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- Odwalla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+36>> Free DVR = Linux + MythTV
>> Check it out. www.mythtv.org
That's great if you only want to record standard def or over-the-air HD. Show me a PC based solution (MCE2005, BeyondTV, MythTV, SageTV, etc...) that can do either cable based HD or satellite based HD. You can't. None of those systems work with encrypted signals or satellite. None of those work with cable card. Of the ones I listed MCE will be the first to get CableCard. CableLabs won't certify homebrew solutions so only the big players are going to get CabelLabs certification and the big players sell MCE boxes. Without certification the cable company doesn't have to lease or install a CableCard in your device.
So yeah, have at it with MythTV, just don't expect to have somethingn that in any way rivals a Series 3 Tivo with it's dual CableCard slots/inputs, dual SD inputs, and dual over-the-air HD inputs. - samdu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+21"i've never understood why people get Tivo when they can get plain ol' dvr's"
Then you've never used a TiVo. - timdorr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14"There's no market for this overpriced POS. I get a dual HD recorder through Comcast for like $5 extra a month. TiVo to file chapter 13 in 3...2....1...."
Anyone who's used Comcast's "DVR" understands how much of a piece of crap it is over a Tivo. Tivo simply beats the crap out of Comcast's offering. You can use TivoToGo and watch everything it records on your iPod. Kinda like podcasting, but for actual TV. Plus, it's not hackable like a Tivo. There's all kinds of crazy things you can do with a Tivo that you simply cannot do with that $5 comcast box... - Odwalla, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16>> There's no market for this overpriced POS. I get an dual HD recorder through Comcast for
>> like $5 extra a month. TiVo to file chapter 13 in 3...2....1....
Comcast is switching the software in their boxes (Motorolla, not Scientific Atlanta) to run TiVo instead of the basic DVR software they currently run. Cox is doing the same. - rgunther, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Um...'cause...plain 'ol DVRs typically suck...? Hands down, TiVo offers the best DVR user experience. It's way easy to learn, it has a fantastic spousal/family acceptance factor, and it just works--no tweaking, no clicking through cryptic icons, no finger-crossing that it will record. It just works. For the past few years I've been hating on TiVo because they've been so late to the HD game. Frankly, I'm betting that this device and their recent deals with Cox and Comcast are game-changing--for them and for the DVR industry. TiVo is back!
- digitalgopher, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13$799 apparently:
http://www.hdbeat.com/2006/08/27/series-3-to-be-released-september-17th-for-799/
I think I'll pass and stick with my media center... $799? c'mon TiVo! - samdu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Nonsense? CableCARD will free tha average Joe from the crappy box their cable company supplies. We should be pushing ALL cable companies and CE companies (and computer companies, for that matter), to support CableCARD.
- Odwalla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8The DVR in my local cable company's (Insight) set top box is no better than a VCR in terms of programming. There's no such thing as a season pass. The best it can do is "Record this channel at this time, regardless of what is on or what the current lineup for the channel might be." TiVOs are channel agnostic, they know which show you want to watch. That's a much more intelligent system.
Comcast and Cox users are lucky in that they're getting TiVo in their set-top boxes. DirecTV users are decently covered with DTV's DVR. I've heard decent things about the DishNetwork DVR, although I've never used it. But for a large proportion of people the cable company's offering is abysmal and spending some money on a TiVO is a sound decision. - Odwalla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7You don't, and you probably never will. Not unless a manufacturer wants to see a turn-key system based on Myth and is willing to pay the money necessary to get their unit certified by CableLabs. No CL cert = no CableCard support. It sucks, but it's the truth.
- golgo13, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6It's as if, at the moment you read the article, you suddenly decided to dump every thought in your head onto this web page.
- blapierre, on 10/12/2007, -12/+17Free DVR = Linux + MythTV
Check it out. www.mythtv.org - MikeMacMan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6How do you receive HDTV Cable / Satellite content with a myth box?
- samdu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Or just get a cheap DVI to HDMI cable. Even the HR10-250 HD DirecTiVo has an HDMI out in lieu of DVI. Let go of DVI folks, it's dead.
