PC-based PVRs - what are you using?

[InTheSand]

Hi,

Just to get the ball rolling, I've tried the following:
1. GB-PVR with both analogue and DSAT PCI cards
2. The bog-standard Twinhan software under Windows
3. Mythbuntu (Ubuntu Linux plus MythTV)
4. Mythdora (Fedora Linux plus MythTV)

I've currently settled on the last one and so far, so good - works very well. I'm using a standard ex-office Compaq Evo small form factor PC bought relatively cheaply from TradeMe, plus a Twinhan clone PCI card. PC specs are 512Mb RAM, Pentium 4 2.8GHz but this is overkill for the CPU usage.

MythTV is a little fiddly to set up if you're not used to it, but once done it provides a TV-friendly (and human-friendly!) interface with Sky-style EPG and easy setting of recording schedules, one-offs, searching of schedules for favourite programmes or even for words that are shown in the EPG description. It also has a web-facing interface and can be set up so that you can remotely set your PVR.

It also has extensions to allow playback of online movie clips / trailers, current weather for your location with various maps / rain radar, etc, plus optional emulation of old game consoles / arcade games, etc., via MAME.

Best of all, MythTV is 100% free and runs on a 100% free operating system. Basic requirements for a "back-end" box (e.g. recording only) are very modest, so an old Pentium 3 clunker could easily be converted into a recorder, with the intention of processing the recorded stuff elsewhere.

Reasons for going through this many options are:
1. GBPVR was great the last time I looked at it, but at the time DVB support was a bit patchy. This may have changed though!
2. The Twinhan software is functional but very clunky and not TV-friendly in terms of small fonts used, fiddly setting of recording schedules and the occasional crash, etc
3. & 4. are about the same in terms of functionality - Mythbuntu is easier to update and marginally easier to set up and I may yet return to it, but thought I'd test drive Mythdora too

So.... What has everyone else got?

- Ali

[Tranceducer]

I've just built up a PC especially for the job. (Made from several old PC's left behind when their IT tech owners got jobs overseas)

P4 3.2
1 gig ram
NVIDIA 6600 GT 256 Mb AGP Duel head
15" LCD touch screen. (Novel but not that useful)
Wireless keyboard and mouse
Modem 56k
On board sound max PC97 (spdif out to the amp)
DVD Drive (Could chuck a DVDRW in), CDRW Drive
2x 40 GB HD

This might sound like over kill but it's what came to me, So who am I to complain? (although hopefully there should be enough head room to do HD time shifting)

As I only have 80 GB hd there is not enough room to keep all my MP3's But I still have the SATA slots empty.

I have an old std sky dish on my house and a good UHF Ariel.
I am in Wellington. Kordia have commenced testing DVB-T here.

I'm just running XP at the moment as I know it best. I could also use that PC for games if I had the room. But my friend has a copy of windows media edition if I want it. (Do I want it?)

As I haven't done a Linux install I don't know if that would limit the functionality of the PC (I like my bells and whistles) Maybe I could do a duel boot?

What's Knoppmyth like?

Should I go for a DVB-T or DVB-S card? (or both??)
Is it worth getting a soft cam enabled DVB-S card?
Recommendations anyone?

To many questions for one thread. But these are the questions I have.

Cher!
Scott.

P.S. I also have Telstra Clear phone and could get DVB-C connected if I wanted to wear the cost of the install and subsription. Unless.........

[bartender]

I also have Telstra Clear phone and could get DVB-C connected if I wanted to wear the cost of the install and subsription. Unless.........

All of the DVB-C content on Telstras cable is encrypted (TV1-4 included) so you need to have a subscription.
I have a Dreambox working a treat on the cable network. Works a whole lot better than the TCL supplied STB. I have posted in the DVB-C forum all the necessary "numbers" you need to get it up and running. However finding a DVB-C card in this country might be challenging, so if you wanted to setup your own PVR you would need to import something. Or I could sell you a Dreambox ;)

[Tranceducer]

A dreambox? On my salary?? :D
You didn't hear It from me but I have been told it's hypothetically *cough* possible to reinsert the s*nc on the analogue cable service. *cough* I don't think they have switched it off yet.
I have the RG6 running to the door but it isn't terminated at the pole end. And I wouldn't want to incur the wrath of the phone company.:rolleyes:
Or the moderators of this site.
(even if it's not digital)

Excuse me while i get a glass of water.....

The good thing about freeview..... It's free :cool:

[nickrout]

Mythtv using Knoppmyth R5F27.

2 Skystar 2 DVB-S satellite cards connected to my sky dish (so I can record shows that are on at the same time).

Its in a HP/Compaq D530S Small Form Factor box with a 400G SATA drive. It is a 2.4G Celeron with 512MB RAM. I have a 32 inch Panasonic LCD (TX-32LX500A) and it is connected via the VGA input.

The remote is a Microsoft MCE USB remote which works perfectly (good hardware makers MS, pity they can't do the same with software!)

I also have another frontend connected, but it is not particularly successful yet as the box is a bit underpowered, so I need to get another higher spec machine for the other lounge.

[openmedia]

MythTV based myPVR (http://www.mypvr.co.nz) units, surprise surprise.

My own unit has 3 tuners, SkyStar2 DVB-S, freecom USB DVB-T and a PVR 150 card. Storage I now have a 1Tb Green Series WD drive.

Steve

[mruane]

Hi, Mike here - first post. Great forum idea by the way and surely needed.

I have an Antec Fusion HTPC case with a Core 2 Duo inside with 750GB of storage and Media Portal installed on top on Windows XP. Also have GBPVR on the box but I am using MP more these days. I have two DVB-S cards in the box; a Nova S Plus and an HVR4000.

In my location, getting a good analog signal is a real pain. I cannot see Kaukau as I am at the bottom of the hill overlooking the harbour and the analog quality from the local Thorndon translaters are not that good. So the DVB-T signals were eagerly awaiting. Interestingly the DVB-T test transmissions from Kaukau are load and clear even though I cannot see the transmitter at all.

I settled on Media Portal because I really wanted to maximise the use of the two DVB-S tuners I have. MP can quite happily record all of the freeview material from just two tuners. Also the user interface is pretty hard to beat. From a reliability point of view, I think GBPVR has it beat though. I did try MythTV once, but just had to give that up. Need more brain power to manage that software and the OS it runs on.

Good luck with the forum.

Cheers Mike

[brent]

just getting set up for pvr
so far got (running) pentum 4 ,160 g hd , 1.5 g ram,win xp (vista trans pack 9) winfast tv2000 ,dvb-s usb reciver (blaze hd software), 6.1 dolby
and still trying to get the 4x1 disecq to work on the usb box :D:D:D