SCCutler said:
Great idea.
So, please post the general scope of what you bought / used / assembled, etc., to make it all work. 'cuz I wanna do it too!
Thanks in advance.
I built a standard computer using a
Silverstone HTPC (home theatre PC) case, so that it would fit into my home entertainment center. For the TV input, I used two
PVR-500 TV tuner cards from Hauppauge. Each card takes up one slot and one coax cable input, but has two separate tuners. So, by adding two cards I have a total of four analog tuners. (I can record up to four programs simultaneously). I also installed a 500 GB hard drive for storage and a DVD burner to read/record DVD media. Last, I added a
fanless FX5200 video card with S-video, DVI, and VGA outputs so that I can hook it up to any TV that I buy. This video card is fully capable of displaying HD content all the way up to 1080p.
I then installed linux and
MythTV, which is open source (read: free). There is a really good
tutorial if you want to use Fedora, another easy method is to use KnoppMyth.
Watch this if you're curious.
http://revision3.com/systm/mythtv
There are also some great software packages out there that do the same thing. Microsoft Media Center,
SnapStream, and
SageTV are all good if you're not comfortable with Linux.
Next I'm going to add an HD tuner card so that I can record HD content. This is in preparation for my next purchase (my wife gave me the go ahead on the purchase of a new HD TV).
Here are some of my favorite things about my current solution.
- I record all of my TV on the one computer in my basement and can watch it on the other TVs in my house. I just run a network cable to another computer that is hooked up to that TV. I can build those computers for around $250/each. I can start watching a show upstairs, if I need to stop it bookmarks where I was and I can finish watching it in the basement.
- It plays DVDs just like a DVD player (one less thing next to the TV).
- One button commercial skip. We were in the bar last night and a TV was on. My wife nudged me and pointed to a commercial and said "what's that?".
- It provides everything that I need to rip my DVDs to the server, then I can watch them from any TV all by pulling up a menu of my movies.
- It can archive off anything that I record to DVD using MythArchive. I've had neighbors that have missed a show and I just burn them a copy that they can play in their DVD player.
- The setup is not nearly as cheap to put together, but once you build everything it's 100% free to keep.
- It has a web based front-end that I can use to manage all recordings. My wife logs on with her laptop and sets her own recording schedules.
- Simple stuff, like the ability to separate her shows from my shows in the listings so that I don't have to sort through 20 instances of Oprah to get to Lost.
Getting it all finished is not for the faint of heart. I love to tinker on this stuff, so I had fun. Now that it's working, I can't imagine going back to just a plain old DVR.
One tip: buy the quietest components you can buy. There is a ton of information out there on this topic, and for good reason. I took the cheap way out the first time and ended up buying new stuff. It's amazing what a few decibels can sound like when you're sitting in a quiet room.