TV on PC

August 14, 2009 11:09 AM

I've dug through the archives, googled my fingers off, and I'm tired of all the searching. All I want to know if there is a fairly cheap, easy to set up, decently functional media center PC out there to be bought off the shelf. I don't want to do any hacking or tweaking, just want it to work.
posted by ducktape to technology (22 comments total)

What is "fairly cheap?" What functionality do you consider crucial? DVR functionality? Integration of web media sources? What AV hardware are you hooking it up to? Do you have expectations about the form-factor or aesthetics of the case?

I'd think that pretty much anything from HP, etc that ships with Vista Home Premium or Ultimate would do what you want, unless you have specific requirements.
posted by Good Brain at 11:25 AM on August 14

What about an AppleTV? What kind of functionality are you looking for?
posted by unixrat at 11:29 AM on August 14

Without more details on exactly what you want, the answers could be anything from a Xbox or PS3 to a mac mini, AppleTV or Tivo. These all do different things, so unless you tell us what you want a media center to do, you're not going to get any useful recommendations.
posted by kiltedtaco at 11:37 AM on August 14

I'm a Tivo user right now (looove it!), but I'd like to cut the cost of the monthly subscription out of our budget.

Farily cheap means not a thousand bucks.

Can't afford AppleTV. Really wish I could.

Exactly what I want is to record live TV and watch DVDs. Thats pretty much it. No funky setup or anything, just a computer to watch stuff on.

Every time I delve into this shit further, I get more frustrated. Ugh.
posted by ducktape at 11:48 AM on August 14

I think your best bet would be some cheap non-Atom desktop plus a $50 USB TV tuner. In theory, the USB tuner should just work in Windows Media Center. That's still going to be $400+.
posted by smackfu at 12:02 PM on August 14

Had Tivo, built my own HTPC. Tried a bunch of media center software and have come to LOVE windows 7 media center. It passes the wifey factor too. If you don't want to build your own box. Engadget just reviewed this box and it looks good and priced right:

Lenovo Q700
posted by bleucube at 12:04 PM on August 14

An apple TV starts at $229. I really doubt you'll find what you want for less than that, and an AppleTV won't deal with recording liveTV anyway. I think you are probably looking at ~$500 for a low-end PC with Windows Home Premium and an added Tuner+remote control.
posted by Good Brain at 12:05 PM on August 14

Check out the Popcorn Hour devices.
posted by utsutsu at 12:05 PM on August 14

If I was going to build my own again, I would be me one of these: Zota Ion
posted by bleucube at 12:07 PM on August 14

oooo, that Lenovo is kinda what I'm thinking about.
posted by ducktape at 12:18 PM on August 14

Exactly what I want is to record live TV and watch DVDs. Thats pretty much it. No funky setup or anything, just a computer to watch stuff on.

If that's all you want, then you want a DVD Burner with a bunch of DVD-RWs
posted by unixrat at 12:20 PM on August 14

Doesn't look like popcorn hour provides DVR functionality. How does something like the Zota Ion come close to the expressed desire to buy something off the shelf?

I'm correcting my price estimate, it looks like you can get a suitable machine with a suitable OS version (and a free upgrade to Win7) $349. A tuner card + remote is $75. The USB tuners are fine too, but then I think you need to spend $20-30 for a remote.
posted by Good Brain at 12:23 PM on August 14

I can't imagine a worse solution, unixrat. You've clearly never had the wonderful opportunity of using Tivo.
posted by Precision at 12:24 PM on August 14

Precision, I think unixrat is just pointing out that maybe those instructions weren't.. precisely what the asker actually wants, but his solution exactly meets the provided requirements.
posted by jrishel at 12:36 PM on August 14

It depends on whether "record live TV" means "act like a Tivo" or "I want to record this show that I'm watching".
posted by smackfu at 12:38 PM on August 14

Precision, I think unixrat is just pointing out that maybe those instructions weren't.. precisely what the asker actually wants, but his solution exactly meets the provided requirements.

