Need help finding a TiVo like system for recording shows..

[andrewglass25]

I want to find some sort of recording system for TV shows without having to worry about paying the monthly TiVo charge, I would like to just buy the equiqment. Not really sure if there is anything out there like that and was hoping someone could point me in that direction of what I need. I have directTV if that helps at all

 

[Adidas4275]

HTPC, with a cable card tuner or a HDPVR with your own STB

WMC will work so will sagetv and even beyondtv

 

[Jmtyra]

+1 for BeyondTV. Used it a few years ago prior to their HD version, and it was pretty kick ass back then.

GL =D

 

[valve1138]

Guys, he has DirecTV. Which means he has to go with a Hauppauge HD-PVR if he wants to record in HD.

Depending on your budget you might just want to go with the DirecTV DVR. The newest model, the HR24 which you can get from Amazon or Solid Signal (DirecTV could send you any "HD DVR" so order the specific model), works great. You can add an external hard drive to it as well for more recording time.

When you compare the monthly cost of the DVR fee DirecTV charges you might find that more appealing that shelling out the money for the gear you need to record DirecTV to a computer. Also, you would need another DirecTV box, or 2, or 3, depending on how many shows you want to record at once. Then a Hauppage HD-PVR for each. Thjere's no such thing as a "DirecTV Tuner Card", you always need a box to tune your channel.

 

[Jmtyra]

Having DIRECTV doesn't mean the OP has HD. Depends on what package was purchased.

BeyondTV has a long list of supported TV tuners, which include HD tuners as well. Correct, the OP won't be able to tune directly, instead it'll be used as a capture card. Regardless, a tuner/capture card is required for the functionality.

Having said all that, it would be easier to use the vendor supplied DVR. But that wouldn't be very [H]ard to do, and what fun is that?

 

[valve1138]

Having DIRECTV doesn't mean the OP has HD. Depends on what package was purchased.

BeyondTV has a long list of supported TV tuners, which include HD tuners as well. Correct, the OP won't be able to tune directly, instead it'll be used as a capture card. Regardless, a tuner/capture card is required for the functionality.

Having said all that, it would be easier to use the vendor supplied DVR. But that wouldn't be very [H]ard to do, and what fun is that?

1) Read the first line of my post.

2) DVR functionality is useless if the PC can't tell the box what channel it's supposed to record.

3) An HD Tuner won't record HD off of a DirecTV box.

 

[kac77]

1) Read the first line of my post.

2) DVR functionality is useless if the PC can't tell the box what channel it's supposed to record.

Wouldn't an IR blaster solve that issue?

 

[kac77]

3) An HD Tuner won't record HD off of a DirecTV box.

If DirectTV offers HD through component then a HD PVR definitely would. That's the point of the device itself.

 

[Jmtyra]

1) Read the first line of my post.

2) DVR functionality is useless if the PC can't tell the box what channel it's supposed to record.

3) An HD Tuner won't record HD off of a DirecTV box.

1) K -- re-read. Yup. You're still assuming HD. Also assuming (incorrectly) that only one TV tuner/capture card will record in HD.

2) Incorrect. This:

Wouldn't an IR blaster solve that issue?

3) Incorrect, see above + the tuner/capture device doesn't care what the source is. Just tell it when to start, what input source, and when to stop.

Did you mean no device (other than DirectTV's equipment) will tune the signal directly from the satellite, and thus decode it?

 

[valve1138]

Wouldn't an IR blaster solve that issue?

Sure would. HD-PVR's come with their own. You can also do serial port channel changing with DirecTV boxes.

If DirectTV offers HD through component then a HD PVR definitely would. That's the point of the device itself.

Indeed it is. I was referring to straight up tuner devices, whereas the HD-PVR doesn't technically tune anything, since it lacks an actual tuner.

 

[valve1138]

1) K -- re-read. Yup. You're still assuming HD. Also assuming (incorrectly) that only one TV tuner/capture card will record in HD.

2) Incorrect. This:


3) Incorrect, see above + the tuner/capture device doesn't care what the source is. Just tell it when to start, what input source, and when to stop.

Did you mean no device (other than DirectTV's equipment) will tune the signal directly from the satellite, and thus decode it?

He has DirecTV. So stop clouding things up with "suggestions" that won't help the OP.

 

[bastage]

Costly, but my thought would be the HD PVR & a few STB's from DTV.

