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Best Non-Subscription DVR?
ngc5194 asks: "I'm thinking about joining the 21st century and purchasing a Digital Video Recorder. However, I DO NOT want to subscribe to any services. I understand that this will limit what my DVR can do, and I'm fine if it just acts like a solid-state VCR. Given the constraint above (no subscription services), which would be the best DVR to purchase and why?"
I understand that this will limit what my DVR can do, and I'm fine if it just acts like a solid-state VCR.
Then go with mythTV. Anything else will limit you in some way.
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
The problem with MythTV and other PC based solutions is that the box may not looks so good in the living room and particularly price.
... so get a five year old laptop or something. Or a 5 year old PC and stick it in a wooden box with an open back.
But seriously, I'm not sure how the submitter could not expect 99% of answers on slashdot to be "Myth TV," if they've ever seen a single comment here talking about DVR ever before.
I have a five year old laptop.... what video capture and tv out device would you recommend for it?
How we know is more important than what we know.
If you don't want to go the *nix route (MythTV) then there is always BeyondTV http://www.snapstream.com/ for Windows. It's a one time fee for the software and will act as a Media Center PC just like MythTV. Either option will work fine...I have found MythTV has a little more setup involved. If you don't want to build a DVR then I'm not sure if there are many options available to you.
Bite my shiny metal ass.
MythTV has numerous limitations of its own. It's slow and clunky, uses an odd format, and has a god-awful interface. It's so ridiculously focused on TV that you have to go up 5 levels of menus, then down 5 more, to look through the other videos you have available. And to get back to the TV programs? Yep, just as many steps.
I find a file manager and a shell script far more user-friendly than Myth.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
What do you have against Freevo?
It would be helpful to know what country you are talking about, as this will affect lots of things...
eg here in the UK we have freeeview, which is just a brand name for free-to-air terrestrial digital television, and many DVR/PVRs over here are built with this in mind.
But I have no idea what the situatuion is with non-subscription television services in other countries
I use a MythTV box which was fairly hard to get working but is simple to use. It can change channels on my Sky Digibox so I can record shows automatically using the built in TV guide. I can archive recordings to DVD or play back DVD's on the same box. It cost around £400 (GBP) to build 2 years ago, with a lot of the money going on a Hauppauge PVR-350 card and a small form factor case.
I've also bought a Pioneer DVR for my father in law, the DVR-540HX-S with 160GB hard drive, this was much the same price and does almost as much as the MythTV box including controlling a Sky box. It's also quieter and lacks the initial setup complexity of the Myth box (meaning less support for me!).
If you want total simplicity go for the prebuilt DVR - for total control it has to be MythTV
Moore's law is not a law. Theory, yes; Predictable trend, certainly; Law, no.
As a Windows user, I used GB-PVR (http://www.gbpvr.com/) for 18 months with great success. Just recently switched to Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, and am loving that too. It requires a bit more video card, though.
Wrong.
I can build one for ~ USD500 - 600. Admittedly without the gorgeous silverstone case.
Not as cheap as a DVR, but no subscription. And much
more functional.
The downside of MythTV is typically you need a spare PC lying around to get it running. But there are plenty of upsides. It's free as long as you have the hardware. I have a plextor convertx m402u which works with mythtv. You can use supported capture card. Someone has to write a v4l driver for the device, but there are a bunch. If you have cable or antenna you can record one show per tuner device. You'll need a linux system to run the backend, but there is a windows frontend for it. The backend saves all the shows and captures the video. The front end is where you view the video. All you do is connect to the backend with a network. This is a lot of work to setup, but onces it's setup it gives you the freedom of having a portable DVR on your laptop connected wirelessly to a backend DVR sitting in a closet somewhere. It's definately not for everyone.
Regarding the article, at www.mythic.tv they sell ready-made MythTV boxes so you don't need mad linux skills. The "Dragon" comes in a Silverstone case whose beauty, I suppose, is debatable (but it's not exactly ugly). But there are plenty of nice-looking HTPC cases out there, you can even find some that look not too far from a SlimDevices Transporter.
Just so you know...
"Good news, everyone!"
From the way the poster asked the question, I just kind of gathered he wanted a non-PC based standalone DVR box.
I know all about Myth / ATI MMC / Beyond TV etc, but I too would like to know about STANDALONE boxes, which have nothing to do with a PC.
What's out there? Whats good?
If you don't need HDVT capabilities, you might want to try the dreambox series by dream multimedia (http://www.dream-multimedia-tv.de/index_eng.php).
They run Linux and the top-of-the-line model even features interchangeable receivers in case you'll ever need to switch from cable to sat or vice versa.
