Looking for ideal DVR solution

[jschmidt]

Hello,

I have been a long-time user of TiVo going back to 1999. I love it. But, I am growing tired of the lagging support by D* and am looking for a new solution, if one exists that will meet my specs. Here is what I want:

* DVR "server" which will record everything on a huge hard drive or array, which I can then play from any TV in the house
* Want to have only one list of season pass for the server, which I can then control from any client box
* Huge storage capacity
* At least 2 tuners, but preferrably up to 4
* Must support digital channels & HD
* Satellite or cable card, don't really care at this point, although I would prefer Sat if possible.
* Ability to record any show from DVR to DVD

TiVo's TivoToGo service appears to meet some of what I want, but it isn't available for the Series 3 yet. Also, the Series 3 doesn't have any centralized recording capability. I have 5 TVs in my house and I don't want to have to set up the season passes on each TV individually. Since I want centralized recording, that is why I would like to see 4 tuner support.

I am willing to spend $$$ on this system, but I want something that will work. I have CAT6 GigE throughout my home so that should support multiple HD signals simultaneously.

I know my request is a tall order but even if someone can point me to a system that fulfills some of my needs, that would be great.

Thanks.

[TyroneShoes]

I know there is nothing even close, but Tivo is still the best solution, either a HR10 or a S3. If you could just hold your breath until about 2010, I think then we might have something for you.

[reh523]

* Want to have only one list of season pass for the server, which I can then control from any client box
* Huge storage capacity
* At least 2 tuners, but preferrably up to 4
* Must support digital channels & HD
* Satellite or cable card, don't really care at this point, although I would prefer Sat if possible.
* Ability to record any show from DVR to DVD


Most of these are no problem. To record to DVD you can only do that at 480P...
Satellite not yet..
Cable Card very soon!

My vote would be VISTA MCE review (http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1894297,00.asp) this is a review of the pre release.....

[mr.unnatural]

To record to DVD you can only do that at 480P...
Actually, DVD format is 480i. ;)

[h_a_h_3]

I have built myself a 3-ATSC tuner mythtv box to supplement my HR10-250 this fall, and here's what that tells me about your wish list:

* DVR "server" which will record everything on a huge hard drive or array, which I can then play from any TV in the house

>> Mythtv can do this, absolutely. One "master backend" can control multiple "slave backend"s and you can access anything on the master or slaves from a "front end".

* Want to have only one list of season pass for the server, which I can then control from any client box

>> Mythtv does this. Web interface or "front end" on-screen based.

* Huge storage capacity

>> How much money do you have? You are building it, you decide how much is enough, or when to add more. I have a 600GB video storage partition (and it's half full - better go watch some shows).

* At least 2 tuners, but preferrably up to 4

>> How many tuners do you want? I have 3 ATSC/QAM cards in my single case; each slave backend can also have as many tuners as will fit in its case, or there is a network device that has 2 ATSC/QAM tuners & streams to a backend and you can probably have enough of those to saturate your network.

* Must support digital channels & HD

>> Mine does ATSC (all HD) from OTA exclusively, my tuner cards supposedly do QAM but I don't want to mess with it; I use my HR10-250 for "basic cable" and DirecTV HD (Sunday Ticket). Other mythtv users have multiple cable boxes supplying HD over firewire, and/or QAM (non-"premium"/unencrypted channels only).

* Satellite or cable card, don't really care at this point, although I would prefer Sat if possible.

>> Here's the sticking point. Content providers will absolutely not want you to be able to flexibly store/move around as much of their content as you would like. The rumored Directv Vista card or (more factual) Vista Cablecard pre-built PCs (no building your own, it has to be CableLabs certified as a unit) will be pretty locked down, count on it. For mythtv's part, it will accept SD analog input from any sat box/cable box, big whoop. As mentioned, for unencrypted cable HD QAM and HD firewire is possible as well.

* Ability to record any show from DVR to DVD

>> Mythtv offers multiple transcoding options, and there is a function to do exactly this: pick shows, burn to DVD. Scripts to transcode shows to pocketPC/ipod-type sizes have also been discussed recently on the mailing list.

And the good (or bad, depending on your point of view) part is that you get to build it yourself on Linux so you can make your DVR system however you want.

Shouldn't be too hard to google up some results if you're interested.

[jschmidt]

I have built myself a 3-ATSC tuner mythtv box to supplement my HR10-250 this fall...

WOW! Thank you so much for the reply! That is really helpful! I have heard of MythTV, but thought it was fake and chalked it up as a myth. Okay, bad joke.

Seriously, though, I have heard of it and have done a little reading about it. The lack of CableCard support killed it for me. But, your post has renewed my interest.

A few more questions about your setup:

1. Can you tell me the make and model of your tuner cards? I'd like to see what you've got. I'm not afraid to build machines myself as I have several, but I like to know what hardware others are successfully using.

2. How much do you know about the firewire solution? I assume if you have a firewire connection to a cable box, you don't need the tuner card. Also, how does the cable box get controlled by the server?

3. What is QAM? Do you know of any good sources of info?

Thanks again for all your help. I'm off to read more about MythTV!

[rlj5242]

3. What is QAM? Do you know of any good sources of info? Google is your friend. If you want details on what hardware will access QAM signals, then check out the parent forum, AVS in their HDTV Hardware section.

-Robert

[h_a_h_3]

WOW! Thank you so much for the reply! That is really helpful! I have heard of MythTV, but thought it was fake and chalked it up as a myth. Okay, bad joke.

Seriously, though, I have heard of it and have done a little reading about it. The lack of CableCard support killed it for me. But, your post has renewed my interest.

A few more questions about your setup:

1. Can you tell me the make and model of your tuner cards? I'd like to see what you've got. I'm not afraid to build machines myself as I have several, but I like to know what hardware others are successfully using.

2. How much do you know about the firewire solution? I assume if you have a firewire connection to a cable box, you don't need the tuner card. Also, how does the cable box get controlled by the server?

3. What is QAM? Do you know of any good sources of info?

Thanks again for all your help. I'm off to read more about MythTV!

My cards are pcHDTV HD5500 models. The full brain dump of my build is here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/archive/index.php/t-702010.html
It was kind of a pain to setup for the first time but the smooth sailing now is oh so worth it. Automatic commercial detection and skipping, and I use the time-shrink (150% speed, sound is sped up but pitch is normal) really a lot.

I don't know all that much about firewire other than (from the mailing list traffic) some people have issues with FW communication randomly flaking out, and some cable boxes are known to work better than others, and it's very dependent on your local cableco. Typically the mailing list carries issues, not success stories...

I think you are right about the firewire inputs not needing a tuner card, and the cable box should be controlled over the same firewire connection if everything is working properly :)

QAM is "digital cable" (unencrypted). Google *is* your friend!