This being said its a way better deal to buy the HDDVR's from DTV. There Monthly dvr service fee isnt bad & it would take a decade to recoup your costs if you were setting up a dedicated machine to do this with a few tuners (stb's)

 

[Jmtyra]

He has DirecTV. So stop clouding things up with "suggestions" that won't help the OP.

I'm suggesting a DVR solution, which the OP asked for, and correcting the misinformation you're spreading. How is this confusing the OP?

 

[kac77]

Costly, but my thought would be the HD PVR & a few STB's from DTV.

This being said its a way better deal to buy the HDDVR's from DTV. There Monthly dvr service fee isnt bad & it would take a decade to recoup your costs if you were setting up a dedicated machine to do this with a few tuners (stb's)

Not necessarily. I have my own HTPC the benefit isn't solely a monetary one. We build computers all of the time without much thought on the return on investment. One of the main reasons to do this is flexibility. Where HTPC's not only act in a role as DVR, but also a media server in general. No set top box can store an entire music collection, and movie collection, while having the capability to play DVD's and Blue Ray. In addition you can use it no matter what your service is, which is something no set top box can do.

 

[bastage]

Not necessarily. I have my own HTPC the benefit isn't solely a monetary one. We build computers all of the time without much thought on the return on investment. One of the main reasons to do this is flexibility. Where HTPC's not only act in a role as DVR, but also a media server in general. No set top box can store an entire music collection, and movie collection, while having the capability to play DVD's and Blue Ray. In addition you can use it no matter what your service is, which is something no set top box can do.

And the OP didn't say he needed a media server or a DVD player.

Yes a HTPC gives alot mroe flexability, But you overall gain alot of cost compared to the DTV HDDVR's.. Not only up front but monthly as well..

For example I will base this off a total of 4 tuners & 2 locations..

DTV = 1x DVR Charge (I think 7 bucks a month now) & 1 additional receiver fee (I think still 5 bucks a month) & you have 2 TV's set in a very simple solution.. Plus lets say the cost of a pair of HR24's from solid signal totals 400 bucks..

So say this setup is to last you a total of 10 years..

Total Cost at current pricing is 1,560

HTPC = upfront cost we will lowball & say 500 bucks for the system (could be more or less depending on what recycled parts can be used) + 4x HDPVR's (185 each for a total of 740) plus Windows 7 home premium so that you have media center is another 100. The upfront lease fee's on 4 h21 (cost is too close to SD receivers to warrant the lesser units) receivers (100 each for a total of 400 there) plus the additional receiver fee's of 15 bucks a month for the extra 3.. Lastly you need a Extender & since the Xbox 360 is the only one still sold.. thats another 200ish

Total cost of 3740 not .. Not to mention that other then the receivers any hardware goes bad your on the hook for the next 10 years.

For the needs cost wise the DTV box's are by far the best value. & For that matter it would be cheaper to do the DTV box's & then do an extra HTPC as well (even with an HDPVR to you can archive your DTV recordings)

So I fail to see how I was "Not necessarily" correct

 

[valve1138]

I'm suggesting a DVR solution, which the OP asked for, and correcting the misinformation you're spreading. How is this confusing the OP?

Your suggestions are wrong and misleading.

 

[CrimandEvil]

I'm suggesting a DVR solution, which the OP asked for, and correcting the misinformation you're spreading. How is this confusing the OP?

It's confusing when you're wrong and misinformed, which you seem to be.

 

[bastage]

I'm suggesting a DVR solution, which the OP asked for, and correcting the misinformation you're spreading. How is this confusing the OP?

I have to agree.. Your incorrect ..

 

[kac77]

And the OP didn't say he needed a media server or a DVD player.

A DVR now a days is just that a media server. If you store tons of video and play it back later you are using a media server. Adding a DVD player is trivial. Why wouldn't you add it? They are like 10 bucks. If you are storing video why wouldn't you store your music there too? That's just shrugging off the benefits of building a system yourself just for the sake of doing so.

Yes a HTPC gives alot mroe flexability, But you overall gain alot of cost compared to the DTV HDDVR's.. Not only up front but monthly as well..

For example I will base this off a total of 4 tuners & 2 locations..

DTV = 1x DVR Charge (I think 7 bucks a month now) & 1 additional receiver fee (I think still 5 bucks a month) & you have 2 TV's set in a very simple solution.. Plus lets say the cost of a pair of HR24's from solid signal totals 400 bucks..

