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Dick Smith has a Tivo for $599. This deal comes with a bonus HDMI cable and a TiVo WiFi Adaptor.
TiVo® High Definition Digital Video Recorder for $599
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True. The original US Tivo was fantastic. This crippled one is a steaming pile of it.
Wow this tivo thing is gay
It would be cheaper, but admittedly harder, to build a pc with a couple of digital tuners and install Myth TV
I have been running a system like this for a couple of years. Setting up is easy with Mythbuntu or Mythdora distributions which can be freely downloaded and will autodetect most hardware. We now have one unit in the lounge for TV, CD, DVD, streaming audio, and it could probably do much more than we use it for.
The best part is, with one button you skip an entire ad break.
Yep. I run MythTV, and distributions like Mythbuntu have made it incredibly easy to install and use. Still it's not for everyone, but it is free if you want to have a crack at it.
Another alternative if you feel a little uneasy about tackling linux is Windows Media Center. I've installed that for my brother. You'll need either Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate or the special media edition of XP Pro.
The hardest thing in both cases is getting the TV Guide data setup. You must ensure you use a legal method of obtaining the TV Guide data. The program you use must only obtain data from a freely available source which does not infringe copyright.
You don't need much. An Athlon X2 or Core 2 Duo is enough to play back HD and the onboard graphics of most modern motherboards is up to it as well. This is not only cheaper but reduces the heat in the system. Less heat means less fans needed to cool the system. Less fans means less noise which means a more enjoyable experience.
So the ideal system is something like:
- An energy efficient CPU for heat, e.g. AMD Athlon 64 X2 4850e AM2 45w Energy Efficient CPU
- An Athlon motherboard with HDMI out and onboard graphics. Intel/Radeon or NVidia. Just check the card is capabable of playing back full HD. But most should be. If you want a small box get an mATX motherboard. If you don't have an HDMI input on your TV you'll need TV/Out as well.
- A mATX case to go with your motherboard.
- You don't need much RAM. For Linux 1G is enough, that's all I have. You'll need more for Vista, probably 3G.
- As big a hard disk as you can afford. No matter how big you get it won't be enough.
- A silent and quality PSU. Don't need alot of grunt, a low wattage is fine.
- If you can get a good heatsink and some silent case fans.
- A TV Card capture card.
If your after a silent experience. I recommend checking out silentpcreview.com. Before I buy a component I generally check there.
You'll still be up around the $600 mark by the time your through unless you go ultra cheap. But you box should be more flexible and useable and (if you've chosen good components) hopefully quiet.
MythTV etc may be great, however I believe there to be a legal issue? I thought that TV guide data is heavily legally protected in Australia and that getting a free guide was pretty much impossible. You need to pay for a service like IceTV to get the guide data or type it in manually yourself. So which method does the two people above use, unless they are admitting/recommending piracy of TV guide data?
Various investigations led me to this: http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/8645
In the comments a free mythTV guide is mentioned: http://svn.whuffy.com/index.cgi/wiki
(Unfortunately the website appears to be down for me)Absolutely not. I do not recommend piracy of any kind. It's my undersanding that OzTivo is community based and does not infringe copyright.
As above, free doesn't necessary mean legal. Shepherd may be free, but what they described how it works on that webpage posted above is technically not legal. Its pretty much what oztivo used to do (web scraping), but was issued with a Cease and Desist notice and was forced to switch to a manual method.
Yes good tip. I have my system configured to use my OzTivo account to get the data. It's my understanding that the OzTivo data is community based and does not infringe copyright.
Does it allow you to record to an external drive or extend the HD capacity?
I got IQ but its so annoying the HD is soooo small!
Review of Australian Tivo: http://apcmag.com/tivo_hd.htm
Although that appears to be a little unfair; fundamentally it does appear to be accurate. A locked down Tivo with only 5 free to air television channels to choose from?