- AceTracer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5This guy is taking pictures of this thing like it's a porn star.
"I see you baby, shakin' that ass."
There are few people geekier than me, but even I think that's a little pathetic. - wbeck85, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Wait for it.... wait for it......... "geekier than I..." !!
woot, I'm geekier! - mingistech, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5How did they get this and when is it on sale?????
oh yea.... and how much $$$ is this gonna set us back.
I WANT ONE! - MikeMacMan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4hackmiester:
Please explain to me how analog cable and HDTV work together?
rusty0101:
As far as I know, you can do firewire from your cable box to your pc but only on a FEW cable systems that allow it. Most cable providers disable the firewire port. - DocNo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@panique
Look closely at the last picture.
That port that's labeled "External Storage" between the cable card slots and the antenna connectors.
It even has (E-SATA) in small text under the External Storage label :p - etechonline2002, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3That Tivo has "Mod me" written all over it. even right out of the box its a sexy peice of hardware
- BLKMGK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@mattyj - Oh yeah and don't get too excited about the HD DTIVO either. That sucker won't do MPEG4 and guess what DIRECT is switching to. Yup, MPEG4! Their "new" PVRs do NOT run TIVO software and SUCK. When I can no longer watch what I want on my hacked TIVO I'll move to something else, perhaps this S3, that will allow me to do what I want. Sorry Direct but I switched to you because the DISH PVRs sucked, I will just as easily switch to cable if your PVRs begin to suck....
- rusty0101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3hackmister:
There is a slight difference between what you are talking about and getting the HD content that the original post requested. At best you can get s-video into a pvr card on a myth box out of either a cable box or a sat tuner. So far as I know you can't (yet) use the firewire connection on the back of a cable tuner to download video from it to a pvr, though that may have changed recently. Unless your sat tuner has a firewire data connection to do more than change channels, you are unlikely to be able to do that their either.
Potentially you can capture from a component video source, though I don't recall all that many video capture cards for Linux that do component video in.
Until a capture card out there supports CableCARD and is supported under Linux, the best you are going to get from Digital Cable is unencrypted channels. Even there, not every cable company is going to send all of the signals you will need to capture, so you could still be out of luck.
A potential source for information on what DV cards are available and work under some Linux kernels is knoppmythwiki.org, search for TVCards. - zdiggler, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3If cable start offering these boxes in their market in Metro Areas people will switch from Directv HD Tivo to Cable! Its newer and its Tivo and its got home networking too!
Satellite Companies got Edge years ago with technology and pricing but they fell short on HD and OnDemand services.
I have seen a tons of DVR's but Nothing beats ReplayTV and TiVo! - DanmanD87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2When this drops down to sub-$500 and I have a real HDTV, I might replace my Series 2
- IcerC, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I have a series2 with lifetime.
Once this breaks I shall quit TV..
Without Tivo can't watch tv and for $799 + monthly is too much for it. - Spazkake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2HD, nuff said.
- imtigger2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2baloop-baloop-baloop! :)
- MikeMacMan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2My whole point for my post is this:
As far as I know, Myth TV only does HDTV on "Antenna" stations. A few cable boxes will do HD over firewire, etc but the majority won't work. I really want to get rid of my monthly Tivo subscriptions and get Myth TV but I don't see a Myth box doing HDTV like the Tivo 3 will.
If I am wrong please tell me. I would love to do a Myth box for HD Cable / Satellite. - nathanm412, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2ODWALLA-
I also have insight. They just came out with a new DVR, but aren't advertising it. If you call them up, they might just switch them out for you. I had the same DVR you do until moving to my new apartment. They set me up with a unit with dual tuners, more recording time, and the ability to record the entire series of an episode. Much closer to tivo than their current box. - AceTracer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Mmm, watching digital cable in HD..
Nothin' better!
Enough with the lame MythTV comments already. - seventoes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Because of that awsome bubble sound!
