Need home built PVR advice/answers

[bilyth]

I'm a total newb, just learned what PVR was a couple days ago. I see a few threads on building these...but i thought i'd start another one to address my particular needs.

My priority is simplicity & low budget. For now, i don't need anything fancy..i just want to record & play back standard cable as well as playing standard movies/downloads from my PC to TV.

What I have: P4 2.6Ghz, 1.5 Gb ram, on board video, no tuner card yet. Tv- standard tube, RCA & S video.

If i understand correctly, the cheapest & easiest solution would be to buy a tuner (ex hauppage pvr250) insert in my current PC & a hauppage mediamvp extender to connect to the TV. Correct? In this case i wouldn't need a fancy videocard? I should expect these two things to cost me about $200?

If so, what i'd like to know..will this use up much resources on my PC (or does the tuner do most of the work?). That is my sole primary computer..so i'd be using for other things (basic email, surfing, word processing) & don't want any significant slow downs while it's recording stuff in the background. (i should add- from general use, i have about 200mb ram free...i suspect i may need to add more ram?)

What if i get 2 tuners (or one with dual tuner capacity)..how would that affect things?

Do i need to pay for extra software? like sagetv? i understand gbpvr is free..are they different things or do they do the same?

if this is going to slow down my machine alot..then i understand the other option is to get a 2nd designated PC as a PVR that connects directly to my TV. This will cost about double right?

As a third option- if i buy a designated PVR device, i'd have to get it from my cable provider (videotron) & only be able to use it with them..right? (plus cannot customize as much as DIY pvr).

i have an old laptop laying around that i don't use much (p3 500mhz, 384mb ram)- is there some way to get external tuners or videocards that i can attach to this laptop to make either A) a PVR system (add tuner) or B) an alternative to the mediaMVP extender (by adding a better vid card)? i already have a wireless network setup btw.

Any advice/input would be appreciated.

While I'm at it..if i can get this to work; i'll consider setting it up for my parents. they have my old P3 900, 1.8gb ram. Is this machine sufficient? (note that they don't use it much..so it could slow dwn a bit & wouldn't matter too much)

thanks so much.

[Gee]

If i understand correctly, the cheapest & easiest solution would be to buy a tuner (ex hauppage pvr250) insert in my current PC & a hauppage mediamvp extender to connect to the TV. Correct? In this case i wouldn't need a fancy videocard? I should expect these two things to cost me about $200?

The PVR250 is a great card, this will suit your needs, even the PVR 150 will do and they are less than $100. No fancy video card is needed.


If so, what i'd like to know..will this use up much resources on my PC (or does the tuner do most of the work?). That is my sole primary computer..so i'd be using for other things (basic email, surfing, word processing) & don't want any significant slow downs while it's recording stuff in the background. (i should add- from general use, i have about 200mb ram free...i suspect i may need to add more ram?)

More RAM is always better, all you really need is 2 Gig. The Happuage cards use hardware encoding, so no huge stress on your CPU. You will probably want to get a bigger hard drive.


What if i get 2 tuners (or one with dual tuner capacity)..how would that affect things?

The PVR500 series has two tuners, but you will need two cable sources, this just allows you to record two channels or watch one and record the other at the same time. If you are using digital cable from Videotron, you will need two set top boxes.


Do i need to pay for extra software? like sagetv? i understand gbpvr is free..are they different things or do they do the same?

They do the same thing, the differences are features. More importantly, you need to find a source for the guide so you can automatically scheudle your recordings. The Happuage cards come with software (PVR2000), it is not great, but it works.


if this is going to slow down my machine alot..then i understand the other option is to get a 2nd designated PC as a PVR that connects directly to my TV. This will cost about double right??

It will not slow down your machine significantly, but it will use resources for the Media Centre, I suggest you get a second PC, but it does not have to be double, and decent machine that runs XP with 2 Gigs RAM, lots of disk space and a happuage card will do.


As a third option- if i buy a designated PVR device, i'd have to get it from my cable provider (videotron) & only be able to use it with them..right? (plus cannot customize as much as DIY pvr).

