Convert a PC to PVR?

[Interceptor]

Hello all,

Is it possible to create your own PVR? I have a P4 1.9GHz PC with 2 hard disks - 40 and 80 GB - and 1GB of RAM.

Can I somehow turn that into a living room PVR that would work with my Sky digibox (Sony)? Do I need any extra hardware, software etc. Also, the fan in my PC is a little loud. Is there any way on making it run silent?

Cheers,

Phil

[tman]

Interceptor, not sure about the $ky recording, but what you need to investigate is a HTPC (Home Theatre PC). There are loads of options now for ultra-quiet cases, small form-factor motherboards, PCI/PCIe DVB tuners etc. Most HTPC users tend to run Windows XP Media Centre Edition. It's basically XP with a few bells and whistles, that does the job pretty well. You can buy a remote control with WinXP MCE as well.

The processor you have sounds ok for 480p, 576p and 720p, and 1Gb RAM is good, but to record much output, you'll need more disk space (think 250Gb for recordings). I'd recommend a mid-range graphics card with 256Mb RAM, and maybe something that can decode H.264 streams in hardware for HD (try ATI). Remember, a HTPC is HD ready now, and there's plenty of HD stuff on the net in AVI/WMV format.

The 'PC' would also need an internet connection for picking up EPG info (could go wireless), and can also be used as a streaming server if you want. The new case designs are really neat, and would fit in with any setup most people have.

You can also buy HTPC's from most 'big' PC sellers now as well, although with the extra's required, they tend to be reasonably expensive (think £1000+).

I've been thinking about having a go myself (build my own). Google HTPC and check out the results.

[glenmus]

Or check the fourum on this site

[son_t]

You certainly can turn your PC into a PVR, and you will have to buy new hardware - for example a TV receiver card and software to do the capturing... You could purchase a 'PVR' card and fit it into your PC.

But doing the above might cost you the same or more than purchasing a stand alone PVR box (which is around £200).

[sickofusernames]

I was going to utilise my PC to do that myself but then I asked my missus if I could place my PC tower next to the TV and she wasn't too happy so I panned that idea Trying to convince her that we've already got a surround Bassbox of similar size to said PC on one side anyway still didn't swing it....

I know theres an internal DVB tuner (with software etc) made by Hauppague (sp?) from PC World with an EPG and HDD recording but I think all the PC ones are only single tuner cards.

[son_t]

You can get a twin tuner here: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=176820

You can also get cases which are designed to look like an AV component, so your wife might not mind a PC in the room that sits like a VCR underneath the Telly... You can also get very quite fans so the noise can be reduced...

That is if you are inclined to 'built-it-yourself'. I have gone and bought a Humax PVR but now need to set up a PC to download the recordings off the box and archive them to DVD... You might save yourself going down this road if you built the MediaCentre PC from the start.

Or get a combined PVR and DVD Recorder.