Building my own home theater PC (Tivo like device) - F-Body Road Racing and Autocross Forums

My wife wants a Tivo badly. But after looking at them and some of the very limited features I think I can build something better for the same price using an old PC. Computer wise I have an old 550 MHz P3 that I would like to use becuase currently it's just sitting in the corner taking up space. I realize this may not be enough, but I plan on using the Hauppauge 500 card which has hardware encoding, so I don't think I need a powerfull PC. If I use hardware encoding all the processor is going to do is control the streaming of data to disk and run the interface program, which I think a P3 should be able to do. Anyone have any advice as far as software (Beyond TV, Sage, etc.)? I'm leaning toward using windows since my wife will be using this and I really don't want to put myself through the pain of teaching her Linux (which I'm sure she doesn't want either).

As far as hardware/software I think I need:
1. TV tuner card (leaning towards Hauppauge 500 so I can record one channel while watching another)
2. Video card with TV out (not sure want I want, but a Matrox G200 TV should be cheap)
3. Need a lot more then the 8 GB harddrive the computer currently has. I'm thinking about 300 GB should do it.
4. Software (Beyond TV, Sage, Windows Media Center, etc.)
5. Remote

I guess I should say that I want to go the PC route instead of Tivo becuase my wife likes to review her favorite shows all at once. So I plan on burning her shows to DVD, so that she can watch them all at once. The only feature that I have not seen is that when you are looking at a show is there any software that will tell you what season and episode number the show is? That would make it alot easier to put the shows in the correct order on the DVD. Does a Tivo even do this? Any advice is appreciated.

pknowles View Member Profile	Jan 20 2007, 04:05 PM Post #1
Experienced Member Group: Advanced Members Posts: 1,427 Joined: 12-February 04 From: Huntingtown, MD Member No.: 193	My wife wants a Tivo badly. But after looking at them and some of the very limited features I think I can build something better for the same price using an old PC. Computer wise I have an old 550 MHz P3 that I would like to use becuase currently it's just sitting in the corner taking up space. I realize this may not be enough, but I plan on using the Hauppauge 500 card which has hardware encoding, so I don't think I need a powerfull PC. If I use hardware encoding all the processor is going to do is control the streaming of data to disk and run the interface program, which I think a P3 should be able to do. Anyone have any advice as far as software (Beyond TV, Sage, etc.)? I'm leaning toward using windows since my wife will be using this and I really don't want to put myself through the pain of teaching her Linux (which I'm sure she doesn't want either). As far as hardware/software I think I need: 1. TV tuner card (leaning towards Hauppauge 500 so I can record one channel while watching another) 2. Video card with TV out (not sure want I want, but a Matrox G200 TV should be cheap) 3. Need a lot more then the 8 GB harddrive the computer currently has. I'm thinking about 300 GB should do it. 4. Software (Beyond TV, Sage, Windows Media Center, etc.) 5. Remote I guess I should say that I want to go the PC route instead of Tivo becuase my wife likes to review her favorite shows all at once. So I plan on burning her shows to DVD, so that she can watch them all at once. The only feature that I have not seen is that when you are looking at a show is there any software that will tell you what season and episode number the show is? That would make it alot easier to put the shows in the correct order on the DVD. Does a Tivo even do this? Any advice is appreciated.

trackbird View Member Profile	Jan 23 2007, 03:21 AM Post #2
FRRAX Owner/Admin Group: Admin Posts: 15,432 Joined: 13-February 04 From: Ohio Member No.: 196	QUOTE (Ynnek888 @ Jan 22 2007, 07:23 PM) However, for digital cable and stuff, its not going to happen until CableCard improves. My friend at Comcast claims that CableCard support will improve and be actively supported by Comcast in about a year or so.. I'll believe it when I see it! Also, the CableCard interface supposedly will NOT be available for build it your selfer's.. meaning they will only officially sell them out to places like Dell and such. Blah! Many new HD TV's are dropping cable cards. My 8 month old 50" doesn't have it, my fathers new 50" plasma doesn't have it and many are going away from it. Most of the dealers say that the market is going away from cable cards and it looks to be true. I'd not count on that technology to save you, I'm not sure it can save its self at this point. QUOTE (JKnight @ Jan 22 2007, 08:18 PM) As far as I know you can't just buy Windows Media Center. I believe it has to be installed and delivered on a computer by a licensed dealer. I could of course be wrong. Media center OEM version (less expensive, just as good): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16832116171 I have two laptops and one desktop running Media Center. It has most (if not all) of the features of XP Pro for less money. I don't use the media stuff (played with it for about 3 minutes total), so I can't say what it can or can't do.