T1B

Anyone ever heard of it? I think I've mentioned it to some folks who read the TOT Tech forum regularly. MythTV is an open source project to create a very advanced computer/build it yourself PVR. Can you not afford your own PVR? No problem, take a computer and build it yourself. Of course more then likely its not going to be all that cheap, but it can do some nifty things that most PVRs don't allow just yet, well not unless you hack them anyway.

The NYT has an article on MythTV, the flood of tv programs on bittorent and P2P networks and how TV companies are trying to deal with the problem (legal downloads).

MythTV site is down due to the Slashdot effect. Check it out for a very neat project to build at home if you are bored.

I've tried it, and I'm pretty impressed. I used an ATI All-In-Wonder card but the Hauppauge cards are supposed to be better. I'll be getting one and building a dedicated PVR box.

If you have a Hauppauge card, you can use an old 600mhz pc with lots of hd space instead of going for a newer system. Worth the $120 or so price IMHO. Thats what I plan on doing.

I have a P3 866 collecting dust. Since the Hauppauge card does mpeg2 encoding that should be enough. I have everything else I need just sitting around, other than a beefy hdd, which can be had for cheap. I can probably get it all working for about $300 Canadian.