So say this setup is to last you a total of 10 years..

Total Cost at current pricing is 1,560

HTPC = upfront cost we will lowball & say 500 bucks for the system (could be more or less depending on what recycled parts can be used) + 4x HDPVR's (185 each for a total of 740) plus Windows 7 home premium so that you have media center is another 100. The upfront lease fee's on 4 h21 (cost is too close to SD receivers to warrant the lesser units) receivers (100 each for a total of 400 there) plus the additional receiver fee's of 15 bucks a month for the extra 3.. Lastly you need a Extender & since the Xbox 360 is the only one still sold.. thats another 200ish

Total cost of 3740 not .. Not to mention that other then the receivers any hardware goes bad your on the hook for the next 10 years.

For the needs cost wise the DTV box's are by far the best value. & For that matter it would be cheaper to do the DTV box's & then do an extra HTPC as well (even with an HDPVR to you can archive your DTV recordings)

So I fail to see how I was "Not necessarily" correct

First of all, the OP said this...."I want to find some sort of recording system for TV shows without having to worry about paying the monthly TiVo charge, I would like to just buy the equipment.

Producing rental prices for hardware that you don't own is quite literally comparing apples vs. oranges. The OP wants to buy the hardware whether it's something like TiVo or a self built unit. He/she says that quite clearly. So your price comparison would have to be redone to take what he/she wants into account not providing a solution that does not listen to what the OP wanted. That's how it's "not necessarily correct".

Second your prices are grossly inflated by a TON. Remember this is a HTPC not a gaming machine. You could build one for 300 with all new parts ( I came up with $270) + the cost of tuner and have far more storage than whats found in a TiVo. A celeron/sempron with 1GB of memory would suffice here because you offload playback and recording between the tuner and the video card which any current $50 video card can do. If you go with a integrated IGP you can avoid that cost completely. But it's included in my 270 price point just to ensure smooth playback and for desktop acceleration purposes. If I leave off the discrete video card it drops to 220.

In terms of an extender...why? If he's buying a DVR outright (even if it was TiVO) he would have to deal with the issue either way and again renting it means you don't own it. Also if the OP already has computers in the home (that's pretty obvious) every computer becomes an "extender" as they would have access to any file on the main unit.

Second considering this is [H]ardocp and not Direct TV's 1800 number you can pretty much count on a suggestion of doing it yourself, which is what the OP seems to be desiring anyway.

 

[bastage]

A DVR now a days is just that a media server. If you store tons of video and play it back later you are using a media server. Adding a DVD player is trivial. Why wouldn't you add it? They are like 10 bucks. If you are storing video why wouldn't you store your music there too? That's just shrugging off the benefits of building a system yourself just for the sake of doing so.

WTF.. No a media server sits elsewhere & serves media to the playback device where a DVR is capable of recording your TV & then playing it back.

First of all, the OP said this...."I want to find some sort of recording system for TV shows without having to worry about paying the monthly TiVo charge, I would like to just buy the equipment.


Producing rental prices for hardware that you don't own is quite literally comparing apples vs. oranges. The OP wants to buy the hardware whether it's something like TiVo or a self built unit. He/she says that quite clearly. So your price comparison would have to be redone to take what he/she wants into account not providing a solution that does not listen to what the OP wanted. That's how it's "not necessarily correct".

Yes Lets bold & underline the part about wanting to buy the equipment.. perhaps you missed the part about it being directv & you pay the same weather its leased or owned only differences being a higher upfront cost to own it & if it breaks when you own it your responsible for replacement instead of DTV Thus no matter what he will be paying 5 bucks a month for every receiver past the 1st. Also perhaps I am missing something.. you seem to know pretty clearly what the OP wants when the OP didn't say anything clearer.. I simply provided a long term cost comparison using either solution in what is a very popular configuration (a TV in either room both with DVR capabilities)

Second your prices are grossly inflated by a TON. Remember this is a HTPC not a gaming machine. You could build one for 300 with all new parts ( I came up with $270) + the cost of tuner and have far more storage than whats found in a TiVo. A celeron/sempron with 1GB of memory would suffice here because you offload playback and recording between the tuner and the video card which any current $50 video card can do. If you go with a integrated IGP you can avoid that cost completely. But it's included in my 270 price point just to ensure smooth playback and for desktop acceleration purposes. If I leave off the discrete video card it drops to 220.

