Considering switching to Beyond TV

[Bakura]

I am a complete Beyond TV noob. I've read about it and it sounds like a nice alternative to Tivo. I was considering the HDTV DirecTV Tivo unit, but if I'm going to spend that kind of money then I might as well put something together that has more functionality than just a DVR.

I realize that Beyond TV does not currently have HDTV recording capability, but is that something that is in the works?

I've got an older system that I was considering converting to a Beyond TV server.

Pentium 4 1.5 Ghz
Sound Blaster Audigy
nVidia GeForce 4 6800 Ti
512 MB RAM
80 Gig Hard Drive
Windows XP Home


And here's what I'm hoping to acheive:

- Use with DirectTV and an OTA HDTV antenna
- HDTV recording ability (or be ready for it if Beyond TV supports it in the future).
- HDTV output to one TV.
- Ability to watch recorded shows on two TVs in the house.
- 5.1/DTS level audio output to my receiver (for shows that broadcast in 5.1).


Here are my questions:

1: What (if any) of my system is good enough to use for standard and HDTV recording with Beyond TV?
2: How many TV Tuners will I need and which ones do you recommend to meet my goals?
3: Any advice or knowledge that you could share with me that might help me out?

Thanks in advance!

[rlusignan]

I just went through an excercise of setting up a PVR machine. I don't know the answer to your questions about HDTV, but you will obviously need a tuner card that will support HDTV. I personally use the Hauppauge winpvr-250 (which quite a few people use).

As for streaming content to a TV, this was my primary reason for the PVR. I have my PVR machine tuning a Dishnet receiver to record content. I then use the hauppauge MediaMVP to watch (decode) the mpeg2 content on my TV. The only drawback that I have found so far is that the MediaMVP doesn't have wireless but I'm sure that will be in the next version of the device. Mind you my BTV server and MediaMVP aren't moving anywhere so running the cable isn't an issue.

Hope that partially answers some of your questions. These forums are the best spot for information regarding home PVR machines imho.