Has anyone converted their PC Into a Digital Video Recorder?

PH01

I was reading this article and it go me thinking that I'd like to try that myself.
But before I do i was wondering if any of you out there have tried this, and what do you think?

Spocker

Bought the Adaptec DVD Media center on Amazon (yes they wer ethe cheapest at the time!). I couldn't agree with forking out x amount of money to upgrade to a Sky+ box so this was an ideal solution.

I did have to buy one of these as well as I seriously began running out of space once I started to record stuff off the TV - a typical half hour program comes in about the 1.2Gb mark on the "good" as opposed to "best" setting.

For me it does fine - I just take an Rf out from the Sky digbox and thats all I need. If I can't watch it on one of the many +1 or repeat channels then I probably really didn't want to watch it anyways.

dabhal

Dr. Spock wrote:

For me it does fine - I just take an Rf out from the Sky digbox and thats all I need. If I can't watch it on one of the many +1 or repeat channels then I probably really didn't want to watch it anyways.

DO you have to do that everytime or is the unit linked into the sky box?
Did you have any problems(can you even :eek: ) with the scheduleing to record?

Spocker

dabhal wrote:

DO you have to do that everytime or is the unit linked into the sky box?

Sorry, should have said - PC is on a desk beside the Sky box. I leave the connection plugged in all the time because they are so close. If your PC is further away this may present a problem depending on how far away it is

dabhal wrote:

Did you have any problems(can you even :eek: ) with the scheduleing to record?

Just the one - let me explain: I put program XXX to record in the personal planner with the AutoView on and then use the supplied software (with the Adaptec Box) to schedule to record at the same time. The problem was that as my PC is reasonably old (~4 years) it seems to lose a couple of minutes on the clock every few months and I 'd lend up losing the first minute or two of the recording, but thats easily fixed once I kept an eye on it.

Bear in mind that I only use the Sky box for my signal - I ain't got cable or any other channels through the encoder - this is why I used the Autoview

quarryman

Dr. Spock wrote:

I put program XXX to record in the personal planner with the AutoView on

save that porn for later. now you're talkin baby. oh yeah. :cool:

deckie27

I have a setup like this
For it to work properly it is said you need a PVR 250 . as I found out after I bought a crap wintv card
and I would recommend a hugh hdd

you don't need a great graphics card as ur only going to use the TV out
I'm using media center 2004 but the bitch is it won't recognise my remote. (ATI bob)
MS are ready to release the irish version of media center but HP are dragging there heals on launching the hardware
I put mine together in a shuttle case looks good sitting under my big widescreen

Dec

dabhal

Dr. Spock wrote:

Just the one - let me explain: I put program XXX to record in the personal planner with the AutoView on and then use the supplied software (with the Adaptec Box) to schedule to record at the same time. The problem was that as my PC is reasonably old (~4 years) it seems to lose a couple of minutes on the clock every few months and I 'd lend up losing the first minute or two of the recording, but thats easily fixed once I kept an eye on it.

Bear in mind that I only use the Sky box for my signal - I ain't got cable or any other channels through the encoder - this is why I used the Autoview

I take it from that, you can't set the software to record every eposide of the simpsons or a program thats on the next day?

Spocker

Errr.... have to say never tried it. I was recording Reeling in the Years when it was on and granted that was once a day but I was at home to push record at the time. I'd guess it's depend on the software that comes with your device but I can't see any problems - it's not really rocket science is it?

PH01

Dr. Spock wrote:

Bought the Adaptec DVD Media center on Amazon (yes they wer ethe cheapest at the time!). I couldn't agree with forking out x amount of money to upgrade to a Sky+ box so this was an ideal solution.

I did have to buy one of these as well as I seriously began running out of space once I started to record stuff off the TV - a typical half hour program comes in about the 1.2Gb mark on the "good" as opposed to "best" setting.

For me it does fine - I just take an Rf out from the Sky digbox and thats all I need. If I can't watch it on one of the many +1 or repeat channels then I probably really didn't want to watch it anyways.

Cheers Doc, that's great feedback.
Kinda reckoned I would need a big mf of a HD - and once you have a DVD burner, you're made.

BTW, I read somewhere that you need about 13 gigs for 1 hour of raw video footage (see) - is this the usual?

statto

Just got a Win-PVR-500 and using SageTV. It's the business. A bit tricky to set up as the PVR-500 is designed for MCE 2005. However, a bit of messing around got it working. It has an EPG ( a bit fiddly to set up), can pause live TV and even rewind live TV!!!. You can also set the recording quality thereby reducing the space requirement.

[nicK]

does any of ye actually have yer pc connected to the tv to view the recorded shows?

what's the quality like?

deckie27

I have one of my PC's setup with only a TV
the recorded shows look great. Also use it to watch Divx or whatever and have my mp3's on it also.
I have the res set at 800 * 600 and the font size on the desktop set as large as it will go.

