Re: Recording / Pause Live TV

["Simon McCaughey" <simonmcc@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Alex,

I've had a TiVo in the lounge for years, and recently I had a look at
a few different PC based solutions. I had all but given up when a
colleague persuaded me to try Vista Media Center, and I love it, and
more importantly it seems to have SWMBO approval. Its been our main
'TV' since Monday week ago, and seems fine and just yesterday I
removed the XBOX  and TiVo from the room.

As for cost - I paid about 110 for a secondhand Pentium 'D' 3Ghz
machine with 2Gb RAM, and about =A350 for a Vista Upgrade disk (waited
ages bidding on eBay) and have a single hauppauge tuner in it. I also
paid =A320 for a soundcard with optical out to feed my amp and =A315 for a
MCE remote. All-in-all a relatively cheap solution and so far its
working very well.

Form factor may be your issue with a PC if it needs to be nice looking
- mine is behind the TV unit, so cant really be seen.

You should try your Vilgen PC - I don't know what the spec is, but if
you have a Vista disk you can install it as a 30 day trial by skipping
the part where you enter a serial. Any install DVD will allow you to
install any version.

Hope that helps!

Simon


2008/12/31 Alex Monaghan <ha@xxxxxxx>:
> I have a Liteon DVD Recorder / HDD, however, this is rapidly failing
on m=
e,
> I've replaced the HDD and also the DVD drive, but it seems to be
rapidly
> heading for the Node 0 in the sky.
>
> What I'd ideally like is a simple unit to connect to the SCART output
fro=
m
> the cable box (or Sky as we're considering changing) and capture this
in =
a
> format that I can burn to DVD from a networked PC (or view on the PC?)
Th=
e
> ability to save to a NAS or network share would be good, but not
essentia=
l,
> ability to move a recording to NAS/PC is the main criteria as the
tools f=
or
> manipulating DVD data and burning seems far better on PC than
dedicated
> hardware. Would also need to be able to play DVD's although a cheap
DVD
> player could be an option.
>
> Ideal solution would be a PC in the lounge, but need to consider cost
(ha=
ve
> 2 lots of car insurance and house insurance all due in the next few
month=
s,
> so not a lot of spare cash and don't think I can really justify this
as a
> business expense!) and also SWMBO is unlikely to accept a PC in the
loung=
e
> unless it doesn't look like a PC.
>
> I could possibly get away with using the media centre features on the
Xbo=
x
> 360 to play back, but would still need the recording capabilities.
>
> UI needs to be simple(ish) and support timed recordings and most
importan=
tly
> the box needs to be small or look nice so that SWMBO will allow it in
the
> house! Ability to timeshift playback is essential, we've got so used
to
> pausing the TV to make tea (or removal of previous tea!)
>
> I have one of the little Viglen MPC's mentioned recently, but suspect
tha=
t
> this would not be man enough for the job.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>

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