The box is not quite cheap, but it's a nice thing to have if you don't want to set up a PC for this stuff--it just does what it's supposed to do.
The only problem I've been having is the menu structure, which is--as most of the time with utterly complex gadgetry--way too crowded to be even somewhat intuitive. Luckily, there's a web interface, allowing you to configure and organize movies from your PC.
I am UK based and have a cheap digifusion freeview PVR (£90). Its basic, but it works - I previously had a PC based PVR, using GB-PVR, but my GF could not be bothered figuring out how to use it. Bring up the program guide, highlight the program you wish to record, and hit the record button. This combined with a DivX/XVid compatible DVD player covers most of my needs. That said, I have just started using Win Media Center on my Vista laptop, for when I want to record two programs, or for things that I want to burn to DVD, and am very impressed with it. Worked no problems with the no brand USB TV Dongle that I got as a present. If I had to stop using one, it would be the laptop, as you can't beat the simplicity of the set top box.
Never rub another man's rhubarb
You can try out http://www.gbpvr.com/, it's a very nice dvr software for windows. It's not open source, but it's freeware. I use it at home, and i'm very pleased with it. You may have to play a little bit with the codecs, to get it working right with your tuner card.
It's never too late to stop doing something wrong, or to start doing something right.
MythTV with a $1000 PC, or $200 dual tuner TiVo with a year of prepaid service.
Decisions, decisions.
Really.. I've not not noticed the up and down menu levels. Then again my remote has buttons that take me straight to my dvd player, recorded tv, live tv, video library, music library, just about everything I use often has it's own direct button. If I had more buttons then everything would.
What are you going to do when your TV listing service for Myth cuts their free access?
2 4
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/20/19202
Hm, lessee.
If you buy a DVR without a subscription, and use it as a solid state VCR, you take away everything that's remotely advantageous of having a DVR, in my opinion.
Season Pass (or the equivalent) makes recording all new showings of your favorite programs hassle free. If you're using it as a VCR, and the show ends up swapping time slots without your knowledge (you're probably ffwing through commercials that would warn you...) you risk missing the show in it's new time slot. Or if it's pre-empted by another program, or delayed, etc.
If you're not looking to pay a subscription, just download the shows off bittorrent or usenet.
I also use the old fashion VCR and my computer (HDTV only; not 24/7 so I turn it off when I don't use it). I think once my VCR dies, I am jumping to a PVR that doesn't use subscription. I live in USA and don't have cable and satellite TV. Just the good old fashion rabbit ears and bowtie antenna. I still use a 10 years old 19" CRT TV. I will get a small HDTV when it dies.
I was thinking of getting a DVD recorder, but I heard it is not very good because it skips or something? Also, short recording time especially for HDTV (if I ever get it)? I don't want to use my computer for recordings because I don't like to leave my machines on when I am not at home. I prefer a hardware recorder like the VCR. I don't need a fancy scheduler with TV guides like TiVo and Replay.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
You do not specify in which country you live. In the Netherlands, you can buy a wide range of DVR's for amounts between EUR 150 (crappy no-name brands) and EUR 500 (with HD support, 2 tuners, big harddisk, etc.).
For example Samsung has quite a few, but I don't know whether they sell them only in Europe (PAL) or in other places as well. There's several other brands that sell 'em too, e.g. Sony.
Pay attention to such things as: does it support an electronic program guide (and will this work with your cable provider), is it actually easy to capture e.g. all airings of particular shows/series, is it easy to navigate the menus or is programming it such a nightmare that you probably won't ever use it after the first week.
Every expression is true, for a given value of 'true'
...BT Vision (http://www.bt.com/vision is a fairly good option, especially if you already have a subscription with BT as an ISP.
I'm a BT internet subscriber and got my Freeview-supporting DVR from BT a few months ago for £90 installation fee (the box was free), but apparently there will be a self-install option later this year that will bring the cost down to about £30.
The BT solution also connects to your DSL line and allows on-demand (pay-per-view or subscription) viewing of TV and Movie content (plus Premiership football later this year) at near-DVD quality. Apparently some HD content may be added in the future but this will be downloaded to the DVR rather than streamed.
I won't go into more detail on the box as there are loads of reviews around the net, but one of the nice features is the HDMI output which upscales the Freeview picutre to 720p or 1080i (there are only test broadcasts in the Croyden area of HD Freeview at the moment) and also displays the interface in the higher resolution.
P.S. I'm not affiliated with BT in any way, just a satisfied customer.
Even though they discontinued their "lifetime" subscription option, I still use it on the 3 boxes I own and wouldn't think of using anything else. To get a lifetime subscription now you need to buy a TiVo box off eBay which has already had the lifetime subscription purchased for it. Also, if you buy a new unactivated box from Humax you are eligible to buy a lifetime subscription for $300 while these boxes are still available.
