Although I used x-arcade parts on my cabinet, I think you'll be happier in the long run if you order from happs directly or buy happs parts from bob roberts.
no upfront hardware costs... so the DVD recorder was free then?
(just teasing) Sounds like you've got a pretty cool setup. The digital cable integration is a postive (dual tuners, no IR blaster needed)
The cable company's DVR's i'm sure are servicable, but up until recently I'd rather (and do) have a TiVo... but the TiVo has it's own limitations/annoyances tha make me build my own PVR in addition to the TiVo.
I want more control over my PVR/recorded content than TiVo/cable companys will allow (in general).
"I looked into it a bit more. The RF is actually a coaxial input. Which means it's the same exact input you'd get from, say, Comcast or your local cable provider. I don't have time to do a lot of research but isn't this what you're looking for? Is there something I'm missing?"
Well, it is... and coax is just an input plug type. You can put many different signals over a coax line (witness analog cable, digital cable, cable internet, etc)
It is true that for analog video, coax is the least deisirable way to hook up peripherals. (dvi, component, svideo/scart, composite woudl all be better than coax)
But the coax is just a way to hook up the external antenna for it to receive DTV terrerstial broadcast signals (just like the good old days of uhf/vhf)...
The digital cable/HD content etc is generally encrypted so even if it will physically connect via coax, you'll most likely get no love that way.
Unless i've totally missed it... there's not a good way to get HDTV content via cable onto the PC.
There's the firewire pull content/control from the hdtv box. The mac folks seem to have the easiest time with this...
There's OTA terrestial DTV cards (like the linux hdtv card mentioned, and ati's HDTV wonder)
There's a QAM capable card out there Fusion III QAM HDTV Tuner Card(no idea on linux drivers), but that's only useful if your cable company does NOT encrypt their QAM signal...
Ideally, IMHO... we need some sort of PCI CableCard docking device, but I doubt our content controlling masters will allow that. Although, the more CableCard ready HDTV sets I see, gives me hope that someone will take the chocolate and peanutbutter and come up with PC HDTV PVR reeces peanut butter cups...
a PCI card that was CableCard ready would allow legitimate digital cable subscribers to watch digital cable on their PC/etc.
You can get HD PBS for free with FTA DBA satellite cards.
Will I get cheaper monthly service fees for my Tivo because their costs will be offset by *shudder* these banner ads?
Granted, if TiVo needs the ad revenue to stay solvent, I guess it's necessary (the TiVo is doorstop without the service, well sorta =))
But they might be shrinking their market to tap these new ad based revenue streams, which will make the ad placements be worth less...
Apparently it won't be cable companies clumsy DVR's, or even us diy PVR'ers (shameless plug), or dillution of "brand/identity" that kills TiVo... it will be TiVo killing TiVo with practices and commitments that aren't in their CONSUMERS best interest.
Why would someone who buys a special box and pays a monthly (or lifetime) service fee to skip commercials put up with replacement commercials during the commercial skipping process?!?! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!
Furthermore what advertiser in their right mind would want to reach people that ADD and disposition makes them actively adverse to ads? And if tivo's DVR/PVR share decreases what will those banner ads be worth to the advertisers then?
Will DirecTivo's be effected by this change? (and will this hasten DirecTV's dance away from TiVo specific DVRs?)
although not free as in speech... GBPVR does some of the same UI through the pvr350's tv out as SageTV (and mythTV with the special IVTV drivers)
fwiw I've got a review of sagetv 2.0 with screenshots n' stuff... if you wanted to contrast with Steve525's experience (hey steve!)
IMHO the main differences between sagetv and beyondtv is this:
equally polished and tivo-esque, more or less
SageTV has more media htpc-esque functionality like mp3 jukebox, photo's, etc... the previously mentioned pvr350 UI overlay support
BeyondTV has remote scheduling capability (i.e. login from work and schedule a show/etc)
BeyondTV supports software encoding cards like ATI AIW whereas sagetv/et al will only use hardware encoding cards.
*scratches head* I think that's in a nutshell...
I'll be building a knoppmyth box soon, but don't have the hands on opinion of mythtv besides what I garner from the mailing lists/etc...
There's a ton of other options out there... new on the block is Meedio (formerly the free as in beer, myHTPC.net)... and a bunch of others Media Portal is OSS... uhm... freevo on linux, whatever GOTTV's latest incarnation is...
