What is Digg?115 Comments
- TDShadow, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5People who think all DVRs are the same never used a TiVo day in and day out for a month. It's the less-than-obvious touches to the UI that make a TiVo what it is, and no amount of talk on digg is going to change a geeks mind.
Geeks shop by spec sheet and price sheet. No other considerations rate higher. Better looking? Better construction? Automatic updates? No tweaking? No viruses? None of that matters to a geek. If the CPU in their box is 0.1Ghz faster they will hug their bug-ridden box and gloat like an idiot. If they save $20, they will gladly spend every weekend tweaking the box.
These are the same people who spend all their time doing things TO their computer instead of doing things WITH their computer.
If they were into cars, they'd claim that we all need to build our own cars and people who went to dealerships are suckers - because they can build a car with a bigger engine, a faster transmission, and a wider driver's seat for $200 less. (Nevermind it looks like a rolling joke and leaks every time it rains)
If you buy a TiVo Series 2 and get the lifetime service, you will pay $299 + tax and you will not spend 50 to 100 man hours every year keeping it running at optimum levels. What is your time worth?
For non-gamers, the same argument can be made for buying a Mac.
For Gamers - go Alienware. - bacon_skoda, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Title is misleading. This is not building a TiVo box. This is building a DVR box.
If someone can build a real box running TiVo, then that is news.
I poop on your non-TiVo box. hehehe. - mogdor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I wouldn't call it a Tivo since it's not running Tivo software. Pretty cool though.
- dadenman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Lets see:
Windows - $100
Happauge Card - $150
Assorted other software - $300
Hooking it all up and troubleshooting the myriad problems? PRICELESS - nstrupp2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Not every DVR is a Tivo.
- crpietschmann, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I am building a DVR out of my old desktop. I have a copy of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 so I'm just using that for the DVR functionality. It's only costing me a little over $200 to upgrade the box to have a tv tuner card, new video card that has s-video out and a 250GB hard drive.
Take that TiVo! - TheRappingShoe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Not a lot of detailg given, no consideration of other possible options, no digg.
I'd go with a Knoppmyth system over a Windows setup every time. It's far cheaper and requires lower specs. Also probably far more stable too. - daze, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1considering the fact that tivo boxes are $30 on amazon after rebate, building your own inferior box sounds pointless
- carlvjack, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1But the all important test is:
Can my wife use this without calling me at work to ask for help? - p2btech, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"but tivo is like way cheaper. lol"
not really
If you buy the lowest one $199.99 (however now it's $150 for a limited time), plus thet 12.95 a month charge. In the first year you've spent $355, unless you go with the lifetime fee then it's $498. If you just use an older computer with minor upgrades you're not going to spend nearly that, nor pay the monthly fee. - choman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1mythTV.....enough said
- crpietschmann, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1And Windows Media Center Edition 2005 doesn't make you pay a monthly fee to get the TV listings data. ha...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Why would anyone build a TiVo?!
Just buy one. - Turtleboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Why are so many people digging this?
Have you people actually used a real Tivo? - perseon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Too much Windows. No digg.
- gregh3285, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've had my MythTV box running on a Celeron 366. You can use a MUCH older box that what he has. Still good page. Dugg. Wanna do the same on an even older box, visit: http://hawley.homeip.net/recycled-machine-mythtv.html
- super_structure, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1vypergts: "Believe it or not but you can buy a TiVo and not pay the monthly fee and it still works."
I thought TiVo had gone to service agreements back in Sept., like a cell phone carrier. Not that I'm complaining... a TiVo with the lifetime service is gold, baby! As for saving money on the DIY, sure you'll save money and have some great pride in ownership. However, I paid for the TiVo interface and the fact that it took me less than a half hour (mostly downloading guide data) to have it working.
master_of_fm: "they arent that quiet, espcially when the hard drives get old and start to crank
and whine."
My Series 2 is dead quiet. If it weren't for the green on light, I'd think it was busted. Yeah, it's that quiet.