OnAir HDTV Creator:9 5589
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=6
I tend to find with most AV questions, if I just cruise AVSforum long enough I find the best of breed and a long list of posts praising it. Such is the case here.
OMG, what an eye turd. Whatever happened to elegant, slim, non-clunky devices?
I'm sorry but I've got to ask the question: How many years since the last time you used MythTV? I find MythTV very easy to use[1].
I run a shared backend and frontend on my Athlon 2000 server which has 3 tuners. When I have 3 recordings active it takes a couple of seconds to start playing a video but other than that..
My DVB-T recordings come out as bog standard MPEG-2 files. If you're using analog tuners, there are tools available to transcode the Nupple format. mythtranscode even comes with MythTV and has a GUI frontend called MythArchive that can even burn video DVDs.
I'm running the MePo Theme on my frontend and I love it.
This is a gross exaggeration. See the screenshots linked to above. "Media Library" contains "Watch Recordings" which is for TV recordings (third screenshot) and the next item down is "Watch Videos" which lists all my XviD, VIDEO_TS, etc files as they are laid out on disk from my file server (which happens to be the same box).
Press the back button twice (once to leave Videos, again to return to Main Menu). Or if you have spare keys on your remote, you can bind buttons to jump straight to whatever screen you want.
[1] Yes it is harder to setup than some other solutions and there's far more configuration options that can be a bit confusing (hint: defaults are generally fine).
If you can get your tuners working (I'll assume DVB tuners) in Xine or similiar or even just scanning correctly (tzap, scan), it's an apt-get and 10 minutes of configuring your channels and playing with some preferences to suit your taste. There's many howtos out there on how to do all this.
</rant>
Edit: I forgot the obligatory "I know I'm going to be modded down for this"You think an application called MythTV is ridiculously focused on TV? Huh? It takes two levels to look at other videos. From the main menu you go to Media Library then Watch Videos. Then you select a video to watch. The interface pretty easy to use, I don't know what more you want. MythTV is certainly not slow for me...even on a cheap moderately powered P4 based system which I use. I found the format, while not straight mpeg, is easy to work with. I've made numerous clips from tv shows using avidemux2 and it works just fine. I've heard nothing but the same from everyone I've helped set it up for. Your experience seems to be oddly negative, and I'm sorry that it was for whatever reason. Does your shell script grab listings data and record your favorite shows? Does it have conflict resolution? Does it support multiple tuners? What about commercial detection algorithms? Is it maintained by an enthusiastic community? Is it as easy to use as tivo? Could my mom, who uses mythtv, use it? I somehow doubt it.
Use the DVB Electronic Programme Guide retrieved over the air. At least, that's the way we'd do things in Europe.
I know most people will mod me down for this, but I've got a Mac Mini and Elgato's EyeTV and it's been running beautifully for the past couple of years recording regular cable TV for me. I know it's not rocket science, but I especially like that it records a minute before & after my scheduled times to cover any slightly-off clocks or NBC's mucking around with the start times of their shows. 1Gig of disk space for every half hour recorded and multiple EyeTVs can be chained together so you can record multiple channels at the same time (or watch another one) ... it does all the encoding in hardware and doesn't use the Mac CPU for anything except display
I bought a ReplayTV 4500 on eBay for around $200. There's no way I could have built a rig myself that inexpensively which does everything the ReplayTV does. Sure, they're not making the hardware any longer, but it did come with lifetime activation, worth $299. The company is still in business, but no longer selling hardware; they have ReplayPC now which I think is around $50 plus $20 per year, not a bad solution either if you're building (but if you're building you might as well go with Myth).
I absolutely love the auto-commercial skip feature! (Myth has this also.) Just don't get the 5500 model, as it was removed from that release in an attempt to stave off the lawsuits; they "lost", folded and were bought by the company now providing ReplayPC. (Lost in quotes because they ran out of money defending themselves, so the trial didn't need to finish...)
With the ReplayTV, you can use DVArchive to transfer shows to your PC; they're in MPEG-2 format, ready to burn to DVD. You can set it up to auto-download as well.
If you're worried about them gathering data on how you watch (for instance freeze-framing the money shots, etc.) then just watch on your PC with VLC. But then you don't get the commercial skip functionality. However, it does download the index file, so I suppose someone could add that to VLC. Other than the "viewing habits" data it sends back it doesn't seem to have any "limiting" features, like broadcast flag support etc.
I've also heard good things about Vista's Media Center, but haven't used it myself.