"I'm saving my pennies for a new TiVo (currently have a Series 2) that offers:
CableCard to eliminate the need for a Comcast box HDTV Built-in DVD Burner"
Well you are unlikely to get a cablecard enabled tivo, which besides directTV branded tivo's precludes HDTV... well I guess one out of three ain't bad?
The FCC should not be the instrument for doing the content providers dirty work. Although reasonable controls in some instances make sense, the content providers have proven themselves to be anything but reasonable nor have any of the consumer's interest at heart (surprise surprise...)
2nd I'm sure they'll be circumvention software/hardware/hacks/tricks (remember the sharpie CD copy protection work around?) but utlizing those work arounds in the US could violate DMCA or DMCA-like provisions (despite the fact this sorta stuff should be legal in the first place!)
It goes back to principle... we should be able to do certain things with medium and content in our homes. DeCSS was borne from someone wanting to watch DVD's on linux and could not. Any parent (or person who is rough on their media) who has bought multiple copies of a given disney film after the kids have destroyed the medium the movie is stored on can atest to the need/desire to make backup. (does that make them the same as the bootlegger printing thousands of knock off DVD's in hongkong? Is this who the MPAA is trying to stop?)
DRM/aggressive access controls have gone (or are trending) too far towards the content creator's control...
You can buy a card NOW that ignores the bit (presuming saner heads prevail and the EFF is succesful in challenging the FCC's mandate over reach on this broadcast flag thingie)... you can buy a card after july 2005, presuming it was MANUFACTURED prior to July 2005... After which it will be "illegal" (in the US) to manufacturer devices which don't honor the broadcast flag.
It's bad enough Tivo voluntarily will now delete Pay Per View from your box after a set expiration date... now you'll have even less say about what you can and cannot do with the content piped (or broadcast) into your home.
So in short the big picture is about consumers rights and where the control rests for fair access controls/DRM -- taping "will and grace" isn't piracy/crime, but the content providers don't seem to understand that.
(i'm sure there's a joke in there, but i'll leave it be for now =P)
This is the one major benefit (besides cost of equipment is nil) of the cable company DVR's... they can integrate their digital cable decoding/decryption right into the box. If they'd make a tivo (or a PC PCI card) that accepted a CableCard so that I could legitimately "tune" my digital cable that I already pay for that would be ideal. although I doubt the cable company providers are too keen on that =)
FWIW what I do with my tivo (and homebrew PVR's) is this:
I split the cable before the digital cable box. The Tivo does the IR blaster thing to do digital cable, a second analog cable line goes right to the tv, and a 3rd analog line goes to my epia via mini-itx/pvr350 PVR.
With this setup I can either:
Watch what tivo is recording, watch the myriad of shows pre-recorded on the Tivo whilst the tivo records something else, watch live TV "live" analog channels 1-125 on TV's tuner.
(I can also watch on the homebrew PVR, or live TV "pausable" on the homebrew PVR... but that's beyond the point that if you want to watch things other than what you are recording, simply use a splitter, albeit at the sacrifice of the channels above 125 "live"... trust me you won't want to watch LIVE tv after getting used to watching them on your PVR... and only under duress/schedule conflict of will you need to =))
Slashdot Mirror
I suggest Ultimarc's ipac encoder or groovy game gears Key Wiz which is what I used in my mame cabinet, fwiw.
and you'll want the obligatory (and sadly missing from the main post) link to Build Your own arcade controls site and very helpful forum/community
Although I used x-arcade parts on my cabinet, I think you'll be happier in the long run if you order from happs directly or buy happs parts from bob roberts.
e.
glows in the dark too!
oh i'm kidding, c'mon =)
e.
A city that size can't have a cloaking device!?
"good bad... I'm the guy with the remake..."
no upfront hardware costs... so the DVD recorder was free then?
(just teasing) Sounds like you've got a pretty cool setup. The digital cable integration is a postive (dual tuners, no IR blaster needed)
The cable company's DVR's i'm sure are servicable, but up until recently I'd rather (and do) have a TiVo... but the TiVo has it's own limitations/annoyances tha make me build my own PVR in addition to the TiVo.
I want more control over my PVR/recorded content than TiVo/cable companys will allow (in general).
What was my point again?
e.
"I looked into it a bit more. The RF is actually a coaxial input. Which means it's the same exact input you'd get from, say, Comcast or your local cable provider. I don't have time to do a lot of research but isn't this what you're looking for? Is there something I'm missing?"
