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Building a PVR in 3 Or So Steps for About $200
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(1775 total words in this text)
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Building a PVR in 3 Or So Steps for About $200
a.k.a.
2n's Thrifty PVR
a.k.a.
I Don't Want to Build a Whole New Bloody Computer PVR
or
What You Will (GET ON WITH IT, ALREADY!!!)
 ABSTRACT:
The author shows how a thrifty and clever person can make a highly functional PVR using an existing PC and about $200 worth of components. He then thumbs his nose at the mega-geeks who have spent at least twice as much money and four times the hours putting together a whole new computer.
AUTHOR: 2n (Kenn)
THE GUIDING CONCEPT
As anyone who has ready Rampy's "Build Your Own PVR 101" knows, there are many ways to create a PVR along with a wide variety of costs. Rampy and probably many other members and users of BYOPVR.com tend to be interested in the high end idea of a PVR, which consists of building a whole new computer in a sexy and sleek mini case that will sit next to your television and be dedicated to the PVR experience. I, on the other hand, am a thrifty (cheap) person and have had to go to an official computer repair shop for help both of the times I tried to build a computer from scratch on my own. The whole idea of buying the parts and building a whole new computer just does not appeal to me, particularly since I have a perfectly good computer sitting in my home office that I use for important things like playing City of Heroes.
REQUIRED TECHNICAL ABILITY LEVEL:
The actual skill level required for completing this project is not very high. I would rate the difficulty of this at about a four on a scale of one to ten (one being the ability to plug in and turn on a computer and ten being the ability to assemble and configure a network for the government of an entire small nation). If you already have a decent computer, a small home network, are comfortable with installing PCI cards, can install programs, and don't mind stringing a network cable to your living room, then I would encourage you to consider this frugal PVR option.
REQUIRED COMPONENTS:
There are five main components to this PVR setup plan:
1. Television: You must own a television and receive cable services (this is not part of the budget.)
2. Computer: You must own a fairly decent computer. If you don't already have a computer, then you will want to go with one of the more extensive plans for building a complete PVR from scratch. You also need to have a minimal home network, since the MediaMVP is connected to your computer through a network, although a crossover cable can be used to connect directly to your computer's network card in theory.
3. Hauppauge PVR 250: This is the TV tuner/ capture card that I use. I purchased it oem from pcalchemy for $99 (at time of this article). You could also use the following cards which might be more or less expensive: "Roslyn/Blackbird", PVR350, PVR USB2 cards Adaptec VideOh. Provideo PV258, PV259 Leadtek PVR2000 Avermedia M150 Generic Conexant "Blackbird" based card Plextor PX-M402U Generic GO7007SB based capture device. All of these should work with the required software.
4. Hauppauge MediaMVP: The mediamvp basically is digital media receiver that hooks up to your network and handles output to your stereo and TV for digital files. The current retail price is $99, but I got mine from Circuit City with a $30 rebate, so it cost me $69. (Rampy: Shameless site sponsor plug - PC Alchemy has a pretty good price on MediaMVP's)
5. GBPVR: This is the software that brings the system all together and does all the actual PVR tricks for you. It is a beta version that is still in development, but it is very functional and Sub, the programmer provides a great amount of support though his message boards. It is the only 3rd party software that I have found that functions through the MediaMVP and, best of all, it is free. (Rampy note: there are some resourceful folks trying to get a MythTV client wedged into the MediaMVP although I haven't seen/tried a release yet)
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