Please suggest a cheap/simple pvr

December 6, 2006 2:14 PM

My grandpa enjoys recording TV shows off his satellite feed (DishNet, I believe). The problem is, while the VCR (heh) has a timer, it cannot change the channels and what not. So I found out that he gets up a few times a night to change the channel and what not. I think some sort of PVR is in order. What is the cheapest/simplest thing I can get?

I know there's TiVO. Can I get an older version that integrates with the sat box somehow? It really needs nothing beyond the simplest record/playback.

I apologise for the simplicity of the question. I know nothing about satellite tv.

posted by aeighty to technology (25 comments total)

first a relevant but self serving plug :P build your own pvr site

If you have a modest spare PC, you can buy a hauppauge PVR 150 (retail model 1045) which comes with an IR blaster which will change the channel on the satellite box automagically... add free software like GBPVR and you're rocking. At least that's the concept, the devil is in the details...

rampy
posted by rampy at 2:22 PM on December 6, 2006

thanks for the idea. My experience though, is that "build your own" solutions while powerful are a little too complicate. I don't need fancy functionality. I want something really simple.

Do you think an old TiVO off ebay would work?
posted by aeighty at 2:28 PM on December 6, 2006

Tivo's have Ir blasters and would work as well...

If you get an old tivo off ebay and don't "activate" it with Tivo you can use it like an electronic VCR.

If you pay the subscription fee it'll act more robust/fancyilly, (more tivo/pvr like :) )

An old series 2 tivo could replace the VCR and slave/control the satellite box.

rampy
posted by rampy at 2:32 PM on December 6, 2006

So the whole thing will look like this: satbox->tivo->tv?

And tivo has proper timer functionality that includes channel changing right? I also remember seeing somewhere that you can ftp to the box and grab the video files.. which is bonus as then favorites can be burned to the DVD..right?
posted by aeighty at 2:40 PM on December 6, 2006

Get a new vcr. They can change channels
posted by JayRwv at 2:53 PM on December 6, 2006

TiVo files are not normally accessible via FTP or any other means. You'll need to hack the box. Also, TiVos require a data connection of some kind, usually just a dial up line. Even if you are in boat anchor mode (what we are talking about here) it will at least need to set the clock correctly via the dialup line. Series 2 has USB connectors and support almost any USB networking connector (wireless or Ethernet, really).

I can't remember if Series 1 had USB ports too. I never had one of those.
posted by chairface at 2:54 PM on December 6, 2006

The simplest, cheapest thing you can do is to stick with what you've got. The TiVo plan sounds like a lot of effort and at least a little bit of money for... what, exactly? So your grandfather doesn't have to get up to change channels? From what little you've mentioned, it doesn't sound like it bothers him much.

And, realistically, nothing will be as simple as the method he already knows how to use, and your grandfather's idea of really simple might differ from yours. I mean, ftp to the box and grab the video files, then burn them to DVD? I've got a lot of elderly relatives, and I don't think any of them would even know what that sentence means.

Instead of buying your grandfather a gadget that (again, from what little you've said) he might not even want, why not spend that money on a nice bottle of Scotch, and then spend an evening drinking it with him? That would probably be more significant and meaningful, to both of you, than finding a way to increase the efficiency of his teevee-viewing.
posted by box at 2:55 PM on December 6, 2006

DishNet or DirectTV provide DVR hardware that is compatible with their hardware and simple to use. Then you only need to deal with 1 company.
posted by caflores22 at 3:03 PM on December 6, 2006

google seems to indicate that recording is disabled in 'boat anchor' mode..?
posted by unmake at 3:05 PM on December 6, 2006

My grandpa is computer savvy enough to figure most of this stuff out. The key fragment from my initial post is "few times a night". He has the "russian channel" package, and I think most of the programming is at a weird offset time.

I dont want to deal with Dishnet because his sat access is only semi-approved. While he pays the monthly fee, he's in canada (which as I understand, is not supposed to happen - he's using an extra reciever from some relatives).

The way this works right now is as follows:
1. grandpa records to vcr (manually!)
2. imports to computer (via a capture card)
3. shares DVDs with friends/keeps for personal library.

There are obvious problems with this that I'd like to rectify. Primarily the fact that he has to manually record all the shows that he like. I'm not interested in tivo's montly pass thing or anything like that. All I want is timer functionality (record channel X, at 12:30 to 14:30) and then grab it to the computer so it can be exported to DVD.