Correct


i have an old laptop laying around that i don't use much (p3 500mhz, 384mb ram)- is there some way to get external tuners or videocards that i can attach to this laptop to make either A) a PVR system (add tuner) or B) an alternative to the mediaMVP extender (by adding a better vid card)? i already have a wireless network setup btw.

You cannot upgrade the video card in laptops. There are USB tuners, but they are not very good. But it will convert it to a PVR, to make it a media centre, all you need is network access to yout main PVR. Wireless is terrible for streaming, but your results may vary.


While I'm at it..if i can get this to work; i'll consider setting it up for my parents. they have my old P3 900, 1.8gb ram. Is this machine sufficient? (note that they don't use it much..so it could slow dwn a bit & wouldn't matter too much)

The key is the hardware encoding. Make sure yoy get a decent TV Tuner card.

[woof]

The key is the hardware encoding. Make sure you get a decent TV Tuner card.

+1
Hardware encoding means that the heavy lifting is done on the tuner card itself. The cheap cards use software encoding which means the work has to be done by your main processor which will bog your system down. I believe all the Hauppauge cards are hardware encoding.

[bilyth]

More RAM is always better, all you really need is 2 Gig. The Happuage cards use hardware encoding, so no huge stress on your CPU. You will probably want to get a bigger hard drive.


when you say this (2gb is enough)- you're referring to using it as a pvr in addition to other PC uses at the same time right? not as a designated PVR machine? That's my biggest concern in deciding if i need/want to buy a 2nd PC (more $) as opposed to using a single machine & medaimvp extender.



The PVR500 series has two tuners, but you will need two cable sources, this just allows you to record two channels or watch one and record the other at the same time. If you are using digital cable from Videotron, you will need two set top boxes.

i don't have digital cable..is this a problem in any of this. I only have standard (analog? i think) cable (so no boxes). So, can i not splice the cable to make use of the 2 tuners? what if i splice the cable at the TV end & connect it directly..then run another cable to the PC which splices to the 2 tuners. Does this mean that i can record 2 channels on the computer & watch live TV on my TV?



They do the same thing, the differences are features. More importantly, you need to find a source for the guide so you can automatically scheudle your recordings. The Happuage cards come with software (PVR2000), it is not great, but it works.


can you elaborate on what/where i can find a source guide? is this something that i would find at the gbpvr or sagetv forums or something? is it hard to find?



It will not slow down your machine significantly, but it will use resources for the Media Centre, I suggest you get a second PC, but it does not have to be double, and decent machine that runs XP with 2 Gigs RAM, lots of disk space and a happuage card will do.


again, this is the main decision i'm debating- 2 machines or one...will 2 really make things better??



You cannot upgrade the video card in laptops. There are USB tuners, but they are not very good. But it will convert it to a PVR, to make it a media centre, all you need is network access to yout main PVR. Wireless is terrible for streaming, but your results may vary.


ok, i don't think i'll do the laptop route. sounds not ideal.



The key is the hardware encoding. Make sure yoy get a decent TV Tuner card.

yeah, i'll definitely get a good one. i'll try it with mine (after i decide if i should go the 2nd pc route)...& if it works well; i'll see if it's worth spending & setting up my parents.

[woof]

http://www.schedulesdirect.org/

This is the online TV listings service which I use with GB-PVR and my Hauppauge 150. It costs $20/year at the moment and supports most Canadian listings. There are other options. There used to be a free service but it's no longer available.

[bilyth]

http://www.schedulesdirect.org/

This is the online TV listings service which I use with GB-PVR and my Hauppauge 150. It costs $20/year at the moment and supports most Canadian listings. There are other options. There used to be a free service but it's no longer available.

thanks. $20/year is not bad. what does this do- does it basically mesh with everything else to allow me to shedule recordings? can i just tell it to say..record any movie that has "x" actor? or hockey game that has "x" team. or is it not that advanced? is it like a glorified vcr recorder where i just look at the tv scheduling & tell it what to record at what time?

also, i'll definitely invest in a proper hauppage card...& hope it won't slow my machine down. do you think i'll definitely need to up my ram to at least 2 gb? i guess i could always just get the tuner card first & only use on my PC to see how much recording will slow my machine down...if it's not to bad, then i can get the mediamvp & hook to my tv. if it really slows down; then i'll skip on the mmvp..& go directly to a 2nd machine (& move the tuner to the 2nd machine). is that a decent plan?

thanks.

ps if i bargain hunt- ebay, or US shipping sites only; what are the best prices i should hope for..for a tuner card (150 or 250- still need to figure out the difference actually) & mediamvp? anyone?

