TiVo or not TiVo - that is the question

Some cable and satellite providers provide digital video recorders (DVRs) to subscribers for a fee. These allow you record your favorite shows as well as pause or rewind live TV. Right now you can pick up a DVR from TiVo for $20 a month with a two year commitment. If you absolutely have to have TiVo this looks like a great deal. What I haven't been able to sort out is what happens after the commitment is over. Can you still use the TiVo without the monthly fee? If not then TiVo does not look like such a great deal.

If you have a newer computer, you can leverage that as your DVR easily. You need a way to get the content into the computer, a video in or video capture card with an antenna/cable input. There are some video cards that have TV tuners on them so you can possibly watch one channel while recording another.

The build your own PVR forum is a good place to learn what it takes to do it yourself. The content on the home page is helpful but dated. The forums are where you'll find the greatest help.

Ars HTPC Guide: December 2010

Ars HTPC Guide: December 2010

Here is an excellent Ars Technica article on current home theater PCs. The technology is much more user friendly and more commonplace than even a year ago. Very helpful if you want to replace your cable with a HTPC.

Can a Home Theater PC (HTPC) help save money on my cable TV bill?

A HTPC, also known as a media center, is your one stop shop for replacing your premium cable TV programming. It is a computer that is equipped with additional software or hardware that supports your media viewing or listening. These PCs have larger hard drives, dedicated video cards that output to your HDTV and special software that will allow you to stream content to your TV or serve any other device on your network. The greatest benefit is that you have access to the widest variety of content; anything you can get on your home computer you can watch on your HTPC. Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, all of the broadcast networks websites would be available to you. You won't have to worry about content being blocked to your device like Google TV. The greatest downside is that also that it is a computer. You will have to do some setup to get the PC to work just the way you want to. While these days it is very easy to plug a PC to a HDTV, configuring the PC is another story. If you're savvy about the technology, you can build your HTPC yourself. This ZDnet article explains how.