Build Your Own PVR

An anonymous reader submits: "One geek's trials and tribulations of buying a ReplayTV, hating it, and deciding to build his own Linux PVR from nothing. The first try sinks into the swamp (hardware problems). The second try sinks into the swamp (more hardware problems). The third try... you get the idea. But success, finally, based on SageTV, a Windows PVR client. Makes you wonder if current Linux PVR apps are just too much of a pain to get working well?"

Comments

pushy

[Scrameustache]

Build Your Own PVR

I don't have the time! Stop pressuring me!

TiVo

[511pf]

So the writer spent dozens upon dozens of hours building, tearing down, rebuilding and troubleshooting something that's going to be less reliable and more expensive than a TiVo? DirecTV with TiVo is $100 plus $5 a month, not $600 I can just hear his wife now, "Matt! I JUST want to watch American Idol! Can I PLEASE watch American Idol? Why is there no sound? How come the picture looks bad? Why do I have to reboot the computer just to watch TV? What's a General Protection Fault? Wait! Something just popped up on the TV that says 'NIMDA' what's NIMDA? The TV said 'C: drive full' while I was watching the Trading Spaces Marathon! MATTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!" Dude - just buy the TiVo and you're done. Seriously.

His ability lacks a bit...

[autophile]

Tivo costs about $250. Plus another $299 for a lifetime service subscription. That is $600 beans. Not cheap.

If that's his math skill, no wonder he kept failing...

--Rob

Re:Nah

[HogynCymraeg]

The DVD ripping on the Linux side was much nicer.

That's because we all know linux hackers are bloody communist hippies who spend spare CPU cycles wearing patches, shouting "oo arr!!" and riding the high seas in search of copyright bounty!