questions on building a dvr

[dario03]

(Not sure if I'm in the right section.)

I want a dvr but I'm not going to pay my cable company $15 a month for one plus do a upgrade to get it. I was looking to see if anybody here has experience with buying or building their own dvr. I'm looking for a cheap solution because I'm cheap.

I was thinking of building one from old computer parts. I already have a Amd xp2900 and a amd64 3000, motherboard, case, psu, and maybe a hard drive.
What kind of video card and video capture card would be good?
Would I need one of the better capture cards since I have a decent cpu that would only be doing dvr stuff?
Whats some good software?
How much ram should I get?

Would it be cheaper to just buy a dvr?
What are some good nonsubscription dvr?

Any links to informative sites would be nice to :)

[p8ntslinger676]

i recommend doing this:

buy cheap dvr:

link:http://www.4electronicwarehouse.com/products/directv/dvr.html?id=1454&utm_source=froogle&utm_term=DVR&utm_campaign=directv&utm_medium=comparison

buy/find large hard drive and do a swap :D (probably files on the original hd so you would have to copy them to the new hd)

[dario03]

Could I make that DirecTV DVR work without DirecTV service?

[ooeric]

a settop box (the premade ones) are quick and fast to use.

making a pc , itll do more things on top. like DLing bootlegs and housing your music library.

but youll be in a s|-|it hole if you need to record something thats gonna come on in 10 secs. with a non running pc.
but the settop turns on in 5 secs.

pros and cons across the board

[theelectic]

but youll be in a s|-|it hole if you need to record something thats gonna come on in 10 secs. with a non running pc.
but the settop turns on in 5 secs.

That's why you use a PC with S3 suspend capability and interactive guide software - I used an old P4 3.4GHz with a Haupauge dual tuner card and MCE 2005, works great. Powers up in 15 seconds. It does use around 15W of power in suspend vs. 0W when off, but I can live with that power draw 24/7. I download up to 2 weeks of TV guide info at a time, program everything ahead of time, the shows start recording two minutes before the actual time (can be set to start at actual time). I rarely watch live TV anymore except for sports. I share the TV recording folder over my home network, then I can watch recorded shows (not live or streaming though) at any computer in the house.

I'm still on basic analog cable though, if you've got some sort of digital your options become more limited.

[dario03]

Anyone know if its possible to mod the DirecTV DVR to work without the service?

[Serra]

I used an old P4 3.4GHz with a Haupauge dual tuner card and MCE 2005, works great.

What particular tuner card of their series do you have and how's the channel-flipping response time? I'm looking to do a DVR build in a month or two, but have heard that it can take around 2-3 seconds per channel change with some tuners and I'm a big enough flipper that would be a distinct downside for me.

[cursivearmy1]

can I get an HD-DVR that I can mod for $100?

[dirtwarrior]

Anyone know if its possible to mod the DirecTV DVR to work without the service?

I would like to know this also