[giantcycle]

Over at the DVD Recorders section, there's a lot of disappointment about the lack of announcements of HDD-equipped DVD recorders with ATSC tuners.


Separately, way back in 2003, somebody over at alt.tv.tech.hdtv said:


"HTPC with hi-def is still a fringe technology, not

ready for the mainstream, and only for those with a relatively high

capacity for tweaking and troubleshooting. (Think of "capacity to

handle tweaking and hassle." Personally, I'm in the top 10 percent,

but I think you need to be in the top 1 percent to do HTPC with

hi-def.) I would love to be proven wrong . . ."


So, how about it, for those disappointed DVD-HDD fans? Is there some reasonable off-the-shelf HTPC solution out there now, or is that pessimistic view still right?

 

[sinizterguy]

There are still no "perfect" HTPC solutions which can be bought ready to go.


If you want a HTPC setup that does what you want it to do, then the only way is to build it yourself and tweak it to perform the way you like. Even then it is a path with many problems to overcome. HTPC just does not offer the ease of use that a standalone machine can.

 

[umdivx]



Quote:
Originally Posted by giantcycle /forum/post/0


Over at the DVD Recorders section, there's a lot of disappointment about the lack of announcements of HDD-equipped DVD recorders with ATSC tuners.


Separately, way back in 2003, somebody over at alt.tv.tech.hdtv said:


"HTPC with hi-def is still a fringe technology, not

ready for the mainstream, and only for those with a relatively high

capacity for tweaking and troubleshooting. (Think of "capacity to

handle tweaking and hassle." Personally, I'm in the top 10 percent,

but I think you need to be in the top 1 percent to do HTPC with

hi-def.) I would love to be proven wrong . . ."


So, how about it, for those disappointed DVD-HDD fans? Is there some reasonable off-the-shelf HTPC solution out there now, or is that pessimistic view still right?

I guess I'm confused at exactly what your looking for? When you say DVD recorders with ATSC tuners what are you exactly looking to do here?


Record OTA ATSC HD and then burn it to a dvd?


- Josh

 

[giantcycle]



Quote:
Originally Posted by umdivx /forum/post/0


I guess I'm confused at exactly what your looking for? When you say DVD recorders with ATSC tuners what are you exactly looking to do here?


Record OTA ATSC HD and then burn it to a dvd?


- Josh

Actually, I'm looking to time-shift HDTV, and a well-designed DVD recorder with hard drive and ATSC tuner would do that just fine. Only occasionally would I want to archive anything down to a DVD. But I'd like that capability because it shouldn't cost much, and it would move me closer to a "one-box" solution for my home theater.


So what I gather is: The industry does not have, and is not now planning to introduce, a mass-market recorder like that. And there's no off-the-shelf HTPC solution.

 

[umdivx]

well with HTPC thats simple to do. MCE for example has the "burn to dvd" function built in. MCE supports ATSC tuning so, YES in the HTPC what your looking to do IS in fact achievable.


but if your looking for a stand alone STB HD DVD recorder:

http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/22/t...with-1tb-disk/


kind of expensive though.


- Josh

 

[wildwillie6]



Quote:
Originally Posted by umdivx /forum/post/0


well with HTPC thats simple to do. MCE for example has the "burn to dvd" function built in. MCE supports ATSC tuning so, YES in the HTPC what your looking to do IS in fact achievable.

Separately, giantcycle asked (thread title: HTPC for Dummies):

Is there some reasonable off-the-shelf HTPC solution out there now?


and I'm interested in that answer, too. Not "put together this motherboard, that hard drive, that tuner card, etc.-now-be-sure-to-run-antivirus-and-update-software" but an off-the-shelf HTPC as easy to install as a DVR. Does such a thing exist?

 

[JM Anthony]

Check out the guys at creaturehtpc.com. Chris will build what you want install all the software, and configure it at reasonable costs. Good guy to deal with.


John