I want these recordings to stay with me forever.
October 4, 2011 7:23 AM   Subscribe

Help me record HD TV and keep it forever on my computer. Difficulty: there's no coax out on my cable boxes, just component and HDMI.

I want to record all games for a particular college basketball team in HD and save them to my computer for posterity. What is the most foolproof and cost-effective way to do this?

I have Time Warner HD cable. I don't want to get their DVR because I want to have these recording on my PC, and I haven't heard of any way (within reason) to get recordings from a Time Warner DVR to a PC.

The key features I need are: HD quality, able to put them on my computer in a format that most computers will be able to play (so I could watch them from any computer for years to come), and able to schedule the recordings so it'll record when I'm not around. I don't need a TV guide - while it would be nice to have, I can just set the DVR to record from a certain time to a certain time and that's fine by me.

I am open to buying a DVR (regardless of whether it needs a subscription like Tivo). I'm also open to buying a computer and installing a PC card. So I'd like to hear about which of those options is more foolproof.

I would just buy a TV tuner card and drop it in a Windows 7 box, then use Windows Media Center to record the shows. But it's my impression that without a CableCard my TV Tuner card won't be able to understand the signal coming from Time Warner. If I'm wrong, please let me know - getting a TV Tuner for my PC seems like the easiest option if it worked, but the only tuner I've found that supports CableCARDs is this $300 one, which is a bit steep.

Otherwise, that leaves me 2 options. 1) Get a TiVo and a CableCARD - sounds interesting, but has anyone successfully transferred shows from a TiVo to a PC without the $80 software they require? or 2) buy an HDMI recorder for my PC. I've found reports of these recorders not working due to video cards not supporting HDCP, so I'm leery of that option.
posted by Tehhund to Computers & Internet (12 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
You're best solution, AFAIK, is to get a cable-card enabled Tivo, use the free Tivo server software on your pc to download to computer, and then the free program TivoDecode, to convert the tivo files into unlocked mpegs.
posted by nomisxid at 7:59 AM on October 4, 2011 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: "TivoDecode" was the missing piece - that sounds like my solution! Do you have any experience with it? Any problems?
posted by Tehhund at 8:14 AM on October 4, 2011


I haven't used it, but kmttg seems like a good way to go the Tivo route.
posted by exogenous at 8:21 AM on October 4, 2011 [2 favorites]


I've been using TivoDecode since the Tivo 2 came out. The biggest problem you'll run into is file-system-size-limitations. Back when I first started using it, most external USB drives were formatted with filesystems that didn't allow for files larger than 2gb, and the error message given by tivodecode when I would attempt to decode with the usb drive for the destination wasn't helpful. These days, it seems like the external usb drives are being formatted with something more modern, so the problem shouldn't occur.
posted by nomisxid at 8:27 AM on October 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


Regarding the Ceton Infinitv 4 card: The $300 might not be as expensive as you think. To install a CableCARD in a TiVo you have to get a TiVo Premiere, which is $99, plus $20/month with a 1 year minimum, or $500 for "lifetime" service. With the monthly plan you are at $340 in one year. The Infinitv 4 is $300 and there is no recurring charge: you own it.

Also: the Infinitv 4 has four tuners, i.e. record four shows at once. The only TiVo box that does that is the Premiere Elite at $500 (plus service).
posted by Mister Fabulous at 8:38 AM on October 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


I use kmttg to pull programs off my TiVo and love it.
posted by Gridlock Joe at 8:56 AM on October 4, 2011


However (I just looked up and saw you have Time Warner) TW may mark most, if not all, channels as copy protected. If that is the case, you won't be able to pull the programs off the TiVo.
posted by Gridlock Joe at 8:58 AM on October 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


I use EyeTV on my mac. Looks like it is PC compatible as well.
posted by humboldt32 at 9:09 AM on October 4, 2011


Response by poster: Gridlock Joe: However (I just looked up and saw you have Time Warner) TW may mark most, if not all, channels as copy protected. If that is the case, you won't be able to pull the programs off the TiVo.

Does anyone know a way around this? Is there a way to use TivoDecode or kmttg to get around this? If not, then TiVo is dead in the water.
posted by Tehhund at 11:34 AM on October 4, 2011


The Hauppauge HDPVR box is definitely the way to go. On the fly encoding in H264. I have one, and my HDTV signal goes from my cable box's component out to the HDPVR box, which then sends a H264 stream straight to my PC via USB. I have it integrated with Windows MCE to record shows I want, but you can also use the drivers that come with the box to record whatever you want as long as it has component out. Oh, and it also has optical input for sound. Great little device.
posted by reformedjerk at 12:51 PM on October 4, 2011 [1 favorite]




Response by poster: The PVR that Horselover Phattie suggested is on its way. Since channels might be copy-protected, TiVo is out.
posted by Tehhund at 4:11 AM on November 4, 2011


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