Thinking about getting DVR...but which one?

sthomas

I am looking into getting a DVR. I don't really want to pay a subscription fee every month so that would leave TiVo or going through the cable company out. There really isn't much out there after that. I am stuck between getting a Phillips DVDR or building my own DVR and using MythTV.

http://www.mythtv.org/

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-DVDR3575H-37-Upscaling-Built/dp/B000P76KXY/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1198250531&sr=8-1

I was going for the Phillips DVDR but then I read one of the reviews and the person said something about copy protection and most of their shows would not record anyway because of this.

What do you guys use for DVR or what would you suggest?

xwesleyxwillisx

Have an old PC laying around? You can always buy a tuner card and load up MythTV. It's a free, open-source DVR application that runs on Linux.

For a super-easy setup you can use an Ubuntu distro specially packaged with MythTV called Mythbuntu.

Here's a website where you can find more info http://mythbuntu.org/

A cheap and effective alternative to an expensive DVR with subscription fees.

Note with a HD tuner you can record HD content. As far as I know MythTV is fully loaded with features standard with the expensive DVRs from Tivo, etc....

sthomas

That is what I was thinking about doing at first, and I may still go that route. My uncle gave me a machine with a P4 2.53GHz processor in it. The only thing wrong is the PSU. I was going to use that and purchase this HDTV Linux card - http://www.pchdtv.com/

The thing is to record in HD mythtv recommends a 3.2GHz process. I am afraid I will spend all this cash and find out the video is choppy because my 2.53GHz processor won't cut it. I could upgrade but that may be more than I want to spend.