thinking of home theatre computer. DVR

[waggy]

i have an amd Athalon 3200+
1gig memm
300 gig HDD
9800 pro
basic sound card.


so what would i need for a DVR and what other uses?

right now the computer is sitting gathering dust. want to do something with it.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

do you need a tuner, or will it be connected to a cable/sat box? SD or HD? HD choices are very limited.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
do you need a tuner, or will it be connected to a cable/sat box? SD or HD? HD choices are very limited.

well i have Dish network box. A VIP 211 if that helps.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

if you're already using a sat/cable box, your best experience is going to be with a DVR from that provider. PC video stuff is just too damn flaky. i gave up on recording, and use my PC as a source only. there was incredible amounts of trial and error, and setting up remote control commands for every little thing. i tried MCE in XP and Vista, still disappointing, and they are considered the best.

anyway, for an SD tuner card, this may be the best:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16815116625

it will accept composite video (yellow RCA) with L/R audio going into the sound card, or modulated coax input (coax cable from the box, set to ch3 or 4). it will transmit IR to flip cannels on the sat box if you want.

as for HD, hmmm the dark side clouds my vision, or is it the light side? anyway, it's cloudy

 

[The Boston Dangler]

almost forgot- does your sat box have a firewire port?

 

[waggy]

no no firewire. just usb and ethernet port.


getting a DVR from the provider is way to expensive. with DN you have to purchase it. wich would cost me another $300+ really don't want to spend that much.

also had the computer just sitting around.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Originally posted by: waggy
no no firewire. just usb and ethernet port.


getting a DVR from the provider is way to expensive. with DN you have to purchase it. wich would cost me another $300+ really don't want to spend that much.

also had the computer just sitting around.

i had no idea they charge that much. that Hauppauge card is only like $70. go for it.

 

[SearchMaster]

Originally posted by: waggy
no no firewire. just usb and ethernet port.


getting a DVR from the provider is way to expensive. with DN you have to purchase it. wich would cost me another $300+ really don't want to spend that much.

also had the computer just sitting around.

I lease my HD DVR from DN. It's $5/month I think, but it would take 5 years to make it to $300 so I think it's worth it.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: SearchMaster

Originally posted by: waggy
no no firewire. just usb and ethernet port.


getting a DVR from the provider is way to expensive. with DN you have to purchase it. wich would cost me another $300+ really don't want to spend that much.

also had the computer just sitting around.

I lease my HD DVR from DN. It's $5/month I think, but it would take 5 years to make it to $300 so I think it's worth it.

yeah i asked to rent it. but said i had to purchase it.

 

[dclive]

I've had great luck with a MCE box plus HDHomerun plus 3 analog tuners, all pulling signals from analog, $16/month cable (HD via clearQAM; that's where most of my content comes from). I'd strongly recommend it. About $160 for the HDHomerun, about $130 for the dual Hauppauge card, and I think I paid $40 for the Asus card (the third analog tuner).

No additional fees, no funny business, works flawlessly. I don't use the computer much for anything else, so it's a bit wasteful (most of the time it draws power and sits there doing nothing...) but it works well and feeds my XBOX360 wirelessly, attached to the 42" Panasonic plasma.

If I were to start over in doing this, I'd probably get the cheapest Mac mini, throw Vista Premium on it, network it to the HDHomerun (2 HD clearQAM tuners), and attach a 500GB USB drive to it, buy a Media Center remote, and call it a day. Tiny size, easily enough horsepower, less wasteful. But the other machine was bought and paid for.

 

[Blayze]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: SearchMaster

Originally posted by: waggy
no no firewire. just usb and ethernet port.


getting a DVR from the provider is way to expensive. with DN you have to purchase it. wich would cost me another $300+ really don't want to spend that much.

also had the computer just sitting around.

I lease my HD DVR from DN. It's $5/month I think, but it would take 5 years to make it to $300 so I think it's worth it.

yeah i asked to rent it. but said i had to purchase it.

You still want own the DVR. Dish charges a upgrade fee. If your still under contract it will probably be more. I think the DVR/Dish 1000 was less than $200, but you had to sign a 18 month contract to get the upgrade.

I'm debating upgrading to Dish HD in a few months, but its still going to cost a lot in my opinion and I've been with Dish since 2004 (not under contract right now).

 

[Cattlegod]

Even after the 300 bucks, I don't think you own it.