Well, it is... and coax is just an input plug type. You can put many different signals over a coax line (witness analog cable, digital cable, cable internet, etc)
It is true that for analog video, coax is the least deisirable way to hook up peripherals. (dvi, component, svideo/scart, composite woudl all be better than coax)
But the coax is just a way to hook up the external antenna for it to receive DTV terrerstial broadcast signals (just like the good old days of uhf/vhf)...
The digital cable/HD content etc is generally encrypted so even if it will physically connect via coax, you'll most likely get no love that way.
*shrug*
the HDTV wonder isn't any better than the current linux solution that's already out there... both do (currently) OTA DTV only...
Throw in the fact the ATI HDTV doesn't play well with any other cards except ATI, well they can keep it windoze only. =)
"It's $3 more a month than the normal DVR Time Warner offers.
I know this might not be an option for you, but others might want to know that HD DVRs might just be $36/yr. away from them."
which is fine, if you like a buggy crashy DVR with a lousy interface and being locked out of doing anythign with the recorded programming. =)
e.
Unless i've totally missed it... there's not a good way to get HDTV content via cable onto the PC.
There's the firewire pull content/control from the hdtv box. The mac folks seem to have the easiest time with this...
There's OTA terrestial DTV cards (like the linux hdtv card mentioned, and ati's HDTV wonder)
There's a QAM capable card out there Fusion III QAM HDTV Tuner Card(no idea on linux drivers), but that's only useful if your cable company does NOT encrypt their QAM signal...
Ideally, IMHO... we need some sort of PCI CableCard docking device, but I doubt our content controlling masters will allow that. Although, the more CableCard ready HDTV sets I see, gives me hope that someone will take the chocolate and peanutbutter and come up with PC HDTV PVR reeces peanut butter cups...
a PCI card that was CableCard ready would allow legitimate digital cable subscribers to watch digital cable on their PC/etc.
You can get HD PBS for free with FTA DBA satellite cards.
e.
would you like sinkholes with your tv
How is this different than gator, spyware, et al replacing banner ads on your browser with different/competitor's ads (and similiar shennanigans)?
Will I get cheaper monthly service fees for my Tivo because their costs will be offset by *shudder* these banner ads?
Granted, if TiVo needs the ad revenue to stay solvent, I guess it's necessary (the TiVo is doorstop without the service, well sorta =))
But they might be shrinking their market to tap these new ad based revenue streams, which will make the ad placements be worth less...
Apparently it won't be cable companies clumsy DVR's, or even us diy PVR'ers (shameless plug), or dillution of "brand/identity" that kills TiVo... it will be TiVo killing TiVo with practices and commitments that aren't in their CONSUMERS best interest.
Why would someone who buys a special box and pays a monthly (or lifetime) service fee to skip commercials put up with replacement commercials during the commercial skipping process?!?! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!
Furthermore what advertiser in their right mind would want to reach people that ADD and disposition makes them actively adverse to ads? And if tivo's DVR/PVR share decreases what will those banner ads be worth to the advertisers then?
Will DirecTivo's be effected by this change? (and will this hasten DirecTV's dance away from TiVo specific DVRs?)
*Shrug*
only outlaws will PVR!
er... doesn't have quite the same ring, does it?
wilco tango foxtrot?!?!
paper and pencil to document usage of a digital product
*Shakes head* Not that I have a better way of getting data from different DVR platforms, but it still reeks of ridiculous...
e.
"Would you want skimpy hardware encoding your movies?"
hopefully there's a dedicated hardware mpeg encoding chip, so you don't have to rely on the main cpu for encoding...
you can do the same without the hardware...
Bit Torrent + RSS: some dudes blog on his setup
*Shrug*
self serving plug =P
Build Your Own PVR Community has lots of links, reviews, and discussions of the myriad of DIY PVR/DVR/HTPC options out there...
There is stuff that works better than MCE 2005 (both on windoze and linux platform) depending on what you want to do/accomplish.
e.
uphill both ways through 4 foot snow drifts...
and not no wimpy DVD either... i'm talking heavy laserdiscs!
e.
That pulls/plays content from it's local drives and from over the network. My buddy uses a MediaMVP to good effect for pulling mpeg2, mp3, photo's, etc content over a wired network to his TV.