Yeah, it's a bit hard to pin down the exact requirements. He doesn't want to pay $13/mo, but has a budget of sub-$1k? An AppleTV ($250) is too expensive? An HD Tivo is ~$300 plus another $250 for a lifetime, iirc. A nicer DVD player is <$100. A DVD recorder with a tuner is ~$150.
posted by unixrat at 1:03 PM on August 14

I get the impression he was assuming an AppleTV is very expensive (when in reality it's under $300).

If you can wait a little bit, the new Dell Zino is almost exactly what you want. It will almost definitely come preinstalled with Windows Media Center which works famously (especially the new Windows 7 version).

The problem with the Dell (and almost all other prebuilt HTPC systems like this) is they don't come with TV Tuners. They have plenty of power to watch media files and lots of connectivity options, but no actual coax jack for your cable feed.

But that's easy to surmount with a USB TV tuner from Newegg.com.

You could buy a used Mac Mini for under $500 and get an EyeTV to get DVR functionality on it. If you shop around you could probably do that altogether for under $700.

Honestly homebrewing it is the cheapest method, but I get the impression you don't have the ability/desire to go that route. It's really not THAT hard to do though. Plenty of walkthroughs online... I put a killer HTPC/DVR together for a few hundred bucks in an afternoon.
posted by sprocket87 at 1:55 PM on August 14

Look, there are some good suggestions here, but I think a few people are missing my point. I want to a) got to big box store (or online source), b) buy media center computer, c) take it home, plug all the stuff in, and simply have it work.
I'm very well versed with the way computers and electronics stuff works, but right now I'm just looking for plug and play. Easy peasy nice and easy.
posted by ducktape at 4:36 PM on August 14

You're having trouble finding this because there's almost no market for it. Most people who want something that "just works" for recording TV and watching DVDs buy TiVos and DVD players, not HTPCs.
posted by Lazlo at 1:30 AM on August 15

Lazlo's right, the entire point of a HTPC is that it can do a whole lot more than just act like a Tivo - that's why you're paying twice as much for it in the first place.

That said, I'll give the same answer I give in just about any HTPC thread on the green: Acer Aspire AX compact PC - the current bottom of the range is the AX1300: $350 From Newegg, Same at Frys or $370 at BestBuy. Where ever you bought it you'd need to add a USB (or 2/3 height PCIE) TV Tuner for ~$50 and an IR remote & receiver for another ~$30.
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 7:36 AM on August 15

ducktape - Look, there are some good suggestions here, but I think a few people are missing my point. I want to a) got to big box store (or online source), b) buy media center computer, c) take it home, plug all the stuff in, and simply have it work.
I'm very well versed with the way computers and electronics stuff works, but right now I'm just looking for plug and play. Easy peasy nice and easy.

Well I want a Audi RS6 for under $1,000 that gets 100 MPG but that just ain't gonna happen, now is it?

Not trying to be snarky but you're being unrealistic. You get to choose just 2 out of the following 3 options:

1. Cheap
2. Hassle free
3. Completely functional

Think about that and decide what you want, because you will not find something that does everything you want out of the box with no fuss on a shoestring budget.

On second thought, you WILL: It's called Tivo.

Otherwise, nope. Pick the 2 factors above that are most important and then come back to review these suggestions.

The aforementioned Lenovo Q700 comes closest, but if you can't afford $500 then you're hopelessly mis-valueing this type of equipment.
posted by sprocket87 at 10:25 AM on August 15 [1 favorite]

I moved from a Tivo to a SageTV solution. The benefits were:

1. No monthly fees
2. Reasonable software costs
3. Integration of my music, video, and photo library
4. Easy expansion into multiple viewing locations
5. Support for as many tuners (sd or HD) as I would want
6. Reasonably cheap extenders at each viewing location instead of a full TV

Watching DVDs with it is easy; I just rip the DVD to my server. I did have a server already, but did have to purchase a tuner.

Setup was easy and things have been solid for me.

If you want to use a computer (or even your server) to watch TV, you van do that as well.

Unlike MS Media Center, there's no DRM, no limitation on # of tuners, and extenders are easily available.

The default UI is ugly and poorly organized, but it is easy to download and install a good alternative. Plus, if you are interested, there is an active customer forum and many plugins available.
posted by reddot at 7:29 PM on August 16