always MythTV.

 

[Homerboy]

I guess Im familiar with those all, but the question still is do any of them (that you know of) allow for background recording?

 

[wexsmith]

I know for a fact that SageTV now has a service mode you can run in the backgroun if you choose. That way the GUI doesn't need to be open for the program to continue recording. As for the others, I couldn't tell you.

 

[funkymatt]

thanks dude.

 

[Homerboy]

Originally posted by: wexsmith
I know for a fact that SageTV now has a service mode you can run in the backgroun if you choose. That way the GUI doesn't need to be open for the program to continue recording. As for the others, I couldn't tell you.

Yeah the default Hauppauge software actually does have a service mode too... but thats for the scheduler itself. Once the timer goes off, the scheduler opens the actual recorder GUI, does its job, then closes it.

I'll have to play around with all these and see if any offer what I need. If not I can toss the card into my server at home I guess and let it do whatever it wants whenever it wants.... I'll just have to get another card then for my workstation so I can watch TV..... funkymatt I know you got one

 

[Homerboy]

http://forums.gbpvr.com/showthread.php?t=11686

there's my answer

 

[imported_FishTaco]

GBPVR has a background recording service. The only on screen change you see when it starts recording is the tray icon changes to indicate it's recording. I use gbpvr and a hauppauge pvr150 and I can even play games like BF2 while it's recording.

 

[wexsmith]

Originally posted by: Homerboy
http://forums.gbpvr.com/showthread.php?t=11686

there's my answer

Nice. I've heard only good things about GB-PVR.

 

[Todd33]

Sage 4.1 is real good. I use it for all my TV viewing, I guess it might be expensive for just occasional use.

 

[rsd]

Microsoft Media Center Edition works well too, and does background recording. Not saying it is the absolute best, but overall it is one of the best if you don't want to deal with too many hassles.

 

[wexsmith]

I switched from SageTV to MCE2005 about 6 months ago. I've gotta say for ease of use it's great. It's not as customizable as the Sage/Meedio setup I had going. There are quite a few 3rd party apps for it though to make up for some of what I lost. SageTV was great while it lasted, but MCE just works better for my wife and I.

 

[episodic]

I really like WinDVR it just works.

 

[RobDMB]

In my opinion sagetv and Beyondtv are the two best. Between those two it just comes down to person preference. I would at least give them a download and check them out.