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Recommendation needed for OTA DVR software

post #1 of 12
11/28/12 at 12:53pm
Thread Starter 
I have a 2 year old HTPC that I built and never really used as a HTPC. It has Vista Media Center on it now but I am open to changing if I need to. I would like to use this machine to record OTA TV only. I will not be using it as a dvd player or for surfing the web or internet tv. DVR only. I also would like to be able to watch the same content in another room with an extender or another PC or something like that. And the less tweaking it needs, the better. My wife wants it to just work. I have been out of the HTPC game for a while so I need your advice. What software would best fit my needs at the moment?
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post #2 of 12
11/28/12 at 1:06pm
Your best bet is still Windows Media Center. It is the simplest (to setup) and best looking GUI (in my opinion) DVR available on the PC. All you need is a digital tuner(s), an antenna and a connection to the internet so that you can download the guide. You can share the recorded shows with other media center computers. Extenders can also be used to watch live TV and/or recorded shows.
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post #3 of 12
11/28/12 at 5:19pm
I would agree with the WMC recommendation, but they did make some improvements to WMC in Win7--not sure about Win8. Win8 is $39.95 right now, with a free WMC license option.
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post #4 of 12
11/29/12 at 12:54am
I use my HTPC as an OTA DVR and use WMC7. I don't have much experience with other HTPC software but WMC just works for me. Just like a "real" DVR. I just click on the program I want to record from the EPG and it records. Or select the program to play & it plays. So I think your wife should like it. And there are settings to record series, etc.

I've read that WMC7 is a lot better than the Vista version. But it will cost you more for Win7 than Win8. As suggested Win8 with the free WMC right now is probably the way to go.
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post #5 of 12
11/29/12 at 3:48am
Try Recorded TV HD: http://www.recordedtvhd.com/
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post #6 of 12
11/29/12 at 6:02am
Thread Starter 
$40 for Win 8 + MC sounds like a great deal. Are there quirks about W8MC that would be bad for a "just works" system? I read about MC always on top & boot into MC not working out of the box but there are registry hacks to make it work so that does not bother me. But are there other pitfalls? I don't want to have to remember to reset the DVR after a power failure and that kind of thing.
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post #7 of 12
11/29/12 at 7:11am
WMC works perfectly on Win7 and boots straight into the media screen. WMC will recover from a reboot or power loss and retain your recordings list. Downside is WMC just keeps the programmes in one long list so if you have lots of recordings sorting them is a nightmare. This is where Recorded TV HD comes in as it fetches artwork and puts all episodes together in their own 'folder' showing the number of unwatched episodes. It runs from within WMC appearing as another menu item in the list. Makes the whole DVR wife and child friendly with great graphics but you do have to pay for it ($20) - worth it though.
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post #8 of 12
11/29/12 at 7:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heuer View Post

WMC will recover from a reboot or power loss and retain your recordings list. Downside is WMC just keeps the programmes in one long list so if you have lots of recordings sorting them is a nightmare. This is where Recorded TV HD comes in as it fetches artwork and puts all episodes together in their own 'folder' showing the number of unwatched episodes. It runs from within WMC appearing as another menu item in the list. Makes the whole DVR wife and child friendly with great graphics but you do have to pay for it ($20) - worth it though.

Recovering from a power loss would be dependent on the bios.

My WMC 7 groups the recordings of the same program--so there must be a setting for that. Are you maybe sorting the programs by date?
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post #9 of 12
11/29/12 at 7:38am
Thread Starter 
Recorded TV HD looks like it would be a good addition. Thanks for the suggestion.
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post #10 of 12
11/29/12 at 8:07am
+1 for Record TV HD! Great addition.

Rew
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post #11 of 12
11/29/12 at 10:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karyk View Post

Recovering from a power loss would be dependent on the bios.
My WMC 7 groups the recordings of the same program--so there must be a setting for that. Are you maybe sorting the programs by date?
Yes you can re-order the recordings but Recorded TV HD creates, in effect, box sets of episodes together with art work. As for power loss recovery it does indeed depend on correct BIOS setting and having no password for Windows as a given.
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post #12 of 12
11/29/12 at 12:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zagor View Post

Your best bet is still Windows Media Center. It is the simplest (to setup) and best looking GUI (in my opinion) DVR available on the PC. All you need is a digital tuner(s), an antenna and a connection to the internet so that you can download the guide. You can share the recorded shows with other media center computers. Extenders can also be used to watch live TV and/or recorded shows.

Yup, its already installed and works great. Why go looking around? If I were building from scratch I would probably give mythTV a shot, mostly just to save on buying a windows license.
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