- Anth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2$799 is steep in my opnion. My ceiling price was $599. If TiVo runs a deal where I agree to subscribe for 2 years and they bring it down to $599 (or maybe even $649) I'll get it. A $799 price is a bit much. I'm inclined to wait until after Christmas and see if it drops (the original TiVos went through several price cuts within the first year of being on the market, maybe this will do the same).
But then again with TiVo making deals with all the cable companies, you can get a rental TiVo from your cable company. It'll be less feature rich than a regular TiVo but still it'll have the interface and core features. - MikeMacMan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2timdorr:
As far as I know, most cable boxes have the firewire port disabled. It all depends on if you're lucky enough to have a cable provider that allows it. Most cable companies don't want you making digital copies of their content. - BLKMGK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Agreed - the SAT companies had better watch out. I don't much care HOW I get my content be it cable or SAT although SAT has no issues with cut cables. I switched from DISH after something like 4 years to Direct because I wanted a DTIVO and knew that the DISH PVR sucked. Now Direct in their infinite wisdom has moved away from TIVO to their own CRAPPY PVR while TIVO is releasing a PVR that does HD on cable. Hrm, how long do you think it will be before me and MANY others dump SAT? Pssst - not long once that S3 drops in price!
I will be doing a decent sized upgrade to my AV stuff here pretty soon. New TV with a big screen and HD capability. I'll need a signal for it in order to enjoy it and while OTA is nice I'll want as much HD as possible and I'll want to record it. I've been using TIVO for years now and have hacked the DTIVO I've got to do exactly what *I* want. Think I'm going to use Direct's crappy PVR or switch services back to cable? It's a no-brainer, Direct can bite me and I'll tell them the same thing I told DISH - you don't have what I want and I won't come back till you do. 'Nuff said, screw 'em. - Fotograffiti, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2$7.99 I think I can swing that *L*
- JohnboiWaltune, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3When can I have a CableCARD in my homebrew home theater PC? On a PCI card?
Let me answer my own question. Never, that's when. - eddigg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Ahh, missed the HDMI when I first looked. Thanks, that works
- Lane, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1those connections really do look great. if only i had such a high quality out put : / i have tech envy!!!
- sdether, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've got a Series 1 with the biggest HD i could fit in it (old controller) and it's been running strong for 6 years now. I also have a Humax Series 2. POS. HD started clicking on day one (but never gave out, just froze and rebooted a bunch). Swapping in a 250GB as soon as the warranty was out. Runs much better, but still choppier than my Series 1. Go figure.
I have an HD TV, but have not bothered buying HD Cable, because if I can't TiVo it, I don't watch it. And the timewarner box is crap after 6 year of TiVO UI spoilage.
$799 is steep. But I want one. I'll see what deals can be found by christmas, but one of those boxes will be under the tree for sure. - rusty0101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That kind of depends upon how long your series 2 TiVo lasts, and what happens to prices on the Series 3 in the interim, doesn't it? How much was a Series 1 when it was first released? And a Series 2? (I think when I first saw them they were already in the $599 range, and dropping, with a few specials at some retailers)
The $799 looks like an introductory price for this hardware. With cable companies using the TiVo software in their own boxes, I think it is likely that the after market prices are going to start going down. It would not surprise me if they are well under $500 by next summer. About $400 in time forchristmass next year, and shortly after that you won't be able to find a Series 2 anywhere on the market. - colklink, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Well, if it wasn't $800 I would want one even though I have a "plain ol' dvr". The main reason is that the user interface for the Time Warner DVRs (and also Comcast) sucks. It looks ugly, has horrible menu colors, and lacks useful features. TiVo seems to have a lot more options and has a better UI (especially for searching for shows).
- panique, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3No SATA port???!?!! I thought the beta units had a SATA port so you could add an external drive to increase capacity.
- eddigg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2No DVI output??!??!??!?
- euthman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I paid $1000 for my HD DirecTiVo (the HR10-250), so $800 looks pretty sweet in comparison!
- timdorr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"Show me a PC based solution (MCE2005, BeyondTV, MythTV, SageTV, etc...) that can do either cable based HD or satellite based HD. You can't."
Actually, my current MCE box can. It just requires a cable box to change the channels and it rips the stream from the Firewire port that is required to work by the FCC (for once they don't screw us over...). It's cludgey, but it works.
