Can one of you experts out there tell me: If a person does [I]not want to get involved with another monthly-subscription, , what is the [I]minimum I'd need to be able to record & play back tv signals recorded frm my set-top/cable box?
Here's some of what's already on hand: Comcast monthly digital tv subscription, a set top box [Comcast Motorola HDMI DCH3200] equipped with [among other connections] a firewire port on the back of it, a macbook pro with a 2.0Ghz Intel CoreDuo cpu & 1GB RAM & a fire-wire port & 20GB+ of free space, running WinXP Pro [it's dual boot], plus a desktop comp. on the premises, assorted patch cables, etc.....
I'm trying to find out [a] if that set-top box + that macbook would even be useful for what I'm trying to do, and [b] what kind of additional software + $$$ I'm looking at...
Thanks much for your time !
riprap

These days just asking about "recording TV" isn't really enough info. The answer will change depending on whether you want to record ANALOG (from an antenna), digital (ATSC from an antenna), or HD or SD from a service provider (cable or satellite).

The cheapest is probably to purchase a TV tuner for your PC. Most come with some sort of DVR/PVR software. Lots of PC processing power is required for some, and that depends on whether or not there is a HARDWARE-based MPEG encoder included with the tuner (for analog off-air or from cable).

While not necessarily the cheapest option, you might be able to find a non-TiVo/ReplayTV DVR for sale used (such as at eBay or Amazon).