I'd say, personally, that buying a used Series 2 with paid lifetime service off of eBay is the cheapest, easiest way to get a PVR. Windows MCE is pretty slick. I'd say it's probably the nicest interface that Microsoft ever developed prior to the XBox 360. The DIY PVR's are great, but require far too much front-end work and maintenance to rely on for home theater use. They're super geeky cool, but just too complicated for most users. - Sacrifusion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Double Dupe!
http://www.digg.com/technology/Free_TiVo:_Build_a_Better_DVR_out_of_an_Old_PC_2
http://www.digg.com/technology/Free_TiVo:_Build_a_Better_DVR_out_of_an_Old_PC
Not only is this old news but this exact same story have been Main Paged 3 times now. Try doing a little research. - lasmith, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1For an excellent free PVR solution check out www.gbpvr.com I use it at home and its great. Works with all hauppage cards, supports multiple tuners, has net radio, dvd player, picture viewer, and a lot of other stuff built in. Also has decent add-in support. There is a commercial skip plug-in that works really well. And you can also do off hour encoding to xvid or divx for storage.
- vypergts, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Believe it or not but you can buy a TiVo and not pay the monthly fee and it still works. You just won't get access to all the cool features like having an on-screen guide. But if you are only getting basic cable, then you probably know when all your shows are on anyways...
I tried BeyondTV in the past too and I must say it was very taxing on system resources, took a long time to start up, and didn't always update properly. Hands down TiVo > BeyondTV in terms of ease of setup, use, and cost. I've seen deals online for Series 2 TiVos that were pratically giving them away for free and the buyer made $20 after rebates. When the Series 3 gets released, the capabilities such as dual-tuner recording, cablecard compatability, and high-def are going to beat the pants off all but the most high-end computer units.
This is still a cool project but I think that dedicated pvrs are the way to go. I say get TiVo and use your old computer as extra storage and for running TiVoToGo + Direct Show Dump. - evilunleashed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Again, people commenting without reading, or at least comrehending, the article. Nowhere in this article does it say this is the best or only way to build your own DVR. Also, he never says it can't or shouldn't be done with any other OS or software. This is the way he did it with what he had available. Whether or not Linux/MythTV/knoppmyth/etc are better, worse, cheaper, more expensive, is irrelevant. This is about how he did it. Not how you thought it should be done.
++Digg for getting use out of an old Windows 2000 box. - gohoos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1(Haven't we seen enough of these articles?)
TiVo rocks! It's cheaper, and the interface is the best!
I can build one for more, but I'm free! Plus, anything that runs Linux is better!
I don't watch enough TV for one of these.
No digg. (But, TiVo is better! :) ) - Wasyu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Been there done that except mine is better and does not run MCE yes mythytv is harder to setup but I also can surf the web with this box and play old games via emulators such as xmame and epsx etc.
Windows games such as WoW and jedi acdamy also work via wine
It also was very low cost to built as I used a sempron 64 2800 oced to 3400 ,a cheapo ecs 755a2, and an old 64Mb geforce4Ti card .
The most expensive part was the pcHDTV 3000 about $170 usd which does work in linux and guess what it does do hdtv kinda a given from the name. - alex323, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"99% of the world uses Windows, it is great for every application."
I beg to differ. It's more like 85%. :/ - YamahaSteve, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I run MythTV on an old 800MHz P3 with a hauppage 250 card and a 80GB hard drive. I stream anything i want to any of my PCs and to one of two locations running Myth Frontend. I have my XBOX running XBMC with the mythtv front end extensions on it and I am currently working on building a small fanless machine for the living room to also stream from the backend. It rocks and besides the cost of the new machine for the living room, it was built out of junk you might throw away. Thats pretty cheap. Oh and I also have a Tivo which I love and it is pretty much flawless as fas as a PVR goes... but the Myth setup is soooo much more extensible and powerful. And Myth is free....
dont run that beyond tv stuff... why pay all that dough for windows + btv? - navinjohnson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you going to pay for DVR software SageTV http://www.sagetv.com/ is better than BeyondTV IMO. I have it set up to transcode my shows to mp4 and automatically throw them into iTunes for iPod viewing enjoyment.
- Bigmrj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Great digg! I'm whipping my Tivo out into the woods as we speak!
- lamprey187, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Don't whip your TiVo into the woods Bigmrj until you hack it first so you can receive skype calls on it.