But the Tivo does have the advantage of ease of setup, ease of use, and transparent operation. My MCE box is really only good for recording stuff and watching it after the fact (like frame-by-frame parts of Lost). I'm totally dumping it once this S3 box comes out. - MikeMacMan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@skoobert
I did a little research and you're right. But it sounds like the firewire port only works for some stations that aren't encrypted. How many of your stations can you get using firewire? Is it mostly the local stations that aren't encrypted or can you receive most stations over firewire? - MikeCerm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2$800 is way to much money, and then you've got to pay a monthly fee. If TIVO doesn't start licensing their tech, or racking up contracts with cable/satellite providers, they're dead in the water. I can already get a lesser device from my cable company, that will record HD, for $10/month.
A MCE or MythTV box is much more flexible, useful, and cheaper. If I'm going to spend $800, it'll be on a media center PC. - Prozium, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1cable companies won't be offering the series3 boxes. What Comcast and Cox will be offering in the future are the motorola DVR boxes running the basic tivo interface.
- BLKMGK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@mattyj - umm why are you using software to *encode* the HD stream? The data is already encoded for starters. You can use external USB HDTV tuners to capture the data and then simply write it to disk. Decoding is where the HP is needed, you doing that on two channels at once? If not then this isn't nearly as hard as you're making it out to be and *is* being done by some software packages for the PC on OTA content.
That said - I'd agree Myth has a ways to go but projects like KnoppMyth help you get started. At this point though I'm using MCE, a hacked XBOX runnnig XBMC, and some other toys. The S3 looks SWEET and may be what it takes to get me off of Direct but it will be damned hard to give up my DTIVO. I keep hoping someone will take apart a cablecard and get it working with Linux and a really smooth working Myth setup. Perhaps when Hell freezes over?
What I want to see are pics of the innards and an analysis of the hard drive software. Something that will tell us if we're going to have to PROM mod this baby like the 2.5 models :-( I expect so and I expect I WILL do it but man it sux that you have to goto these extremes. Off to Dealdatabase I go..... :-) - skoobert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@MikeMacMan
"As far as I know, most cable boxes have the firewire port disabled. It all depends on if you're lucky enough to have a cable provider that allows it. Most cable companies don't want you making digital copies of their content."
You are incorrect. Cable providers are required by law to provide you with firewire out on your HD box if you request it. - mattyj, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3MythTV is a good idea for analog cable or OTA, but PC's generally lack in resources for getting full HD content to your TV. At best you can get some 720 action, but forget about 1080i with a Linux box.
If you really wanted to try it, you'd have to spend a couple hundred bucks on a good motherboard and CPU, gigs of RAM, a hundy on a tuner card, giant hard drive. Let's not forget a super-fast video card, which ain't cheap, HDMI cable... You're up over $500 already. If you want more than one HD tuner at a time, forget it. It's not gonna happen for less than a grand worth of hardware. Encoding two HD streams at once is not something that a leftover PC from last summer is going to be able to do.
I've tried it, I wasted a lot of money on it, it just won't work. Also note that many cable companies have a handful of true HD channels and the rest are analog. Getting HD and analog hardware/drivers to work together in Linux is not fun, either, and I've been a Linux nerd since SuSE 7.0.
I learned a lot during my MythTV experience, and now I have a semi-decent PC laying around with nothing to do, but it was ultimately a waste of time and money. Had I saved the $500 plus I spent on the thing then the Series 3 would only cost me an extra $300! Sweet!
The non-tv features on MythTV are almost worth it, though. It is a PC afterall and could make a pretty kick-ass media server.
I was a loyal DirecTV customer for years and their DirecTV HD systems are very appealing to me right now. I saw an HD tuner (the last one with Tivo, the model 15 I think) at Costco for 350, plus another 50 for a used 3 LUN dish... set you up nice. Now THAT would be worth every penny.
PS Parts for sale :)
Fusion HDTV 5 Lite HD tuner
Air2PC HD5000 Tuner
Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 PCI
Make offer!
-mattyj -
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