That and some ball bearings, and prestone antifreeze...
e.
although not free as in speech... GBPVR does some of the same UI through the pvr350's tv out as SageTV (and mythTV with the special IVTV drivers)
fwiw I've got a review of sagetv 2.0 with screenshots n' stuff... if you wanted to contrast with Steve525's experience (hey steve!)
IMHO the main differences between sagetv and beyondtv is this:
equally polished and tivo-esque, more or less
SageTV has more media htpc-esque functionality like mp3 jukebox, photo's, etc...
the previously mentioned pvr350 UI overlay support
BeyondTV has remote scheduling capability (i.e. login from work and schedule a show/etc)
BeyondTV supports software encoding cards like ATI AIW whereas sagetv/et al will only use hardware encoding cards.
*scratches head* I think that's in a nutshell...
I'll be building a knoppmyth box soon, but don't have the hands on opinion of mythtv besides what I garner from the mailing lists/etc...
There's a ton of other options out there... new on the block is Meedio (formerly the free as in beer, myHTPC.net)... and a bunch of others Media Portal is OSS... uhm... freevo on linux, whatever GOTTV's latest incarnation is...
e.
"I'm saving my pennies for a new TiVo (currently have a Series 2) that offers:
CableCard to eliminate the need for a Comcast box
HDTV
Built-in DVD Burner"
Well you are unlikely to get a cablecard enabled tivo, which besides directTV branded tivo's precludes HDTV... well I guess one out of three ain't bad?
e.
well, it's about the principle for one:
The FCC should not be the instrument for doing the content providers dirty work. Although reasonable controls in some instances make sense, the content providers have proven themselves to be anything but reasonable nor have any of the consumer's interest at heart (surprise surprise...)
2nd I'm sure they'll be circumvention software/hardware/hacks/tricks (remember the sharpie CD copy protection work around?) but utlizing those work arounds in the US could violate DMCA or DMCA-like provisions (despite the fact this sorta stuff should be legal in the first place!)
It goes back to principle... we should be able to do certain things with medium and content in our homes. DeCSS was borne from someone wanting to watch DVD's on linux and could not. Any parent (or person who is rough on their media) who has bought multiple copies of a given disney film after the kids have destroyed the medium the movie is stored on can atest to the need/desire to make backup. (does that make them the same as the bootlegger printing thousands of knock off DVD's in hongkong? Is this who the MPAA is trying to stop?)
DRM/aggressive access controls have gone (or are trending) too far towards the content creator's control...
e.
That's the whole point, well sorta...
You can buy a card NOW that ignores the bit (presuming saner heads prevail and the EFF is succesful in challenging the FCC's mandate over reach on this broadcast flag thingie)... you can buy a card after july 2005, presuming it was MANUFACTURED prior to July 2005... After which it will be "illegal" (in the US) to manufacturer devices which don't honor the broadcast flag.
It's bad enough Tivo voluntarily will now delete Pay Per View from your box after a set expiration date... now you'll have even less say about what you can and cannot do with the content piped (or broadcast) into your home.
So in short the big picture is about consumers rights and where the control rests for fair access controls/DRM -- taping "will and grace" isn't piracy/crime, but the content providers don't seem to understand that.
(i'm sure there's a joke in there, but i'll leave it be for now =P)
e.
this is a roomba (robot vacuum) on steroids
(same company)... although I doubt the packbot picks up your cheerios off the floor for some reason...
e.
This is the one major benefit (besides cost of equipment is nil) of the cable company DVR's... they can integrate their digital cable decoding/decryption right into the box. If they'd make a tivo (or a PC PCI card) that accepted a CableCard so that I could legitimately "tune" my digital cable that I already pay for that would be ideal. although I doubt the cable company providers are too keen on that =)
FWIW what I do with my tivo (and homebrew PVR's) is this:
I split the cable before the digital cable box. The Tivo does the IR blaster thing to do digital cable, a second analog cable line goes right to the tv, and a 3rd analog line goes to my epia via mini-itx/pvr350 PVR.
With this setup I can either:
Watch what tivo is recording, watch the myriad of shows pre-recorded on the Tivo whilst the tivo records something else, watch live TV "live" analog channels 1-125 on TV's tuner.
(I can also watch on the homebrew PVR, or live TV "pausable" on the homebrew PVR... but that's beyond the point that if you want to watch things other than what you are recording, simply use a splitter, albeit at the sacrifice of the channels above 125 "live"... trust me you won't want to watch LIVE tv after getting used to watching them on your PVR... and only under duress/schedule conflict of will you need to =))
E.