& This is where you loose all credibility.. Perhaps you were unaware that most tuners under the 100 dollar price tag alone wont have hardware encoding, thus the CPU will be doing it all.. Beyond that what OS are you planning to use there? Beyond a legit copy of windows & a decent tuner your at 200.. neither of which you accounted for at all in your price. Then to take it 1 step farther, a Celeron or Sempron would BARELY squeak by with a single tuner and playback. But a single tuner isnt very [H]ard is it.. Nope not at all.. Also not very probable.. Most people who have a desire to record there shows have shows on more then 1 channel. That being said you will need more then 1 tuner.. & assumeing that since the OP pays for DirecTV which carries the most HD available he might, just might want HD then your hardware is even farther from sufficient & the only decent tuner for it is the 185 dollar hauppague HDPVR.

In terms of an extender...why? If he's buying a DVR outright (even if it was TiVO) he would have to deal with the issue either way and again renting it means you don't own it. Also if the OP already has computers in the home (that's pretty obvious) every computer becomes an "extender" as they would have access to any file on the main unit.

Most people do not want to put a computer at every TV.. In addition to that Extenders will typically perform better then if there was another PC. & Your pretty hung up on this rent vs own thing. Perhaps you should do some homework, Then you would see that the only advantage of owning is if you discontinue service you can sell it.. In the mean time its no cheaper & you have less support for it.. Also I find it highly unlikely that the OP would even consider buying a tivo.. Especially since there isnt a current Tivo that supports Satellite at all.. Infact you have to go clear back 2 full generations to find one that would even work using an ir blaster with satellite.

Second considering this is [H]ardocp and not Direct TV's 1800 number you can pretty much count on a suggestion of doing it yourself, which is what the OP seems to be desiring anyway.

Again you seem to have some sort of telepathic link with the OP. I Wont bother re-quoting the OP since you already have & then I have again here, but nowhere in the post does it say what components would be necessary to build a Tivo, It simply asks "some sort of recording system for TV shows without having to worry about paying the monthly TiVo charge". Oh & Did I mention that I didn't have a tivo charge in my comparison because there inst one.. Tivo charges 13 bucks a month for your 1st unit & then 10 a month for each after.. What I listed is the DVR service fee for directv that is 7 bucks to cover your whole account no matter how many DVR's you have.

To sum this all up, your talking out your ass on a subject that you are obviously not up to par on. You also like to make up imaginary needs that are not actually there (atleast not in the post).

Now if the OP comes back & says he is ok with spending as much if not more monthly to have the extra limited flexability of a HTPC instead of the DirecTV DVR's then thats the OP's choice to make. I Would even go so far as to price out a system for the OP that would do it to meet the specific needs that they have once they make those needs public. Until then try not to criticize someone who is providing valid well informed response to the topic of the conversation.


Edit: And this is coming from a Former DirecTV Installer, Then DirecTV Corporate technician who now has an actual "media server" serving content to 3 extenders in other rooms.

 

[kac77]

WTF.. No a media server sits elsewhere & serves media to the playback device where a DVR is capable of recording your TV & then playing it back.

Funny mine does.

Yes Lets bold & underline the part about wanting to buy the equipment.. perhaps you missed the part about it being directv & you pay the same weather its leased or owned only differences being a higher upfront cost to own it & if it breaks when you own it your responsible for replacement instead of DTV Thus no matter what he will be paying 5 bucks a month for every receiver past the 1st. Also perhaps I am missing something.. you seem to know pretty clearly what the OP wants when the OP didn't say anything clearer.. I simply provided a long term cost comparison using either solution in what is a very popular configuration (a TV in either room both with DVR capabilities)

It's in bold for the visually impaired. If he's paying a higher upfront cost then there is no part being missed. There is a fundamental difference between owning and renting.

& This is where you loose all credibility.. Perhaps you were unaware that most tuners under the 100 dollar price tag alone wont have hardware encoding, thus the CPU will be doing it all..

Did I say what tuner could be had at what price? Nope. Hell I didn't even include that in the price since there are many ways to pull it off. I think I said 270+ Tuner. in fact I did say that. If you are going to call someone's viewpoint into question and question their credibility it would behoove you to READ what the person said and not go off on a tangent inserting things into statements that weren't even made. Either way that's a far cry from the $3400 you burped out as response.

