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When it comes to personal video recorders (PVRs), I often come across as a bit of an evangelist. I am admittedly a tech- and gadget-geek and have played with many, many toys, but I can say with conviction that no single piece of technology has so enriched my life in recent years.
Put simply, a PVR is the modern incarnation of the VCR, but rather than recording shows on VHS cassettes (remember those?), it records to a hard drive. More impressively, rather than having to program specific start and end times for recordings, PVRs use an on-screen guide that allows you to scroll through the full channel listings to select the show you want to record, then it does the rest. You can also set a PVR to record all new (or reruns) of any show that you can think of. Want to see The Littlest Hobo? Tell your PVR to record it and it will find that loveable pooch and record it for your pleasure. And of course, a PVR lets you to pause or rewind live TV, so you’ll never miss the punch line to a cheesy sitcom joke. It may be cliché, but a PVR changes the way you watch TV.
But enough with my preaching- the biggest downside to PVR technology has been the price of admission. Most satellite and cable providers offer PVR receivers, but the cost is generally between $400 and $600 for the hardware. Since December, US-market leader Tivo has been available in Canada. The Tivo PVR costs $199 + tax to purchase, but you also need to pay a monthly subscription fee of $12.95 a month, in addition to your normal cable TV package.
What’s a frugal tech geek to do? Well, even at those prices, I view a PVR as a device that is worthy of a splurge. However, in my scrimping nature, I have assembled my own home-brew PVR using an old and otherwise abandoned laptop that performs just as well (or better) than any of the above solutions at a significantly lower price.
A few caveats, though- this setup is obviously only feasible if you already have a computer at your disposal that can run PVR software in the background. If you have an extra computer that can be dedicated to PVR use (as I did), it’s much better but not strictly necessary. The setup is straightforward but did require some tinkering, so if you aren’t particularly adept at dealing with computers this isn’t a project for you.
Still with me? Here’s what you need to do:
Step 1: Get a TV Tuner Card - The first step is to find a way to get your TV signal to your computer. I picked up a new Hauppauge PVR-USB2 external TV tuner and video encoder for about $100; used versions can be found on eBay for less. The PVR-USB2 connects to my computer by USB and records video in MPEG2 format (read: great quality). As it uses hardware encoding, the “heavy lifting” is done by the tuner card, not your computer’s CPU. It also comes with a remote and IR receiver, allowing you to control the program from the comfort of your couch.
Step 2: Install the Software - Once you have a tuner card set up, you need decent software to schedule recordings and work some media magic. This will be the backbone of your PVR system. My overwhelmingly favourite choice is SageTV- it does everything you could ask, and includes access to an excellent electronic program guide than can be set up for just about any TV provider in Canada or the US. SageTV is very intuitive and can be figured out by just about anyone in a very short time. There is a 15-day trial period that allows you to make sure the program works and does what you want- after the trial period, the software license costs $75. There are some competing commercial software packages on the market, as well as a free open source competitor called MythTV, although MythTV doesn’t include a program guide for Canada.
Step 3: Transmit to your TV - To complete the PVR experience, you need to get the TV signal from your computer screen to your television. On a laptop, this is easy enough through the built-in s-video out connection. If you’re using a desktop, you may have a video out on your graphics card or TV tuner that can be connected to your television. If not, or if your computer isn’t close to your TV, Hauppauge makes a small box called an MVP that will connect wirelessly to your computer to relay the signal to your TV. The MVP can be found online for under $100.
Step 4: Setup and Enjoy - Once you have your hardware and software up and running, the only thing left to do is to play around to learn how the PVR works and set up some recordings. You’ll never go back to regular TV again…
The end result is a stable, fully functional PVR that is connected to your home network and PC, giving you access not just to your PVR recordings, but also to all the videos, music files and pictures on your network- all through your remote!
My total cost for my setup was under $200, and I have no monthly fees to deal with. This represents a significant savings over Tivo or service provider options, and it is also much more flexible and easy to upgrade should the need arise in the future.
I have been using this setup for about a year and it has performed extremely well. As with any piece of technology, there have been occasional glitches that required a restart, but these have been rare. Most importantly, my wife loves our PVR setup almost as much as I do!
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Great Blog post. I am going to bookmark and read more often. I love the Blog template ? if you need any assistance customizing it let me know!
Thanks, Jeff! I’ll likely be in touch with you soon when I get around to pretty-ing this place up a little
Now this is cool. I love solutions to high tech subscription based stuff like this. We don’t do TV at our house, we only get 3 channels, most of my TV viewing comes from streaming Netflix on my PC which is hooked up to a 40″ LCD. But this is totally awesome! I almost want to get cable after reading this
Interesting. Do you know if a DIY PVR setup will work with satellite TV?
You can use this type setup with just about any input. The only catch is that if you need to use a separate set-top box to tune channels (probably the case with satellite), you need to pick up a device called a USB-UIRT ($25 or so)- this will allow your computer to send IR commands to the box and change the channels for you. I recently swtiched to a TV service provided by my telephone company and had to set up the USB-UIRT to make it work. It’s not complicated, but it is another step in the process.
You are preaching to the choir here! I’ve had a Rogers pvr for a couple of years and I would say that it has been a life changing event!
I couldn’t live without it.
Mike
Mike, I’m the same way. I find it painful to watch normal TV now…
MGL,
I’m a big fan of the PVR and when I buy my own place will likely need to get one. I like this idea, but my worry is clutter. Is your laptop near your TV? Also, what are the specs of your computer/pvr?
@DavidV - Clutter is a bit of a concern with this type setup becuase you’ve got a few extra pieces to deal with.
The laptop that I’m using is placed on a shelf on my entertainment centre, and because it’s basically a sole use device, it stays closed most of the time. My TV tuner is external, so it sits next to the laptop. It’s no more obtrusive or cluttered than the other range of cable boxes and game consoles that are also present.
My laptop is a P4 Mobile 2.2ghz with 512Mb of RAM. It’s about 5-6 years old and pretty underpowered by today’s standards, but it handles the PVR demands nicely. Because my TV tuner card uses hardware encoding, the demand on the CPU is minimal.
MGL,
I’m another fan of the PVR, however, I’ve been under the impression that you had to use the cable provider’s technology (Roger’s in my case) because they do the decryption of the signal. Did I miss something?
afulldeck, you can use a PC_based PVR with just about any service provider- I’ve used mine with both Rogers and Bell Aliant. If you’re using digital cable or satellite, you need to use what’s called an IR blaster to change the channels. You still use the set top box provided by the cable company to decrypt the signal, but the PVR then picks up the signal and sends codes to change channels as necessary. The PVRs available from the cable companies cut out this step by integrating the set top box and PVR, but they also cost a fair bit more.