Help with building home grown Tivo - Media MVP.

[StevePupel]

I want Tivo functionality, but I want complete control over my content, and I want to be able to easily add capacity as needed.

I'm thinking about going with SnapStream Beyond TV 4 to schedule/capture the shows I want. And then using the Media MVP from Hauppage to be able to select and then view my shows on my TV.

Are there any limitations to this? I mean, what would Tivo be able to do that I couldn't do with the solution above?

One question I can think of is, will the Media MVP recognize recordings that are still in the process of being recorded. In other words, would I be able to watch a show that is still being recorded. I know that Beyond TV 4 says you can pause live TV, but I'm not sure if the Media MVP would recognize or be able to access files that are still being written to..

If any of you can think of any other limitations to my potential solultion I would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks,

Steve

[greymalkin]

i tried beyond tv..was not impressed.

i would seriously consider giving gbpvr a try. I've tried lots of them and thats the one that had the stability/ease of use/features i was looking for.

as far as watching the shows while you are recording them...it's possible since it's an mpeg stream...but it sounds risky to me reading and writing to the same file.

as far as using media mvp to store your shows..the gbpvr will do that all for you. it has an epg, scheduled recordings, and it also stores your library of recorded shows and music.

you can watch the show while you are recording, but you cannot watch other shows unless you have a second tuner card. you can do the pause and rewind tv thing too. I usually just use mine to schedule recordings and burn to dvd.

[jdizzy40]

Beyond TV is great. Been using for over 3 years. Currently using Version 4. Have 4 TV Tuners in my PVR Box with 1 TB of storage. The amount of features are unbelievable. You name it, it can do it. TIVO doesn't even come close. Media MVP which I also own is fine for accessing content already recorded. But if you are going to build a PVR, hook it up to your TV. Use it like a TIVO. You can watch shows while they are being recorded. Fast forward rewind etc. Consider buying the PVR 500MCE version (Two Tuners). I run 1 500 MCE, 1 PVR 250, and an NVPVR Tuner. Beyond TV now supports FM radio as well. The 500 MCE has FM radio. You can build a nice system. I have thoroughly enjoyed mine. Oh and one last thing, a nice feature is you can be anywhere and send a remote recording to your computer (as long as it is on). Several times I have found out something would be on and accessed my account via snapstream and sent a remote recording to my computer to start recording. Nice feature as well.

[StevePupel]

Jdizzy40,

You said "But if you are going to build a PVR, hook it up to your TV." That's exactly what i'm trying to do.

How do you hook it up to your TV when the computer's in a different room? Some of the cards have the red/white/yellow outputs, is this what you're thinking?

Also, I want to be able to select the show I want, and be able to control the playback all from my couch in the TV room.

I think I'm sold on Beyond TV 4, but I need to bring the functionality from my computer to a TV in the next room. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve

[yoda313]

How do you hook it up to your TV when the computer's in a different room? Some of the cards have the red/white/yellow outputs, is this what you're thinking?

Something like this maybe???

http://www.etronics.com/product.asp?stk_code=pylplvm3&sbvname=505

There are more advanced models for sure. But this might get you thinking.

[jdizzy40]

You need to consider building a dedicated system to handle your PVR duties. This way it stays clean of all the other issues. All it will do is access the internet for guide updates and run Beyond TV 4. Yes you can make your own S-Video cable as long as you want, but then how to you transfer the IR signal for a remote? The signal is output through your video card not the tuner. Put the unit in a nice Media case to blend in with your other entertainment components, with plenty of cooling and you will be set. Here is my latest In a Antec Overture II case.

[Denvers Dawgs]

I want Tivo functionality, but I want complete control over my content, and I want to be able to easily add capacity as needed.
Steve

If you buy a tivo you can easily purhcase and upgrade kit from weaknees.com. They supply you with hardrive, and kits/connectors that you need. I had a 40hr tivo, added a 160GB harddrive took about 15minutes to do. Simple instructions. Now I have about 160hrs of space for recording.

[redwudz]

I use the same case as jdizzy40 for my setup. I output from a ATI Radeon 9550 through a ATI DVI to Component adapter to my video projector.

I have 25 foot extensions for the mouse, keyboard and monitor so I can operate the computer from the other side of the room. The computer is hooked into a cable modem for net access.

I also have a OTA HDTV card for HDTV reception.

There's a lot of ways to do this. But a dedicated computer is probably the best.

A question for jdizzy40, is your PS fan on that case loud? I ended up putting in a different one as their 'fan controller' never seemed to work.

[Denvers Dawgs]

Several times I have found out something would be on and accessed my account via snapstream and sent a remote recording to my computer to start recording. Nice feature as well.

You can do that through Tivo as well through Tivo Central (as long as your unit it connected to your network) . So that's no big deal?

[jdizzy40]

Redwuz: I added another side fan and installed the fan controller to keep things moving but not be so loud. I also hot glued a 120 mm fan on the end of my TV Tuners to blow air over them. I prefer a computer PVR over a TIVO as beyond TV can when you are sleeping perform show squeeze (remove) commericials and output to a handheld format such as DIVx. Will also sync with Windows Media Player.

[jdizzy40]

My other Home entertainment center in the bedroom uses the same case Overture I which needed some air modification.

[greymalkin]

wow you guys are serious about this stuff . I would definitely take their advice over mine anyday. I'm really just a casual every now and then recorder I've wanted to build a dedicated pvr for quite some time, but the college tuition is sucking the life out of me right now...

[redwudz]

I use a AMD 64 754 CPU and SATA hard drives. Both of them run very cool, so the only heat is the ATI videocard with a passive heatsink. The case runs almost silent except for that PS fan. The fan still has some kind of harmonic noise. I can lift one side of the case a little and it quits. I'm not looking forward to taking the case and power supply apart again, but it bothers me. I wish I had put rubber grommets on it while I replaced the fan.

I was going to control my setup from the other room also. I have my computers networked together. What I did for a while was log into the other computer from my laptop and use it to control the recordings and playback. My laptop is sitting on my coffee table. For the video and audio, I just used shielded video and audio cables from the next room to the TV. Not elegant, but it worked fine.

But I decided a dedicated computer would be better and it made sense to use a desktop case. It fits right in with my other audio equipment, though it is a little longer. Now I just have the computer monitor on a shelf beside the couch and the keyboard on a drawer underneath the coffee table.

I get most of my videos from the net. The OTA HDTV locally is not that great for content yet, so I rarely record it. The cable is OK and the HDTV card can handle that as it tunes the analog channels.

What I like is having a lot of videos in Xvid format ready to play. I have two 300GB hard drives for storage, and a smaller separate one for the OS.

Once you get it all set up, it's not much more difficult to operate and schedule recordings than a VCR. I also use Beyond TV and EPG from my cable for scheduling recordings.