Beyond that what OS are you planning to use there? Beyond a legit copy of windows & a decent tuner your at 200.. neither of which you accounted for at all in your price.

I use MYTH....cost $0

Then to take it 1 step farther,...

You are still at the first step but OK.....

a Celeron or Sempron would BARELY squeak by with a single tuner and playback.

Did I not say the tuner and video card handle this? I did. I run the same exact setup aside from me going to dual core which is like $15 more....woohoo we're breaking the bank. The tuner handles record with the CPU hovering around 25%. Files are encoded in MPEG2 like format which requires very little CPU. Afterwards when recording is not being done the files are compressed to save space and I/O. On playback the video card offloads a big portion with the CPU around 50% The only time the CPU maxes out is when the files get converted which is scheduled to happen when no recording or playback is being done.

But a single tuner isnt very [H]ard is it.. Nope not at all..

It's [H]arder than promoting a solution that the OP didn't want merely because you work/worked for DirectTV itself now isn't it?

Also not very probable.. Most people who have a desire to record there shows have shows on more then 1 channel. That being said you will need more then 1 tuner.. & assumeing that since the OP pays for DirecTV which carries the most HD available he might, just might want HD then your hardware is even farther from sufficient & the only decent tuner for it is the 185 dollar hauppague HDPVR.

Even if you added the second tuner it's not the 3400 dollars you quoted earlier. In reality depending on the OP's viewing habits you could always use a secondary less expensive tuner to grab the OTA signals, which is what I do (1 Set top box tuner + 1 OTA Tuner) . Over time since most people work they will hit the DVR far more often than not. With the above setup I have three choices for viewing content which suits me just fine. The OP might be the same way...might not.

Most people do not want to put a computer at every TV.

Did the OP say he/she wanted a computer / extender at each TV? Nope

In addition to that Extenders will typically perform better then if there was another PC.

Extenders ARE PC's. They have RAM and a processor of some sort likely installed on a motherboard and they don't run on pixie dust and magic. Second, extenders typically are less powerful than the main PC, not more. So I'm not so sure how anything less powerful is going to be more flexible than the main server.

& Your pretty hung up on this rent vs own thing.

Probably because I'm pretty hung up on delivering factual numbers instead of providing a viewpoint promoted by my employer with numbers pulled out somewhere between the sky and my anus.

Perhaps you should do some homework, Then you would see that the only advantage of owning is if you discontinue service you can sell it.

Really? I think playing music, playing DVDs and storing files + video and having a system that works with a variety of content providers is pretty big advantage. There's no lock in and there's no need to sell it because it will work with Verizon, Comcast or DirectTV.

Also I find it highly unlikely that the OP would even consider buying a tivo.. Especially since there isnt a current Tivo that supports Satellite at all.. Infact you have to go clear back 2 full generations to find one that would even work using an ir blaster with satellite.

I find it highly unlikely too... considering the OP said it was something that he/she DID NOT want to do. Good catch.

Again you seem to have some sort of telepathic link with the OP.

Nope not really I just read what the OP said. Took a minute. Comprehended it then responded. You can do it too if you try.

I Wont bother re-quoting the OP since you already have & then I have again here,

Thank you Jesus!

but nowhere in the post does it say what components would be necessary to build a Tivo, It simply asks "some sort of recording system for TV shows without having to worry about paying the monthly TiVo charge".

I think OP wanted options and that's what I gave in line with what was asked. Nice way to split hairs though. Quite cute.

Oh & Did I mention that I didn't have a tivo charge in my comparison because there inst one..

(Nope but I'm pretty sure you're going to tell me....)

Tivo charges 13 bucks a month for your 1st unit & then 10 a month for each after.. What I listed is the DVR service fee for directv that is 7 bucks to cover your whole account no matter how many DVR's you have.

Are you done spewing Direct TV manure at me? Somehow I doubt it.

To sum this all up, your talking out your ass on a subject that you are obviously not up to par on.

Don't you hate it when people follow up company BS and weak ass arguments with a statement that rushes to a conclusion because the premise was too weak to stand on it's own? I know I do.

You also like to make up imaginary needs that are not actually there (atleast not in the post).

The option exists whether to OP uses them or not. It's literally called having options. Maybe you've heard of such things............

Now if the OP comes back & says he is ok with spending as much if not more monthly to have the extra limited flexability of a HTPC

Extra limited flexibility? HTPC's are the antithesis of "extra limited" compared to a DVR.

instead of the DirecTV DVR's then thats the OP's choice to make.

