I'd dispute your claim that Toppys are 'substantially lower quality'(topfield PVR5800 in the UK: www.toppy.org.uk). This might be true for Humax and Digifusion.
I've got one and it's fantastic. It is extensible with a C API for developing your own applications (TAPs) to improve the system in various ways. With these free, easily installed enhancements you get past the slightly 'quirky' (but not too bad) UI provided by Topfield. There is a strong community around the products and they are capable of being installed in a wireless network environment. Only downside is their lack of ability to _easily_ play DivX format, but you can get it to happen if you put some effort in. There are (free) TAPs which provide 'season pass' type functionality, it can download EPG data from the over-the-air broadcast or from Radio Times (etc.), you can get photo viewers, MP3 players, Tetris and Sudoko games and a lot more.
It's dual tuner, can record two programs whilst playing a third, USB support, Digital Audio out and it's generally just great. £300 for a 250Gb dual tuner model is also a whole lot cheaper (and nicer to look at) than this MythTV-based solution.
As far as a cheap, easy solution but one that is totally extensible and is very user-friendly (and wife friendly), I can't go far enough in recommending a Topfield.
Slashdot Mirror
The banks in my country were regulated and we avoided the recession that hit the US.
Which country in Europe are you in? Every major European country I know is just as recession-hit as the US.
I'd dispute your claim that Toppys are 'substantially lower quality'(topfield PVR5800 in the UK: www.toppy.org.uk). This might be true for Humax and Digifusion.
I've got one and it's fantastic. It is extensible with a C API for developing your own applications (TAPs) to improve the system in various ways. With these free, easily installed enhancements you get past the slightly 'quirky' (but not too bad) UI provided by Topfield. There is a strong community around the products and they are capable of being installed in a wireless network environment. Only downside is their lack of ability to _easily_ play DivX format, but you can get it to happen if you put some effort in. There are (free) TAPs which provide 'season pass' type functionality, it can download EPG data from the over-the-air broadcast or from Radio Times (etc.), you can get photo viewers, MP3 players, Tetris and Sudoko games and a lot more.
It's dual tuner, can record two programs whilst playing a third, USB support, Digital Audio out and it's generally just great. £300 for a 250Gb dual tuner model is also a whole lot cheaper (and nicer to look at) than this MythTV-based solution.
As far as a cheap, easy solution but one that is totally extensible and is very user-friendly (and wife friendly), I can't go far enough in recommending a Topfield.