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Thread ID: 44812 2004-05-01 00:59:00 Setting up a PVR Mike (15) Press F1
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233298 2004-05-01 00:59:00 I have a spare PC, and saw some program the other day on TV about people setting up PCs as a PVR...

Anyone have any ideas on where to start? :D What do I need to buy? What minimum specs PC should I have (its not an overly fast PC, but it might do the job)?

Win or Lin?

Anything I'm not thinking of? :p

At the moment this is just me thinking about thinking about doing it ;)

What software would I need?

Mike.
Mike (15)
233299 2004-05-01 04:13:00 There are a number of Linux projects doing this. have a look at mythtv (www.mythtv.org/), dvr (http:), freevo (freevo.sourceforge.com/), and this article (http:). If your spare computer is a bit limited, here's a text mode console video recorder (www.stack.nl).

That's some found with "pvr linux" to Google. "pvr windows" finds some things too. That should keep you going on a rainy day. ;-)
Graham L (2)
233300 2004-05-02 07:57:00 Thanks Graham...

I was hoping someone with personal experience in this might have posted... obviously nobody has done this yet ;)

Mike.
Mike (15)
233301 2004-05-03 04:13:00 Obviouskly, they have. And they've shared it. Just not people here.

Got it built yet, Mike? ;-)
Graham L (2)
233302 2004-05-04 08:52:00 I use a PCI Leadtek Deluxe TV tuner card here. That's all you need and a bit of hdd space. The tuner comes with the TV tuner program and the drivers.

BUT it's better if you get the latest drivers from the manufacturer's site.

The faster, the PC the better. I use this tuner on a P4 2.4ghz PC with 1 GB ram. And Windows XP.

I would say a P3 at least would be fast enough for this. About the same specs you would need, if you use an internal DVD player.

Recording to hdd is excellent. Picture is clear, and it records to your hdd. You can also schedule whatever programs you want to record.

And once it records whatever to hdd, you can burn it to DVD if you have a DVD burner. The tuner program also uses picture in picture, so once u record whatever, and u play back what u recorded, it shows a little picture with the video while you watch normal TV. The program for this
also has channel surfing. You can view all normal channels all at once (BUT not SKY or SKY Digital). And select which one you want to watch.
Spacemannz (808)
233303 2004-05-04 09:26:00 Thanks Spacemannz :)

I had a look at a couple of the tv/capture cards in Dick Smith today - they look simple enough .

One question though - can you record more than one channel at once? :D

Mike .
Mike (15)
233304 2004-05-04 09:28:00 What about an aereial? Wouldn't it need to have one in order to get the picture? Fire-and-Ice (3910)
233305 2004-05-04 09:28:00 > Obviouskly, they have. And they've shared it. Just
> not people here.

I get the picture :)

> Got it built yet, Mike? ;-)

I would if I could afford it.

Mike.
Mike (15)
233306 2004-05-04 09:32:00 True. You need an aerial in order to get channels. It comes with one but a better one maybe needed Spacemannz (808)
233307 2004-05-04 09:49:00 Umm good question Mike. The help file says u can plug something in externally thru the video in on this card and watch a recording while u watch TV. I dont think it can record 2 programs at once. Tho I havent tried recording 2 programs at once either. I dont think many TV tuners will let u record 2 programs at once.

This card also comes with a remote, and the remote control. (the remote plugs into the back of the card).

And also supports teletext in NZ. Or wherever teletext is available.

And also timeshifting. So, you can record whatever, leave it going. And go back to it later and cut out what you dont want. This card also has FM radio built into it. So, you have a choice, of either TV or FM. You can also take snapshots of whatever on TV, by pressing the spacebar and it saves it as a JPG file.
Spacemannz (808)
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