I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
I've owned three PVRs and Topfield has been way better than the other two brands.
Why? - easy to use interface (even my wife can operate it)
reliable
functions can be customised with TAPs (Topfield applications)
I essentially use it as solid state VCR but the time shifting function is what makes it so useful.
Just remember - if the world didn't suck, we would all fall off.
PSIP (Program and System Information Protocol) PSIP is a standard set by the ATSC that provides a methodology for transporting DTV system information and electronic program guide data. It allows broadcasters to identify themselves when you tune their channel. It can be information such as call letters and channel number. It can also convey up to 16 days of programming information. Consumer receiver manufacturers can use PSIP data to display interactive program guides to aid navigation of channels in the DTV receiver.
I'm not repeating myself
I'm an X window user; I'm an ex-Windows user
You can get some very cool looking cases which look just like dvd players, stick a pc based blue-ray or hddvd player in it and a hard drive and whatever you can also have a high def player as well as a dvr box.
Yes it would be expensive, but you could probably replace one of your other devices with it.
I might be stretching the definition of "non-subscription" but Dish Network now has their "DVR Advantage" plan where for $49.99 you get 250 channels + your locals + a dual tuner DVR. Having use the Dish522, Dish622, MythTV and a few different Tivo's...I have to say my preference goes to the Dish DVR's. I have a 622 (the HD MPEG4 one) and I love it.
Unstable Apps: Our Android Apps Don't Suck
Any of the hardware based USB devices with a PCCARD->USB2 adapter. Even at the full data rate of my Hauppauge PVR card it's only ~2.5MB/s which even a laptop HDD can sustain. The only problem might be displaying the content as a laptop of that vintage may or may not have enough hardware acceleration in the video card to assist the anemic processor at displaying high bandwidth MPEGII.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
Most embedded boxes (Cable set-top DVRs, Tivo, etc) are built using specialized components and consume much less power than a home-built MythTV unit.
I've done a few tests with various units (Comcast DVR, Tivo, Myth box) and found there is about a 150W difference between home-brew and embedded.
So the electricity for that that "free" MythTV box actually costs $16.43 more per month than a embedded device.
Yes, you can do a lot more with a MythTV box, but don't try and kid yourself that it doesn't cost as much as other solutions.
Why this is a good option:
- It looks nice. (Both the mini and the EyeTV.)
- It's an Apple product. It's insanely great! It just works! Think different! [Insert silly slogan here.]
Why this is a lousy option:Personally, since I'm kind of stuck in the Windows arena currently, I use SageTV. It is very stable, very functional, and not encumbered by any sort of DRM.
Logic is the beginning of reason, not the end of it.
For a stand alone digital VCR here is the best solution.
Go here http://justdeals.com/Items/gs_ptv100? and get yourself a series 1 Tivo. $60
Buy a big IDE hard drive from newegg.com $50 - $??
Buy some DIY software from http://www.9thtee.com/tivo-instantcake.htm. $20
The Series 1 Tivo does not require a subscription to work. You can schedule recordings for a channel, time, and duration. So now you have a piece of hardware built just for recording TV without a monthly fee. In the future if you decide to subscribe and get all the cool Tivo features, you can.
I'd also add that GB-PVR (and SageTV, too) support the Hauppauge MVP. For those who already have a computer running Windows in the house this is a cheap option. Just $70 for a (hardware encoding) video card and $90 for the MVP and you're done. Add a bit more if you go with SageTV and/or a wireless network, (and you may end up wanting a large hard drive, too).
the box may not looks so good in the living room
I'm using an old Shuttle SK43G (silver) which looks fine in the living room. A slightly more pertinent concern is finding a unit with a quiet fan for the living room.
[Insert pithy quote here]
(how on earth did they get to be posting at -1 anyway?)
w s/
There's less traffic in Digitalspy's PVR forums than there used to be, but it's still useful.
Also check links and reviews here:
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/technology/dvrs/revie
and:
http://www.pvrjunction.co.uk/compare/
You asked on Slashdot, so you're going to get a lot of MythTV responses (which is great, it's an outstanding free product). I'd also suggest you check out Windows Media center (Either 2005 (XP), or Vista Media Center if that's your cup of tea), especially if you're into home automation and want device support (I can control my lutron lighting, HAI system, etc all through Media Center, including scheduling it). It also will stream HD (including protected content, like CableCard recorded stuff on Vista) to Xbox 360s or any other Media Center V2 device.
