Building a DVR

[cmtar]

I was giving an old computer, it is only 2 yrs old and a very nice and very fast computer. I want to turn it into a DVR. My question is I assume the only thing really i need to add is a graphics/tunner card right? Is it better to get a graphics/tuner combo or 2 seperate cards? Also can anyone recommend a good card that I can get locally such as at BB, a good one for SD and one that will work for HD.

[BattleZone]

We don't have enough info to make a real recommendation. What sources do you plan to use, and what OS/software do you plan to run? As a rule, getting HD other than OTA into the computer is far from easy or automatic.

I currently have a Windows Media Center computer running the Win7 beta, and the Hauppauge PVR-2250 PCIe tuner/capture card.

The 2250 is a "hybrid" card, with a pair of analog SD inputs (composite or SVideo and analog stereo audio), plus 2 NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuners, all on one card. BUT, there are some important limitations. With Vista or XP, you can only use 2 inputs, so I could have one ATSC OTA tuner and one analog capture from a DirecTV receiver. That's because Vista and earlier versions of Media Center didn't support hybrid tuners. With Win7, the same card can provide 2 ATSC and 2 analog capture inputs. I currently use 2 ATSC and 1 DirecTV D10.

The only device that can currently get HD from set-top boxes into the computer is any useful way is the Hauppauge HD-PVR, BUT it is not (yet) supported by Windows. Hauppage has stated that they are working on Win7 drivers for it, but nothing yet. Currently SageTV supports it, and there is some kind of hack that a few folks have used to get it going in 7MC, but it isn't totally stable as I understand it. The HD-PVR uses analog capture from the component inputs, which is fine today, but a few years from now could be rendered useless if the content providers carry through with their plans to restrict the resolution on analog outputs.

Getting HD into WMC is the primary reason it isn't super-popular. There's a solution for cable systems using cable cards, but you have to purchase a complete PC plus tuners from one of a very few vendors; the tuners won't work unless the PC has a special BIOS. There is a company that modifies Dish 211 HD receivers to work in Media Center, but they're expensive and it's unclear if they'll continue to work in new versions of Windows (but it's likely, IMO). The big hope was the DirecTV HDPC-20 external dual-sat-tuner USB device, but sadly, DirecTV suspended development on it.

Hope that helps some. If you want to learn more about WMC and different hardware for it, try http://www.thegreenbutton.com

[cmtar]

I want to use the PVR in replace of the D* dvr. I plan to either use windows media center or myth tv or something like that.

[Hansen]

You might look at SageTV.

[brant]

We don't have enough info to make a real recommendation. What sources do you plan to use, and what OS/software do you plan to run? . . .

OP, would help if you could answer that question.

[tvjay]

You might look at SageTV.

For windows I recommend BeyondTV because it is better than SageTV. I have used both, one for personal and other one for work.

If your interested in trying Linux there is a free one called MythTV.

[cmtar]

OP, would help if you could answer that question.

Im not sure yet, but really i am just wondering about the cards. Just a generic answer on a good card.

[Hansen]

For windows I recommend BeyondTV because it is better than SageTV. I have used both, one for personal and other one for work.

If your interested in trying Linux there is a free one called MythTV.


I never got to try BTV but it does look good. Seems like there are strong supporters of each and both are good. While I don't use Sage for streaming TV, I understand it works well. The reason I like SageTV is Sage has developed a small, noiseless, inexpensive networked extender (HD200) that can play just about any format. So, not only can you do TV if you want but you can also stream movies/videos, music, photos, etc. from your server to each TV with an extender, which is how I use it. I have mine set up with a WHS server with about 4 TB of storage running Sage Media Center (for WHS) server software and extenders at each TV. It really saves you from having a HTPC at each TV and lets you develop a whole house server/extender solution.

But, all this is getting a bit beyond what the OP is looking to do. He'll likely end at something similar to this point eventually.