Here is my problem. I work overnights, and go to the gym in the evenings so there are shows that I’d like to watch, but I have to always miss. It would be nice to watch them in the morning or the next day when I’m off work, when there is nothing good on anyway.
I’ve always liked the idea of a TiVo, but just one of my beliefs is right of ownership, and the distinction between a product and service. I believe after the initial price of the TiVo box, you should only have to pay service fees if you intend to use an “exclusive” set of features of the TiVo. Things like downloading online movies, access to internet tv or stations, or some of their other online features. However the guide, and recording features should be available without service charges, less you just have an expensive paperweight.
Enter PVR’s, or Personal Video Recorders. They are the same as DVR, just a little less “commercial” sounding. There are a lot of applications out there for doing this, but I narrowed it down to two options that are at the top of the game. There is Windows Media Center, with my Vista Ultimate desktop PC, or I could convert an old box into a Linux distro dedicated to PVR, like Myth-Box. Here is my take on both options.
Vista Media Center -
I have vista so there is no OS costs. I will need a tuner card regardless of option. With Vista, I can use my Video card output to use Media Center on the TV next to my PC which is convenient. Media Center is also very robust, and has been out a while with a ton of fixes and a lot of devices with out-of-the-box support.
There is also the option of purchasing a “Media Center Extender” which allows you to have the functionality of media center on any TV in the house via Ethernet or wireless networking.
Myth-TV and Linux Solutions -
These distros are free so there are no OS costs. I will still need a tuner card. The main advantages of using Linux solutions is the cost free, and the minimum requirements for Linux boxes are drastically less than that of a media center PC. This would allow me to dedicate an old box and set it up on the main TV.
Linux varients also give you options superior to Media Center. Features like emulators, and news feeds and weather information. These are really neat, however, they extend beyond what I need and I really won’t have a mouse or keyboard in the main living room for playing emulators.
To view this on the main tv in the living room, I would need a sound card that has good output, and I would use the VGA on-board to deliver video to the plasma TV.
My Conclusion -
I decided to go with Media Center. It just seems more matured, and although lacks features like news and weather, it does have Internet TV and other things like that. It is a lot more stable, which is something hard to say in an argument between Linux and Microsoft. Microsoft is really unlikely to have services dipping out on them like Myth-TV, and is a set and go solution, since my PC is a beast compared to what I would be using for the Linux solution, I don’t want to spend this money, then have to buy new hardware a couple months down the line.
My setup will be finished in a few days. I am using the Win-TV HVR 1600 tuner card, and will be using a Linksys DMA-2100 Media Center Extender. Since I have output on my video card, I will have Media Center Capabilities in my home office, as well as the living room.
Breakdown :
- Vista Ultimate : Already Own
- WinTV HVR 1600 Tuner Card: $60 @ circuit city.
- Linksys DMA-2100 Media Center Extender: $260 shipped from newegg.com
- Total - $320
Yes, the total is a little steep. If you consider the base TiVo box price plus 1 year of service, it is roughly the same price. However this solution will pay itself off after a year. Now I am a pretty harsh advocate of Open Source, to the point of annoyance some might think, but I just believe the alternatives are not as matured yet, and the future of a lot of open source projects are unclear, and I wanted something that I can take with me in the future when I buy a home. I hope the Myth-TV community keeps the project up, I may find myself implementing that technology down the line, but as of now I think I made the right choice.
I am a little troubled splurging out like this, but I can honestly say I am really excited to get this put together. I don’t have much time on my hands so this really will be a nice project, that will allow me to watch all those shows and events I miss on a regular basis, and for my son to have all his, very annoying, “Yo Gabba Gabba!” shows a click away.
All they need now is a way to order PPV events in media center over the Internet!
Update-
I just found out that there are plugins for Media Center, that give you news and rss feeds, as well as weather info. Doesn’t have extensibility, however being a programmer, I’m sure I could whip up a plugin if I wanted something I cannot find.
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