Most DVRs are sealed and the storage is recycled. As long as you have your receiver in a different box, you can get a replaceable media DVR. Several manufacturers are making DivX compatible home DVD burners, Phillips being the cheapest right now. You can get 12+ hours of standard broadcast or 6 hours of HD material on a single DVD. You can rotate through a box of 10 DVD/RWs and get about the same storage you get with a satellite provider DVR unit, and you can permanently burn anything on regular DVDs (including multisession capability). I screwed up and got the read-only unit for $50. I could have gotten the burner for $150. I'm sorry I didn't, despite already owning a Dish Network receiver/DVR. As an added bonus with these units, you can load a single DVD with MP3s and get over 24 hours of continuous music. And it's worth noting that you can get format converters that will take pretty much any video format and convert it to any other, including DivX, so you can download eleventy seven gubbabytes of stuff and make it watchable on your home unit. For Winboxes DivX sells a passable converter, and eRightSoft gives away an absolutely jam packed converter (actually a front end for just about any OSS codec/format converter already available).
Any argument about DivX vs. another format is moot unless there's another format being built into home replaceable media recorders. And as for the false permanence of DVDs, if you follow the listing at http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=178622 you can get media that lasts 10 times longer than the commonly available 2 to 3 year lifetime disks.
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
I put an HD (no hyphen) DVD Media Player (Sigma Designs based) in my Living Room and networked it to my HTPC. That way what the HTPC looks like doesn't matter. I use the Ziova Z500, but the other brands (IOData, Buffalo, DVICO, etc.) have their benefits as well. They play SD DVDs, and HD in MPEG-2 (TS), MPEG-4 (some support h.264), WMV (some support VC-1), and DivX (either over the network or from red-laser DVDs I can burn without breaking the bank).
The HTPC contains digital tuners and big honkin' hard drives.
As a bonus, I'm sticking it to the HD-DVD and BluRay camps.
Xesdeeni
I've done a few tests with various units (Comcast DVR, Tivo, Myth box) and found there is about a 150W difference between home-brew and embedded. .150kW * 24 hr * 365 days * $.15 kWh / 12 mo = $16.425 / mo
Firstly, I don't know how you can say that, considering "home brewed" systems vary.
Second, according to http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/cost.html , "The average cost of residential electricity was 9.86/kWh in the U.S. in March 2006." The 3 highest rates rates were "12 in California, 14.314 in New York, and 16.734 in Hawaii." So, your "$.15 kWh" figure is potentially WAY off.
3rd, You'd still be wrong- PCs have Power Saving features built into them. A simple Suspend or Hibernate can make the power requirement drop to near zero. This would affect the monthly power requirement in unpredictable ways- a single person who sleeps 8 hrs a day, and works 8 hrs a day could have their TVPC (heh, I made that up. Sounds friendlier than 'HTPC') essentially powered off for 16 hours a day. Or thay could actually power it off (unless a recording session is planned). A busy family with kids might have the TVPC up and running playing/recording kids shows all day long, and recording shows for the adults (plural) all evening/night.
if you have cable you can get them and you just have to pay the box rental fee.
thats what the MediaMVP is for http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_media mvp.html. It is the about 1"x6"x6", ~$50, and is basically a client for a VNC-like protocol. MythTV and GB-PVR both support it. Run a network cable to it, use your existing PC as the server (doesn't use up a whole lot of resources).
There is only one problem with MythTV...it is a slave to the EPG.
MythTV does not allow you to start and stop recording as you wish...you are forced to record the entire program that was in progress at the time you pressed the record button.
MythTV does what it does very well however, it is not the be all end all PVR/DVR as it is made out to be.
Like one of the other posters mentioned, there are some sharp looking case solutions out there for a MythBox however, the price is another thing.
Spending up to $1000 on a nice looking case to find out it doesnt do what you want can be disappointing.
Not sure why anyone would want to run WMC over MythTV but to each their own I guess.
Unfortunately in the US, that'd make far too much sense - we have to have our own different standards. If only we could cooperate on those kinds of standards - it took us years to get RDS, and other things that Europeans have taken for granted for many years.
Sam: "That was needlessly cryptic."
Max: "I'd be peeing my pants if I wore any!"
I love how this issue doesn't affect me at all.
AT&T U-verse comes with a DVR as a standard feature of the service. Given that U-verse is far, far better than cable, I don't see why I'd ever want to switch.