- Sacrifusion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"cool but whats with the PS1 controllers?" - zombielich (0)
Emulation, google it. - master_of_fm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"My Series 2 is dead quiet. If it weren't for the green on light, I'd think it was busted. Yeah, it's that quiet" -super_structure
my brother got a series 2 tivo from my parents for xmas and i helped him set it up. they are quiet but not as quiet as my MCE box. plus i can burn DVDs of my shows, stream them to a notebook and over the internet for free. can your series 2 tivo do that? didnt think so. also every tivo that i have encountered that is over a year old the drive starts to make noise, this happens with any hard drive.
and depending on how good your hearing is and the environment you are in is the biggest factor. i am espcially sensitive to high frequency noise and i hear all sorts of electronic noise that most people dont. as long as anything is under 30dB you arent going to hear it while watching tv anyhow. - nullmind, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Just use MythTV.
- Darth_tater, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"@alex323:
Why the hell would you run a database for a DVR?"
dude. the channels and the programs and all that stuff.
it needs 2 be kept track of.... - Darth_tater, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"mythTV.....enough said"
damn straight
i know thats waht i use. - cell-gfx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Old as the hills" should be an additional option : check the date of the article - April 25, 2005. Nice. Badger's arse.
- kyote, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0sys9five (0) said: well I have no tivo monthly charge because I have directv :D
to which I replied:
Uh, how is that? I have directv with a dual tuner series 2 receiver and there's a tivo monthly charge on my directv bill. how'd you get out of paying it? - Sacrifusion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Geez. Ok, benlevon, you have only been a member since yesterday and you have been a real pain in at least 3 threads on here. Quit being a newb and let the big people talk.
- Cerberus047, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0ive already got one its called bittorrent...
- Bigmrj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Lamprey,
Definitely! The Skype/Tivo server up-link is around 96% complete. After that, the Jackson gnomes will be recording reruns of Desperate Housewife's. - KevinJ, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0MythTv...free and 1337
- FishyJoe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I don't think it's really fair to compare a system made with used parts with a new tivo. You can get a used tivo for next to nothing as well.
- nilclop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"I know digg isn't a site for tech support or a FAQ, but could anyone recommend me a TV tuner card that would be able (without a LOT of fussing) to record shows I set up but also be able to play my console through? I would like to invest in a card so I can record some shows for my girlfriend, but I'd also like to hook up my PS2 to it. I was thinking about the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150, but I think that it has a 2 second delay on it?"
The two second delay is because the WinTV-PVR series has the MPEG encoder onboard, meaning less stress on system resources. I'm not sure about console hookups on any of these cards. But you can always check out Hauppauge's website. - super_structure, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0djdole: "I still think MS should release a retail version of Windows Media Center edition so people can build their own boxes and not have to install Linux or use the 3rd party software"
My understanding is it's going to be called Windows Vista and will be available later this year. It is a shame they never released it a stand-alone app (or suite, whatever). - Turtleboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This isn't a Tivo. Misleading headline.
- diamondg14, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0No digg. Build me a High Def Tivo and I might care. S-Video/4:3/480i is sickening.
- AndrewTechie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I cannot in good conscience give this a digg....
Why would ANYONE use windows for a DVR? All the overhead....ohh...it burns....it burns....
MythTV....yes...it is linux....YES...it is a little bit harder to set up. AND YES.... it will work better.
My solution, albeit a bit more complicated, is quite a bit more elegant. MythTV backend....XBox Mediacenter front end. Works like a champ. - jk_baller23, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0too much to read. Also, how much are you actually saving rather than buying an actual TiVo box?
- AttroPheed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I wish someone would steal the clunky gui off MCE or tivo for a linux DVR app. Hideous and barely functional doesn't begin to describe the likes of mythtv or freevo.
- archer75, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Thats why Dish > DirectTV, no fee."
Dish does indeed have a DVR fee. It's $4.98/month. It's on thier website, look it up. - Gundam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Actually the Directv charge is $5.99 a month, probably added into your bill."
Thats why Dish > DirectTV, no fee. - luke--, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If you've got the cash and enough luck to get a Hauppage card (350s are good) that has a standard tuner in it (they vary even within the same card type) and enough knowhow to run through the setup, mythTV is awesome!
I've got a setup going right now that saves the television over ethernet to my 200gig hard drive in raw mpeg2 (well, .nuv) and I can stream it to my laptop or anywhere on my local network. I built it out of a freebie p3-500
And with the mythweb plugin, I'm able to schedule shows from any computer on my network, or even from work!
It's allowed me to watch a lot more quality television than I'm usually able to catch, i heart it. -
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