[woof]

thanks. $20/year is not bad. what does this do- does it basically mesh with everything else to allow me to shedule recordings? can i just tell it to say..record any movie that has "x" actor? or hockey game that has "x" team. or is it not that advanced? is it like a glorified vcr recorder where i just look at the tv scheduling & tell it what to record at what time?

This is strictly program/channel type data. How it's used is dependent on the software you have (GBPVR in my case but there's many others.) PM me if you wanta few screen captures to see how things look.



also, i'll definitely invest in a proper hauppage card...& hope it won't slow my machine down. do you think i'll definitely need to up my ram to at least 2 gb? i guess i could always just get the tuner card first & only use on my PC to see how much recording will slow my machine down...if it's not to bad, then i can get the mediamvp & hook to my tv. if it really slows down; then i'll skip on the mmvp..& go directly to a 2nd machine (& move the tuner to the 2nd machine). is that a decent plan?

You don't need more memory for this and you really don't need a very powerful processor with hardware encoding.


...if i bargain hunt- ebay, or US shipping sites only; what are the best prices i should hope for..for a tuner card (150 or 250- still need to figure out the difference actually) & mediamvp? anyone?

The 150 runs $50 - 100 new from NCIX. There are variations. The MCE one has FM radio. There's also remote controls on some which bring the price up. Keep in mind that this is for tuning analog cable channels only.

[bilyth]

This is strictly program/channel type data. How it's used is dependent on the software you have (GBPVR in my case but there's many others.) PM me if you wanta few screen captures to see how things look.




You don't need more memory for this and you really don't need a very powerful processor with hardware encoding.



The 150 runs $50 - 100 new from NCIX. There are variations. The MCE one has FM radio. There's also remote controls on some which bring the price up. Keep in mind that this is for tuning analog cable channels only.

yeah, i definitely wouldn't mind some screen shots. i'll Pm you too. ok, good to know about the memory; i only want to get what i need.

analog is perfect, not up with the digital phase yet. is that the difference 150 vs 250 (analog vs digital)?

I guess, whether i need the remote or not depends if i go with a non-designated PVR PC & get the mediamvp to stream to the tv (since i believe that has it's own remote)...right?

so, what's the major difference between getting a TV out vid card vs mediamvp (for connecting PC to TV)? apart from not having to run another cable to the TV with getting a TV out vid card?

Also, right now i have a single network cable going to my wireless router. So, i either need to buy a hub so i can use mediamvp & my router..or i pay a little more (but probably evens out for not buying a hub) & get the wireless mediamvp version. are there any other advantages to wired vs wireless mediamvp? cause for me, it'll cost roughly the same having ot buy a hub (apart from the fact that i might be able to more easily find a wired version on ebay or craigslist used).

wow, this could be doable for fairly cheap- <$100 tuner..maybe the same for mediamvp...& that's it right? esp if no extra ram to get...so less than $200?

thanks.

[bilyth]

oh..plus cost of HD. but i needed one anyways...just gonna go a bit bigger than i had planned.

how does it work when you're using your main PC as a PVR- do you designate a drive or partition for PVR recording with the software? can you set it to overwrite older stuff automatically if the drive gets full?

one other thing- if i want 2 tuners; can i put two pvr150 in my machines? will the software somehow figure & utilize them on its own...or is this a complicated setup. Also, is it as simple as splicing my analog cable into two..then just connecting them both?

if 2 tuners is possible..is there any pros or cons for using a "dual" tuner (pvr500) vs two single tuners (2x pvr150)?