I am a mac user and have used this. http://www.formac.com/webapp/products_av_studiodv. php
It integrates automated recording/scheduling with titantv.com. My computer room is close to the tv room with a unfinished utility room adjacent to both. So I have this going from the satellite receiver to the Mac Pro's firewire port. I have the second DVI out from the video card going back to the TV so I can watch the video from the computer's hard drive on the TV. I use ILife to edit the video and burn to DVD when I want. The major missing feature to this is commercial skip. But, I already had everything except the studiodv. OK, I had a Dual G4 when I first set this up, and have since had it hooked up to G5's and such as I upgrade, but you know what i mean. :-)
2 reasons:
* WMC is really nice
* I don't have to learn to use another OS to use it
I'd much rather have (and currently do have) a D-Link DSM320. It does everything that Hauppauge unit does, plus a few extra formats, component video, optical SPDIF audio, and wireless networking. Of course, it costs a little more (about $180 CDN), but I've definitely been enjoying it.
Its good to know D-Link does have some (admittedly weak) competition outside of the build-your-own crowd.
I have a Charter Cable service, and they provide a really nice DVR for about 7 bucks a month. They recently updated the firmware, and it's been really great. There's no subscription other than the $7 a month you pay to rent the box. Comcast and TimeWarner also have their own DVRs. My recommendation is to simply go with whatever DVR is provided by your satellite/cable provider.
MythTV, BeyondTV, SageTV (my preferred), Windows Media Center, and any of a number of PC-based solutions are available to provide subscription-free DVR capabilities. But it doesn't come easy. Just be aware that Satellite companies and Cable companies are not making it easy for roll your own users. If you have local OTA or analog cable signals, it should be a no-brainer to set up the channels and the inputs, but if you use set top boxes (STB) you introduce some complexity that goes way beyond Joe Sixpack's capabilities. You need a way to control the STB's, so you either need to use IR blasters or serial/USB control which varies from STB to STB.
If you want a completely compatible DVR, then you really need to go with one supplied from your Cable or Satellite provider. Of course, that goes against your "no subscription" requirements. You typically have to pay a subscription, and you cannot typically "do anything" with the recordings other than watching them (like transcoding to an iPod, burning to DVD, etc.) But you do get 100% compatibility. And if you want to record HD content, be prepared for disappointment. Unless you use a cable or satellite provided DVR, you WILL NOT be able to record most Cable or Satellite HD content without their proprietary DVR's. There really is no exception to this (in the consumer-level price range.) If you have local broadcast HD content or unencrypted HD content over cable (satellite encrypts it all) you will NOT be able to (inexpensively or easily) roll your own HD DVR for recording. The excellent HDHomeRun box does a fantastic job of providing recordable content to such PC-based DVR's but it requires "clear" signals--no premiums, unless your cable company inadvertently leaves them unencrypted. And though HDHomeRun is an excellent product, it's certainly not Joe Sixpack-friendly.
I have an amazing SageTV setup that the wife just LOVES, but I dread the day when I have to switch from cable to DirecTV (which may be sooner than later) because of the technical tweaking and changes I'll need to make to accommodate multiple DirecTV receivers. And, of course, we will NOT be able to record HD. That will have to be done with a DirecTV HD DVR.
For me, it was all about features, so we weer willing to incur extra cost, but if it's about the cost, then you really need to assess which is more economical. So, calculate how much it will cost you to build a subscription-free setup, and then amortize that cost over say, two or three years, and see which is cheaper, the home-built subscription-free DVR, or a subscription.
My mom always said, "Jim, you're 1 in a million." Given the current population, there are 7000 of me. God help us all!
I'll add to this by mentioning that in many cases, thanks to the client/server setup of mythtv, you can just put a few TV cards in your file (or other) server which you might already have at home (like I did) and then use a very efficient client based around VIA/mini-itx for the frontend, which is still a bit more than a set top box, but is still an improvement.
Warhammer forums
Question. Does anyone know if there's an HD tuner/capture card that does *NOT* implement broadcast flag?
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
To be fair, Apple is pretty lax on software DRM. I have been using OSX since 10.0 and I have never been asked to enter a serial number. Windows, on the other hand, I've registered hundreds of times over the years.
I use a Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2 for capture, and the built in headphone jack and S-Video output (nVidia Geforce4 Go, I believe) for output. I currently use GB-PVR on Windows since the Linux driver for this capture card only recently became complete enough for my use, and I really have very few complaints.
Scrape tvguide.com or some other web-based listing service. Myth existed before labs.zap2it was borne, and it will exist long after it dies (assuming some other solution isn't reached).
Uhm all of them. The flag was ruled out of the jurisdiction of the FCC.s t+flag/2100-1030_3-5697719.html/
from cnet.com http://news.com.com/Court+yanks+down+FCCs+broadca
update In a stunning victory for hardware makers and television buffs, a federal appeals court has tossed out government rules that would have outlawed many digital TV receivers and tuner cards starting July 1.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled Friday that the Federal Communications Commission did not have the authority to prohibit the manufacture of computer and video hardware that doesn't have copy protection technology known as the "broadcast flag." The regulations, which the FCC created in November 2003, had been intended to limit unauthorized Internet redistribution of over-the-air TV broadcasts.