Great then let the OP make it instead of shoving your limited marketing BS down the throats of people who merely offer options.

I Would even go so far as to price out a system for the OP that would do it to meet the specific needs that they have once they make those needs public.

You WOULD but you didn't.

Until then try not to criticize someone who is providing valid well informed response to the topic of the conversation.

If you call hanging on the testicles of a company's product line a "well informed response" so be it. I don't but I guess that's how we differ.

Finally I didn't criticize you until this post. Nice way to play the victim when your answers aren't strong enough to come from a place of knowledge.

Edit: And this is coming from a Former DirecTV Installer, Then DirecTV Corporate technician who now has an actual "media server" serving content to 3 extenders in other rooms.

Great! Now that you jizzed your ego every where you want a cookie?

 

[bastage]

Edited out as I am not going to spam the forum by quoteing every sentance you typed..

By definition a media server is a device that simply stores and shares media.

& no the higher upfront cost & the higher long term cost is a DIY method when it comes to DirecTV. Other services such as cable or OTA this is not the case, But with DirecTV or DishNetwork it is due to still having to have there hardware & there is no way around it.

& If you meant to suggest myth, then why didn't you in your 1st 4 posts... You didn't did you.. You suggested a HTPC naming a random price for the lowest hardware you could find praising it to be the best solution. & If your going to quote my 3400 dollar price quote the part about that including the monthly lease fee on 4 receivers for 10 years which was 1800 of that cost. With another 740 of that cost being the best piece of hardware for the task at hand which is working with a STB.

& So you say I was promoting a solution that the OP didn't want? What I gathered from the OP is that they didn't want to spend money where it wasn't needed. Hence I gave 2 scenarios & The cost for them.. I never said that an HTPC couldn't be done for less then I priced.. infact I said that it could be.. But the receivers wont get any cheaper & since the lease fee on the receivers alone would be more then the HDDVR's & DVR service it just doesn't make sense unless your gaining something.. & The OP has made no claim to need anything beyond that.

No the OP didn't say that a 2nd TV needed to be included, but are you completely blind & missed the part where I said "I simply provided a long term cost comparison using either solution in what is a very popular configuration (a TV in either room both with DVR capabilities)". I also diddnt put a contract for the OP's 1st born child in front of them & tell them to sign.. Again, I gave an option that was not presented.

So as for the Extender Performance thing, Well I use SageTV running in a windows 7 environment. Playback of SD content Directly from the computer which is a Phenom 9850e with 4gb ram & using the onboard 630a video stutters constantly on live TV.. & thats using either 1 of my 2 hauppague tuners with hardware encoding, so they really are doing most of the work there. Now the extenders made to stream from that same server do not experience this issue & are much much faster doing any tasks (even like simply scrolling through the directories of saved content). Its simply that at that point the extender is purpose built for that task at hand so it does it rather effeciently, Where as a PC is very rarely going to have any hardware in it that was purposed designed for the task at hand.

Oh & not to mention your whole shebang about not being able to do anything with the DirecTV DVR's... Yea do your homework, You can stream from any Windows 7 PC, Either musing, videos or pictures.. Will also work with several basic NAS units.. The only thing that you cant do that way is take the recordings from the DVR & put them on other media (although that may have changed since there was a DirecTV2Go product in the works a couple years ago when I parted ways with DirecTV).

Nothing else in your constant quoting of every sentence is even valid enough to warrant a response. Bottom line is still that you need to do your homework, as I have already done mine.

 

[kac77]

& no the higher upfront cost & the higher long term cost is a DIY method when it comes to DirecTV. Other services such as cable or OTA this is not the case, But with DirecTV or DishNetwork it is due to still having to have there hardware & there is no way around it.

Please restate this in English using full sentences that make sense. Thanks.

If you meant to suggest myth, then why didn't you in your 1st 4 posts... You didn't did you..

Well you're the one who said you did your homework. Didn't you? In fact you've stated it tons of times. If you knew of Myth then you would have probably just validated which system was being used and not assumed that Windows would be or was the only choice.

