My computer geek son has finished a working prototype multi media system that is cutting edge. It receives and records HDTV signals from cable,satellite ,over the air.
Archives DVD,CD,MP3,etc. It gives you full internet funtionality. No monthly fees with this one. You can fast forward past commercials when watching recorded media. It has front inputs for game systems,cameras, etc.
I figured I'd post this message here in the New England S2000 Forum because you folks are smart, and I'd like to demo it to you if you're at all interested. A basic system will run you about $750. Dave

 

I can look into the FTA satellite part. Does he have any specs written up to detail the inputs/outputs?

 

What did he use for his HD vid card?

 

I guess the description might lead one to mistakenly think this thing will illegally do stuff. That is not the case. You have to have a legal cable/sat system as well as a legal internet account for this multi media system to work.

 

Don't think anyone implied it was illegal - FTA is certainly not illegal

to me what you're describing souped up tivo type of device that will record / store / play all your digital media. i'd sure love to see it in action

 

No offense, but any semi modern PC with a good video card and a very large hard drive can do this. $750 is kind of expensive when you consider that DVR service generally costs $5/mo from the major satellite and cable providers. Plus, if something breaks, THEY own it. If you divide the $5/mo fee into $750, it would take you 12.5 years to get your money back. By then, I wonder if we will even be watching TV as we know it.

 

The prototype system (That I'm using it to send this reply) is a laptop with a WinTV HVR external video card.
Besides playing on the internet, (can a DVR do that?) the DVD burner lets you archive all your movies and music CDs. The menu driven screens (Very similar to an Ipod) are quite user friendly. The program guide which costs $20 per year allows you to record what you want and basiclly never have to watch anything live. Skipping over the commercials lets you watch three programs in the time it takes live TV to show you two. The wireless keyboard and mouse are a great feature for never having to move from your comfy chair. This system can be networked, so you could theoretically have a TV in every room that can access the stored media. The system has a non Widows based Office Suit that can run Office created documents. Depending on the hard drive size, you could archive hundreds of hours of media/data. The burner lets you make DVDs/CDs from what's on the hard drive.

 

Sounds similar to MythTV, except if it's all pre-packaged and user friendly, I can see how it would appeal to the broader-non-tech-savvy crowd. Although, those people buy Tivo's

With no monthly fee how does he get channel guide data to record shows? I use MythTV and have to shell out 20-dollars a year to SchedulesDirect to get my guide data ever since the free stuff went away.

 

My friend uses Myth TV and LOVES it.

I've seen it a few times in use and it seems pretty slick if you ask me.

 

It's a Hi Def version of Myth TV. Ask your friend if his set up is analogue or HD. My son was using the analogue version two years ago. The HD was a pain in the $%^*&^ for him to get working.