As far as I know the broadcast flag was never even turned on.
I'm glad the MediaMVP has competition too... I don't need the wireless and probably never will, but the fancier outputs will come in handy in the future. What about the interface? Can it be customized or do you have to do everything through D-Link's software? One of the best things about the MediaMVP is that it is a VNC client (with some additions to the protocol to stream audio/video), so your PC can display any interface you like, which is why GB-PVR can turn it into a DVR with all the features of a Tivo.
If you have a computer with Windows Media Center 2005 and an xbox 360, you have a setup already. The MCE PC will do all the recording, etc, and still allow you to watch tv etc on the computer its self. Then you can also have it stream the recorded or live TV to the xbox 360. Great way to watch TV or movies in the other room, especially if you don't have a cable outlet near by. MCE also supports multipul tuner cards. the only downside is you can't get MCE 2005 unless it comes preinstalled on the PC. I've tried just to see what the combo was like and you only get a 60 day trial with a copy w/o a key.
Im using windows vista home premium with a ATI tuner card and it works wonderfully, its about the only thing vista is good for lol
and to my suprize the recordings are not DRM protected. at least for the shows I record.
You WILL be happy if you go with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. It's probably the best piece of software that Microsoft has ever made. I know that's not saying much, but this is a quality product.
Stay away from Vista at all costs. I can't speak to MythTV, but I suspect MCE 2005 is a bit simpler to use and maintain. HDTV support, analog TV support, with all manner of tuners available (even QAM with the right hardware). I just have USB tuners connected to mine (one analog, one digital) and it works like a dream. The interface is really well-done and easy to setup and use. The MCE remote (which would cost you a bit extra, but I recommend) is responsive and well-configured.
I recommend going with an Intel system - dual core and pretty quick. Get an Nvidia accelerator and purchase the PureVideo codecs as well. I love AMD and ATi, but I have found that Nvidia is the way to go for the video card (better MPEG acceleration) and my intel box never BSODs after weeks of uptime while my AMD one does from time to time (although this is not necessarily related to the processor). You might even want to get a pre-built system from someone (i.e. Dell) because it will be very quiet (and this is difficult to accomplish on your own).
Not to mention that there are now purpose-built devices for that, such as the AppleTV, Slingbox, etc. You just have to do some research to find one that works with MythTV.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
a single person who sleeps 8 hrs a day, and works 8 hrs a day could have their TVPC...essentially powered off for 16 hours a day.
Here I thought the point of having a DVR was to record all the stuff you couldn't watch because you were asleep or at work. I guess I've been doing it wrong all this time!
Anyway, it's not like Tivos don't have power buttons. The same power saving techniques you could use on a PC could also be used on a 'traditional' DVRs, so you still end up using more electricity with a PC.
Turning off (or even hibernating) a DVR manages to completely miss the point of a DVR: automated recording. If I wanted to manually turn on a device every time I needed to record a TV show, I'd still use a VCR instead of owning a TiVo.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
In my experience, you'll need a subscription DVR if you have pay channels like HBO, or if you get HDTV over cable. If all you care about is basic cable (standard definition,) or over-the-air TV; you should be all set with a non-subscription DVR.
No, I will not work for your startup
A date thats been pushed back 4 or 5 times now? And the vast majority of TV owners still don't have digital hardware? It ain't happening once again, it'll be pushed back another 2 years.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
What about those people with basic analog NTSC cable? The cut-off date only applies to over-the-air NTSC transmissions, and I don't see cable companies cutting off their NTSC cable plans anytime soon.
I have a "DVR". Its a Windows Vista Premium bx hooked into two digital set-top boxes. Its really nice. I have Blu-Ray and HD-DVD hooked into it too.
But when I get back from vacation in two weeks, I'm ditching my cable service completely, except for the cable modem (and if they don't allow that option, then I'm switching to DSL).
I've looked at the things that my family watches. I've looked at the price of cable. I pay $140 a month for all my cable services. If I get just the cable modem its $45. So I spend $95 extra for what? So the cable company can prevent me from recording HD, and ensure that I can only record Non-HD digital after piping it through a crappy NTSC analog signal.
We mostly watch Dora the Explorer, Little Einsteins, Battlestar Galactica, and American Idol. I can get 25 episodes of Dora for $20 from iTunes, ditto for Little Einsteins. Battlestar I shall have to get the DVDs, but at least they are in nice high quality.
So in two months of no-cable I can buy pretty much every Dora, Einsteins, Galactica ever made, and own them permanently.
