Useing my Computer as a VCR.

[RobertSmith]

I know it's possible to watch TV on my computer(although mine is not currently rigged up for that yet) What type of hardware and software would be needed to record stuff like I do with my VCR?

[mijman]

Well, you'd need some form of capture card, to send the TV stream into it, and you'd need a program to capture directly to mpg1 or mpg2. (AVI capture is limited to about 20 minutes, so it's not as practical) Lots of companies make stuff like this, so you'll have to do some shopping around. or check out http://www.videoguys.com/dtvhome.html for a nice capture card round-up.

[iant]

Not quite a true statement from Mijman there on AVI being limited to 20 minutes or so. That all depends on what compression you're using and whether you're doing multi segment captures. An AVI capture using VirtualDub, AVI_IO or equivalent program is only limited by the compression method and the amount of hard disk space available.
Personally, I'd say the first thing to make sure you have is a large hard drive. About 40 gig should at least give you a bit of breathing room. Then, as mijman said, there is the capture card. If you don't have a fast CPU, you'll want one with some level of hardware assist so it does some of the conversion work, either to avi or mpg1/mpg2. These inevitably cost more. It is sometimes cheaper to bump up the CPU and motherboard instead.
Then there's the next question. Do you only want to watch the shows you record on your monitor or on your TV? If it's the TV then you'll also need to have a card with TV output.
( Getting complicated isn't it? )
Now, do you want to record the shows to anything else like VHS tape or like a lot of the rest of us nuts here to (S)(X)VCDs. There's a CD burner as well. Want to go the whole hog and you're loaded as well.....get a DVD writer.

I hope this hasn't put you off the whole exercise. It's a lot of fun but it's a bit of mucking about getting started.

Hope this helps a bit.
Ian

[RobertSmith]

These are the specs of my Current Computer
AMD Athlon 800mhz
256 megs Ram
Total of 50 gigs hard drive(1 30g and 1 20 gig I need to install)
a 10x Generic DVD-Rom
12x10x32x Imation CD-RW
a Tnt2 M64 video card(I play to upgrade this to a Geforce 2 mx 400 with TV out option)

I'll be like the rest of you nuts and burn to a VCD. CDs are cheaper and take up alot less space the VHS tapes.

P.S DVD writers are out of my price range right now. I might wait untill they have a DVD/DD-Cd-RW combo for a nice price before getting 1(That is if the Double Density CDs ever catch on)