tivo or beyond tv

[rbaldwin]

i'm trying to make a decision. I have beyond tv for about 6 months, but other than seeing that it works, i found myself too busy over the summer to really get into it.

I'm in Canada, and while Tivo isn't officially in Canada a group of hackers has been able to get Tivo going in Canada with Canadian listings.

I purchased a Tivo and i'm going through the steps to get it up and running.

Now the hacker group has indicated that official Tivo in Canada is imminent. While they won't sell the boxes they will provide the service.

What i'm trying to decide is: My goal is to be able to watch recorded shows on my TV. giving the capabilities of Beyond TV to record shows, how easy will it be to transfer those shows to a TV screen? I assume output to DVD or VCD is the only option, if not what are other options.

Since i've not as yet transferred a Beyond TV show to DVD what is the process assuming i'd like to remove commercials And i'd like to record more than 1 show per disk.

I'm really green at this so please treat me like a dummy

Thanks in advance for reading this and any feedback you'd care to share.

[nanook105]

Is there a reason why you don't want to connect the computer running BTV directly to your TV ?

[areviaki]

All you would need to connect to your TV is a graphics card that has TV-OUT (or DVI if your TV can handle it).

If you use an S-Video you need to make sue you can get the sound to play through a speaker system. There are numerous ways to setup the system to use your TV.

As for waiting for Tivo, only time will tell. I find BTV to be especially easy and convenient (as long as you have the patience and basic to intermediate computer skills).

[rbaldwin]

Well, the beyond tv is in my bedroom on the 2nd floor, i want to be able to watch the recordings on the tv on the main floor, someday i'll buy a "media" pc but it's not an option at the moment.

i need the pc to remain where it is, i'm an insommniac and need to be able to watch stuff in the middle of the night without disturbing my wife.

i have a wirless network 802.11g and i bought a Dlink media lounge dsm320, so that i could stream to the main floor, but i found the quality very poor too choppy works fine for mp3's though.

maybe the 320's an option if i could get it to work. maybe that's a thread i should start somewhere.

[areviaki]

There's probably a numbers of ways to get the signal to the other rooms.

This is what I have setup. I have the main computer (BTv server) in the family room (Theater). I split the s-video and audio out and sent one line to a coax splitter and then ran coax cables to the other TV's in the house.

Currently, I use the Firefly remote to control the computer from any room, works but sometimes I have to point the remote at some bizzare spot to get it to work. I'm going to get some extenders to improve the remote capabilities.

I can watch Live TV or Recorded shows OR DVD's on any TV in the house from the BTV server.

I also use a modded Xbox to take adavntage of the recorded shows on the gaming TV in the living room.

[nanook105]

Originally Posted by rbaldwin

Well, the beyond tv is in my bedroom on the 2nd floor, i want to be able to watch the recordings on the tv on the main floor, someday i'll buy a "media" pc but it's not an option at the moment.

i need the pc to remain where it is, i'm an insommniac and need to be able to watch stuff in the middle of the night without disturbing my wife.

i have a wirless network 802.11g and i bought a Dlink media lounge dsm320, so that i could stream to the main floor, but i found the quality very poor too choppy works fine for mp3's though.

maybe the 320's an option if i could get it to work. maybe that's a thread i should start somewhere.

My BTV servers are in a closet in the basement, and one of them is connected to a TV in my bedroom on the second floor, so it can be done. I am using an RF modulator and running a coax cable from the basement to the bedroom TV. I also use USB extension cables to a USB hub in the bedroom where I attach my remote (Firefly) and keyboard/mouse when I need them.

[rbaldwin]

so far what i hear is essentially i wired connection. Is transfering to DVD a worthwhile option.

Is wireless viable to a media lounge viable

[areviaki]

Putting your shows onto DVD is always on option, just need the right software. Especially handy if you plan on building a collection. I always have a mix of shows. Some I want to save and some I just delete after watching.

I have to admit, I've tried the wireless route and always had intermittent problems. I went back to the wired route for the reliability. There are some media extenders out there and if you search for each specific ones on this forum you can get some info on the reliability of using them.

[thundermax]

maybe this thread <tivo mandatory deletion> will help influence your decision

[PeteS]

Originally Posted by rbaldwin

i have a wirless network 802.11g and i bought a Dlink media lounge dsm320, so that i could stream to the main floor, but i found the quality very poor too choppy works fine for mp3's though.

maybe the 320's an option if i could get it to work. maybe that's a thread i should start somewhere.

There is a pretty well know problem with the DSM320 related to its antenna being connected incorrectly, resulting in low reception.

This may be the issue you are having. I have the DSM320 and it does work playing back MPEGs at fair quality with no real issues. I just wish dlink would make the UI much less clunky.

[DonK]

RBaldwin,

If you want to leverage that DSM320 properly for what it's really for, put that DSM320 on a *wired* 100mbit connection and just download and install the Windows Media Connect option from the Windows Update site on your BTV machine, then authorize the DSM320 in that program, and share the folder where you're recording BTV shows to. You'll be able to stream then without hiccups. (Yes, we have one of these in-house, and I've configured it that way fine.) You can also just put the media server software on the BTV box too if you want. The WMC software is much simpler, but the D-Link software gives you a little more stuff.

[rbaldwin]

Thanks, i'll look into the *wired* option, i really do want to get more use our of my DSM320