Of course there's a very big difference installing LNB switches or running COAX with that of building your own HTPC something that I've done and have built and have implemented tons of times. I just don't wear my ego on my sleeve and I definitely don't infer that people do "homework" (outside of this thread) when it's always possible that I could learn something myself. Considering that's not DirectTV's core competency and definitely not a core part of the job for a person who installs a DVR that comes from a box I was surprised you went there, but you did. Maybe you could use some homework and actually research all of the options that are out there and then possibly focus on the true hardware requirements for recording video. MYTH (among others) xVMC and capture cards that offload the work from the CPU have been around for a very long time. There's at least 4, more if I actually think about it each trading between features and price. Windows and MYTH being 2.

Oh & not to mention your whole shebang about not being able to do anything with the DirecTV DVR's..

I never said that you couldn't do anything with a Direct TV DVR. I said a HTPC is more flexible.... still putting things in people's mouths I see.

Yea do your homework,

Learn to Read!

You can stream from any Windows 7 PC, Either musing, videos or pictures.. Will also work with several basic NAS units.. The only thing that you cant do that way is take the recordings from the DVR & put them on other media (although that may have changed since there was a DirecTV2Go product in the works a couple years ago when I parted ways with DirecTV).

You also can't use the same DVR with other content providers. The set top box isn't providing those extra services. It merely becomes the extender for the computers that are. In contrast the HTPC itself is providing all of those features in 1 device. Extenders are optional.

Nothing else in your constant quoting of every sentence is even valid enough to warrant a response.

Then why did you give one ? You pretty much hit everything that I said and skipped over the things that were irrefutable.

Bottom line is still that you need to do your homework, as I have already done mine.

Honestly I'm not so sure about that. Anyway I think there's no point in bickering any further. I've given my options and you gave yours. Let the OP decide.

 

[Jmtyra]

Your suggestions are wrong and misleading.

It's confusing when you're wrong and misinformed, which you seem to be.

I have to agree.. Your incorrect ..

Anyone care to clarify on what is incorrect, with sources? Something with more elaboration than 'your incorrect' or 'your wrong'?

 

[kac77]

Anyone care to clarify on what is incorrect, with sources? Something with more elaboration than 'your incorrect' or 'your wrong'?

LOL you can look at the cock fight between bastage and I there's some good stuff in there.

 

[Jmtyra]

Ha! nice

<grin> +10 cool nerds points

=^.^=

 

[kac77]

So as for the Extender Performance thing, Well I use SageTV running in a windows 7 environment. Playback of SD content Directly from the computer which is a Phenom 9850e with 4gb ram & using the onboard 630a video stutters constantly on live TV.. & thats using either 1 of my 2 hauppague tuners with hardware encoding, so they really are doing most of the work there. Now the extenders made to stream from that same server do not experience this issue & are much much faster doing any tasks (even like simply scrolling through the directories of saved content). Its simply that at that point the extender is purpose built for that task at hand so it does it rather effeciently, Where as a PC is very rarely going to have any hardware in it that was purposed designed for the task at hand.

I just caught this.... sorry I skipped over it. Anyway, the reason why you're getting stuttering on that system is because PureVideo on that thing sucks. Remember earlier that I put in a discrete card in my estimate? This is why. There is "homework" if you will on which cards do video playback the best and which ones suck at it. You can't merely just throw in a whole bunch of components because they are expensive and think all is good. Nvidia's IGP's for a reason that eludes me never replaces the usability of their discrete cards. This is why Anand usually recommended ATI's IGP's over Nvidia within Windows.

 

[munkle]

Maybe everybody should take a breather until the op returns? (Maybe we scared him away?)

 

[bastage]

Maybe everybody should take a breather until the op returns? (Maybe we scared him away?)

Yep I just slept & now in retrospect would like to apologize to anyone else who read that whole pissing match..

Bottom line is we don't have enough information to make an informed recommendation. The OP left us with a very open ended question that can be interpreted in more then 1 way (as kac77 interpreted it in meaning that he simply wants to own everything, & I interpreted as he wants to pay as little monthly as he could).

and @ kac77, No the stuttering was only on live TV. 1080p content that was not live played fine (recordings of live TV also played fine). Either way though it was a temporary solution for me as I only hooked it up to the TV while waiting for my extenders. Now the "media server" (or backend) and all the wire mess is about 6' behind me in my office & all you see in the other 3 rooms is a very small STB (or frontend in myth terms). And the reason I don't ever consider myth until its stated that it is wanted is in these forums probably 70% of the user-base have dabbled in *nix, but of that 70% 90% of us are still primarily windows users. So unless someone tells me that they are comfortable with *nix than I am not going to recommend any *nix past FreeNas.