Dec

Gurgle

I use a cheap winTV card with video on co-ax and the 2 audio channels on twisted pairs. They're plugged into a switchable SCART adaptor on the back of the SKY box.

[nicK] wrote:

does any of ye actually have yer pc connected to the tv to view the recorded shows?

Yep, via SCART using the same cable.

[nicK] wrote:

what's the quality like?

Very good

I generally record at a setting of 1/2 DVD quality which seems to give the best results. When its on DVD quality, more faults appear in the picture, presumably due to my PC's performance.

Only problem I have is that I only put in one set of wires so I have to swap them round at the PC end to switch between recording and playback. They're buried behind skirting boards and the fireplace so its not too easy to put in a second set.

Syth

I was thinking of doing that.

Dr. Spock, so the british TV cards will work OK here in Ireland? Different TV formats mean less shopping around. I wasn't sure that th british ones worked here.

statto

deckie27 wrote:

I have one of my PC's setup with only a TV
the recorded shows look great. Also use it to watch Divx or whatever and have my mp3's on it also.
I have the res set at 800 * 600 and the font size on the desktop set as large as it will go.

Dec

What set up are you using. I connected my wintv-pvr-500 to my TV (28 widescreen) via the TV out on my Radeon 9800 pro. The quality was dreadful - certainly made me think twice before moving the PC into living room.

ChRoMe

The only distinction between formats on tv tuner cards is pal/ntsc

ChRoMe

Gurgle

statto wrote:

What set up are you using. I connected my wintv-pvr-500 to my TV (28 widescreen) via the TV out on my Radeon 9800 pro. The quality was dreadful - certainly made me think twice before moving the PC into living room.

The resolution on a TV is crap compared to a monitor anyway but for full-screen video you should get as good a picture on the TV as with a DVD player.
Having said that, I did have some problems with the pin-cushion / pin-balance setup.

Syth

ChRoMe wrote:

The only distinction between formats on tv tuner cards is pal/ntsc

ChRoMe

Excellent. Looking over Wikipedia entry on PAL, one can see that there is many types of PAL, so I thought they might be non-interoperatable. I'll just email one of the companies to check.

talking_walnut

The only distinction between formats on tv tuner cards is pal/ntsc

Not true. Ireland and the UK are on the PAL-I system. Other European countries use the PAL B/G or D/K. The card has to support PAL-I to work here.

Got caught with this before when I got a card from Germany. Buy from the UK to be safe.

deckie27

statto wrote:

What set up are you using. I connected my wintv-pvr-500 to my TV (28 widescreen) via the TV out on my Radeon 9800 pro. The quality was dreadful - certainly made me think twice before moving the PC into living room.

~I'm using a wintv card not great but
For output I use a ati 9200 pro (vivo) while using the s-vid its crap but the video out works great. I'm displaying this on a 32" widescreen

Syth

talking_walnut wrote:

Not true. Ireland and the UK are on the PAL-I system. Other European countries use the PAL B/G or D/K. The card has to support PAL-I to work here.

Got caught with this before when I got a card from Germany. Buy from the UK to be safe.

I emailed Hauppauge (they make TV cards) and they said that a UK one would work.

unkel

Syth wrote:

I emailed Hauppauge (they make TV cards) and they said that a UK one would work.

That's what talking_walnut is saying. Ireland and UK use same system. Cards from other countries won't work or at best have video but no audio

Lump

Yea, I have. Rarely use it though. My Pc is too expensive to keep running all day just to record a film.... It's got a lot of add-ons etc. I might blag my dad to buy me a HD recorder for my B-day.


John

OfflerCrocGod

ChRoMe wrote:

The only distinction between formats on tv tuner cards is pal/ntsc

That's an insult to the French

PH01

Lump wrote:

Yea, I have. Rarely use it though. My Pc is too expensive to keep running all day just to record a film.... It's got a lot of add-ons etc. I might blag my dad to buy me a HD recorder for my B-day.


John

Who's Your Daddy?! (sorry, couldn't help myself):D

How much would be a HD Recorder? And I presume you can back-up to a DVD, yeah?

kenmc

I've got two... a mythtv setup and a Philips HDRW 720. Whilst the mythtv is good, it's a bit less integrated than the philips unit. that said the mythtv does a bit more, eg jukebox, weather grab, news grab etc. What the philips does nicely is that you can edit out the ads from a program before you burn it to a DVD so that you only get what you want onto the disk....

Lump

DVD HDD Recorders are about 500 to 600 euro... I don't think I'll be getting one Didn't realise they were so expensive


John

kenmc

can't live w/out mine. I was the same opinion, cept I got mine as a gift. would never give it back. totally changed the way we watch TV no more ads for us! instant reply as well, and pause tv. savage.

K