Meanwhile I'll keep on researching the "boat anchor" :) TiVOs
posted by aeighty at 3:13 PM on December 6, 2006

Why not bypass the VCR and capture directly on the computer?
posted by unmake at 3:18 PM on December 6, 2006

Or alternatively, stand-alone DVD recorders have fallen to under $100.. some of them even include a basic tv-guide channel listing feature. Might even come with IR-blasters.
posted by unmake at 3:25 PM on December 6, 2006

I am a grandpa. I do not see where the mentioned grandpa wants to share the recorded TV programs. I read it that he wants to record programs that air while he is sleeping so that he can watch them at a more reasonable hour. All vcr's that I know of these days have a method to change the channel to record different programs. But a dvr will certainly do that in a much easier fashion. That is what I use. The stand-alone DVD recorder sounds great as well if it allows channel switching.
If he is like me he just wants to watch a program that broadcasts at a weird time, ie 11 pm or something.. heheh
posted by JayRwv at 4:06 PM on December 6, 2006

I also remember seeing somewhere that you can ftp to the box and grab the video files

If you want to do that you'll need to buy an old ReplayTV - completely DRM-free. Has to be activated or monthly paid - the unactivated ones are useless lumps.

It has an IR blaster to control sat boxes (as well as a more reliable serial control, if the sat box supports it).

Benefits of Replay: you can copy shows to and from the device using a Java program called DVArchive - runs on pretty much any Java machine. You can stream playback the shows using any Java-equipped machine (including Xbox). The downloaded shows are MPEG-2 and can be pretty easily burned to DVD or re-encoded into DIVX/XVID to save space. Also, "good" Replays automatically skip around 90% of adverts, which speeds up TV watching greatly. While streaming, you can also skip the ads which saves bandwidth because they are never sent down the wire.

You can also send and receive shows to other ReplayTV people using something called Poopli. So for example, if you and your grandfather have Replays, you can send favourite shows to each other. Sending a show literally takes three clicks on the remote. If you miss a show it's pretty easy to find a copy on Poopli.
posted by meehawl at 4:14 PM on December 6, 2006

Mathowie has a blog about PVRs. Ask there. I got a Tivo recently and really like it. If you look, there are often deals. I got the Series 2 for basically the cost of a year's subscription.
posted by theora55 at 4:29 PM on December 6, 2006

If you want to do that you'll need to buy an old ReplayTV

Nah, a Tivo will do that with Tivo2Go, which runs on Windows.

However, the Dish DVR is probably the cheapest solution. Call them and ask what it'd cost to get into one, I bet you'd be surprised. They used to give 'em away free, maybe they still do.
posted by kindall at 4:43 PM on December 6, 2006

a Tivo will do that with Tivo2Go

How nice that Tivo finally got this feature. Are the files DRM-free, and can they be transcoded cleanly to DVD? Can you send them to other people? I did think there was some hacking involved to get around some kind of DRM.
posted by meehawl at 6:31 PM on December 6, 2006

How nice that Tivo finally got this feature.

Yeah, they finally got it like two years ago. :)

The computer files are DRM'd, but that was recently cracked. You can of course burn to DVD. There's no transcoding for DVD burning, since TiVos record in MPEG-2 anyway, so you could just rip a burned DVD to whatever format you wanted with no more loss than you'd usually get.

I personally have a hacked TiVo with no DRM since I have a Mac and a DirecTV TiVo and you can't use TiVo2Go with either. It's actually pretty easy to hack a TiVo these days with a standard package of add-ons.
posted by kindall at 6:42 PM on December 6, 2006

Get him a DishNetwork DVR while you still can.
posted by xiojason at 7:30 PM on December 6, 2006

they finally got it like two years ago

I think that's like four years after Replay. But well done anyway.

I've suddenly come over all Amiga...
posted by meehawl at 7:42 PM on December 6, 2006

Does $189.99 qualify as cheap?
posted by Neiltupper at 11:41 PM on December 6, 2006

I have Dish. I use a VCR to record programs on different channels, and I don't have to change the VCR channel, ever. I suspect that if your GP makes the right connections, he won't have to, either.

The signal from my satellite converter goes through the VCR, then to the TV. The VCR and TV are set to Ch. 60 (YChMV) for normal viewing. I set the timer on the VCR to start recording Ch. 60 when the show is on. I set up a timer on the satellite box to change to the channel the show is on at the proper time. When I want to watch the tape, I change the TV to Ch. 3 and play the VCR.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:16 AM on December 7, 2006

Seconding Kirth that there is probably a solution to this that doesn't require purchasing new equipment. You can set auto-tune timers on the satellite system and record them all on the same VCR channel. I know this because I used to do it all the time with Dish Network + VCR. Sorry I can't provide more specific details, but it sounds like all you need to do is switch some cables around.
posted by slenderloris at 10:12 AM on December 7, 2006

if you're bringing it over to the PC anyways to burn it... maybe my first suggestion wasn't so bad after all? It would cut out a step.


*shrug*
posted by rampy at 2:24 PM on December 8, 2006

and slenderlois and kirth also bring up a good point to eliminate the getting up in the middle of the night.
posted by rampy at 2:27 PM on December 8, 2006