 

[kac77]

Yeah our "discussion" was almost DEFCON 1 and far too harsh for merely recommending a DVR solution. So I do apologize for going down the rabbit hole. However there is at least enough info for something to be extrapolated.....hopefully.

 

[bastage]

Yeah our "discussion" was almost DEFCON 1 and far too harsh for merely recommending a DVR solution. So I do apologize for going down the rabbit hole. However there is at least enough info for something to be extrapolated.....hopefully.

lol.. Sad thing is is that if the needs were clearly defined we would have been able to come to a conclusion on whats most likely best along time ago.

 

[CrimandEvil]

Yeah our "discussion" was almost DEFCON 1 and far too harsh for merely recommending a DVR solution. So I do apologize for going down the rabbit hole. However there is at least enough info for something to be extrapolated.....hopefully.

lol That's nothing compared to what me and Zachstar have gotten into.

and @ kac77, No the stuttering was only on live TV. 1080p content that was not live played fine (recordings of live TV also played fine). Either way though it was a temporary solution for me as I only hooked it up to the TV while waiting for my extenders. Now the "media server" (or backend) and all the wire mess is about 6' behind me in my office & all you see in the other 3 rooms is a very small STB (or frontend in myth terms).

The 7000 series kind of sucked for it's time. It seemed to have several DXVA playback issues, it was just a 6150 with HDMI and such grafted on. Even for it's time, it was already being outpaced by ATI's (now AMD's) chipests.

And the reason I don't ever consider myth until its stated that it is wanted is in these forums probably 70% of the user-base have dabbled in *nix, but of that 70% 90% of us are still primarily windows users. So unless someone tells me that they are comfortable with *nix than I am not going to recommend any *nix past FreeNas.

That's the position that I advocate. Only if someone is very comfortable with *Nix would I even suggest it. I've always thought it was just "lazy" to suggest *nix to someone simply cause it's a "free" solution. I like playing with *nix every now and then but no way would I suggest Myth for an HTPC because, even with a modern install, it still requires a fair amount of tweaking to get everything working right. A windows based HTPC can be a tad overwhelming despite the much easier learning curve.

 

[munkle]

The htpc forum is by far the most unruly forum on hardforum

 

[kac77]

That's the position that I advocate. Only if someone is very comfortable with *Nix would I even suggest it. I've always thought it was just "lazy" to suggest *nix to someone simply cause it's a "free" solution. I like playing with *nix every now and then but no way would I suggest Myth for an HTPC because, even with a modern install, it still requires a fair amount of tweaking to get everything working right. A windows based HTPC can be a tad overwhelming despite the much easier learning curve.

I would agree 4 or more years ago when you had to compile the front end and back end yourself (along with desired codecs) and pray that you didn't over update one of them. However, since MYTH provides a list of tuners and Fedora, Knoppix, and Ubuntu provide Myth distros it literally is plug and play and FAR easier than it used to be. I would seriously put the the installation process up there with Windows especially in the case of Ubuntu. It's pretty much 1, 2, 3.

While having a separate backend / frontend can be a little frightening, that's necessary if you want your system to scale well.

 

[munkle]

I don't know if anyone has tried xbmc live, it was fairly easy to setup, but I didn't do much with it just messing around.

 

[bastage]

I would agree 4 or more years ago when you had to compile the front end and back end yourself (along with desired codecs) and pray that you didn't over update one of them. However, since MYTH provides a list of tuners and Fedora, Knoppix, and Ubuntu provide Myth distros it literally is plug and play and FAR easier than it used to be. I would seriously put the the installation process up there with Windows especially in the case of Ubuntu. It's pretty much 1, 2, 3.

While having a separate backend / frontend can be a little frightening, that's necessary if you want your system to scale well.

I have to admit Ubuntu installs are smooth, for a windows user they can still be fairly scary & in the cases where not everything does go right it makes it a royal PITA for the user not knowing what to do..

As far as having a separate backend/frontend.. That is my prefered method.. Right now my front end at each TV is the extenders & the Backend is my SageTV server. It does provide alot more flexability as if I need to add another TV to the mix then its simply adding another front end out of either an extender (50 used to 150 new) or build a most basic of PC..

For a single TV solution the HTPC is probably going to be the best bet, but I think once you start getting multiples in the hardware & power cost alone would make using something with extenders much more cost effective.