Somehow the cable companies have decided that forcing me to rent a cable card (which doesn't work btw), and not even allowing me to put them in my computer, is a good way to do business. They haven't seemed to realise that they are now a commodity service provider: bandwidth. All I need is bandwidth. Other people provide the data. In trying to protect themselves they've built this military grade encryption technology that allows them to keep control of their content. Except that its not their content. It's Nickelodeons and Disneys. And I can get it from other people without all the bullshit, and for a lot less, and I get ownership.
So don't bother with a DVR unless its to record over-the-air transmissions. Get iTunes instead.
I would far prefer if I could have my Tivos shut down their hard drives when not actively recording to save power. (I know all of the arguments about leave it running vs. power on/off for hard drive lifetime.) But since I like really like the Tivo UI overall, I live with these deficiencies.
(BTW, I pay no continuing fees since my Tivos have lifetime subscriptions, including my S3.)
My bad, thanks for the clarification. I was thinking of the restart function hidden in away in the settings menu. I didn't realize Tivos never power down their drives though...is that common to all set top dvrs? My inlaws have a dvr built into their dish network receiver, and every time it starts to record something you can hear the hard drive click on and start whirring away.
I also just got a free (for a year) cable DVR, even though I have more than enough recording devices for the vast majority of the time. (Cable companies are presumably getting their hardware out in the field to beat the July 1 cablecard deadline.. so they're willing to give it away for a year rather than throw away hardware.) I wanted some first hand experience to see how bad it was compared to Tivo.
The GP has no clue about MythTV whatsoever. I mapped F6 to watch now, F5 to scheduled recordings, Shift-F5 to current recordings and something to the schedule Guide but I never use it, in favor of myth-web.
I NEVER navigate using the menu no matter what theme I'm using. Key mappings is part of setup menu; whiz bang, ur done.
Any reasonably modern PC can be woken up from hibernate (yes, hibernate -- it powers itself on) on a schedule as well as WOL. Mine does this all the time to record shows I've scheduled at odd hours.
others have sorta said this but not as bluntly as I will.
my mythtv box (knoppmyth actually as I'm lazy and have enough debian machines to maintain) turns itself ON and OFF as needed to record whatever shows are scheduled. It generally spends between 0 and 4 hours a day ON (including watching time... turns out most of the shows we record are being recorded at the same time we're watching pre-recorded shows).
but that's just me.
man, I feel like mold.
And how exactly does the system know that there's a movie that meets the criteria in my watchlist at 3AM tomorrow morning, or that the starting time of this week's episode of Stargate is an hour earlier than usual?
MythWeb is also my preferred method of managing my schedules and browsing around the guide.
:)) and the rest in Watch Videos. Both of these make good use of the cursor keys so I find it easier just to use them.
:)
I have a button bound for Watch Recordings but I rarely use it. I spend a vast majority of my time in Watch Recordings (Live TV is for suckers
In any case, we both seem to be in agreement that MythTV is rather neat
I ended up getting a Buffalo LinkTheater. To use it with MythTV all you would need to do is run a DLNA daemon to serve the video directory.
It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. -- Harry Truman
Absolutely!
Actually my favorite of all features is probably the least applicable to the general user but being able to use SQL against the data... I'm in twirley-hat heaven!
To be fair, Apple is pretty lax on software DRM. I have been using OSX since 10.0 and I have never been asked to enter a serial number.
Try installing OS X in a Virtual Machine.
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
Presumably it would be configured to do something similar to what Tivos do... in the middle of the night, wake up, get new schedule information, and re-figure out the scheduled recordings ("To do list" on a Tivo) at that time.
Tivos don't actually go to sleep, but they DO re-figure out the to do list based upon the user's ordering in the SP manager and new guide data in the middle of the night.
Dude, if your PC sucks down 150W doing nothing but HTPC it sucks. I have an Athlon 64x2 4200 with 2GB of ram, two 7200rpm SATA HDD's, and a Geforce 7600GS which is WAY overkill for a HTPC and doing most things it barely uses over 50W, playing games it's barely over 150W!
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
Sounds like a good idea, but what if you buy a ReplayTV unit without a lifetime listings service? And how long are they going to honor that lifetime listings service since they've discontinued the product and been passed from hand to hand? I really would like to know these things because I would be interested in getting one of these.
Thanks!
What's solid state about a hard drive?
n ics)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_state_(electro
No sig for you! Come back one year!
Their web page says they will continue to provide service as long as they are in business. Not very reassuring, I know, but it works now. And since it communicates over the internet, I'm sure one (or a group, i.e. an open source project) can intercept the request and provide the data after scraping, say, TVguide.com...
I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
Cool, thanks!