Reply to: Has anyone built a PVR here?

[SupremeSpod]

I have a Hauppauge PVR 350 in a windows XP box. comes with all the software and you can use the en/decoder on the board for video editing.

[Addanc]

No, it's a Humax PVR8000 (or some such name). No problems with it locking up so far. If you're paying £300 you're being ripped off, even if you want a built in DVD recorder.

Its not just a PVR, its a complete Home Entertainment System (i.e. TV, Games, Music, Internet).

Mine? No, have to admit that there isn't an ounce of legit s/ware on it, so if you factored that in I probably should have spent an extra £300 on that too.

Swapped my obsolete legal copy of Win98 for a copy of WinXP. Company need to supply S/W maintenance system with tools that don't run on XP. All other S/W either downloaded free from Internet or came with purchased H/W. Stand alone S/W costs nil.

[Xenophon]

Thinking of building a PVR - has anyone done this? What pit falls should I miss?

I write software for them for a living...

Geeks.

[ladymuck]

Is that one of the Pace boxes with the crappy software that locks-up, the box where you have to recycle the mains to recover it?

Price depends on quality of components. £300 may just be achievable.

Mine? No, have to admit that there isn't an ounce of legit s/ware on it, so if you factored that in I probably should have spent an extra £300 on that too.

Trying to remember the full spec, DVD +/- R/RW 16x/8x drive, Hauppage card (can't remember which one specifically unfortunately), Nvidia Geforce 4 graphics, Athlon XP 3200+, 120GB drive, 1GB crucial ram, Abit AN7 Max-2 mobo, I think! Oh and a wireless card coz the servers and switch are upstairs and I don't want my house riddled with cat5 all over the place.

[planetit]

Is that one of the Pace boxes with the crappy software that locks-up, the box where you have to recycle the mains to recover it?

Price depends on quality of components. £300 may just be achievable.

No, it's a Humax PVR8000 (or some such name). No problems with it locking up so far. If you're paying £300 you're being ripped off, even if you want a built in DVD recorder.

[ladymuck]

I'm only on property no2, but was quite pleased to walk away with £55k when I sold no1. Nothing like a property boom to line the pockets! I'm only up £15k on my current one at the moment due to the downturn but that'll change, I can be patient!

[Addanc]

How much is all that going to cost? Bearing in mind you can by a nice shiny freeview PVR for about 130 quid.

Is that one of the Pace boxes with the crappy software that locks-up, the box where you have to recycle the mains to recover it?

Price depends on quality of components. £300 may just be achievable.

[DimPrawn]

Yes I did struggle to buy my 4th property, but when you only pay cash, current prices can be a bit hard on the wallet.

[~Craig~]

You live with yer mum?

Well how many of you poor contractors can actually afford to get on the housing ladder anymore?

[ladymuck]

You live with yer mum?

Good god, no! I live on my own (with the cat) in a nice 3-bed house with burnt out cars and gypsies in the front garden.

[DimPrawn]

You live with yer mum?

[ladymuck]

I did something similar a while ago, cost around £300 in total (not including the TV!). I actually use Sky+ for day to day stuff and only record down to the PC if there's anything I intend to copy onto DVD (usually two weeks worth of Eastenders when my mum goes on holiday).

[planetit]

How much is all that going to cost? Bearing in mind you can by a nice shiny freeview PVR for about 130 quid.

[Addanc]

Here is one I made earlier

PC box: MicroATX form factor motherboard since bigger choice of desktop cases that will fit under TV. Worth investing in QUIET fans.
>80GByte disk so that you can record loads of programs you will never watch. Wireless keyboard/mouse. Windows XP.

Digital TV adaptor: Hauppauge nova-t (PCI version).

WinDVD: for DVDs.

TV: LG 26LZ50, since it has DVI-analogue input (analogue adaptors available for VGA), otherwise you will have to invest in Video card with S-Video output (not as good and certainly no good for playing games).

Add a wireless PCI card and you can browse the Internet through your neigbours braodband connection.

[n5gooner]

What are you going to use for the front-end? A PVR card, A standard TV card, or some sort of bespoke tuner/demod?

duno....I was thinking of a TV card, running on WinMedia rather than a unix based solution.