[greggplummer]

My good old Windows 7 HTPC (with Windows Media Center) bit the dust and now I'm trying to decide what to do. The options I'm considering are 1) replacing/repairing the HTPC, 2) replacing it with a streaming box like the NVIDIA Shield and connecting it to my HDHomeRun devices for viewing live and recorded TV, or 3) replacing it with a streaming box and drop cable TV. For this thread, I'll concentrate on the last two options. I've already asked questions about the 1st option over in the 'Home Theater Computers' forum.

Option 2: Replace the old HTPC with a streaming box that can be configured to work with my HDHomeRun devices for live and recorded TV.

I haven't looked into this option much because what I had was working fine. I've been following the forums and have read quite a few positive comments about the NVIDIA Shield as an HTPC replacement. As is with anything you research on forums or reviews on Amazon, there are plenty of people complaining about problems with these devices. I don't know if there are better streaming boxes now but I understand that the latest Shield is pretty dated. Is there a newer box coming out soon? I'd like to know what the best solutions are for viewing and recording live TV with the Shield. I don't know if SiliconDust supports the old HDHomeRun Dual any more because it looks like a discontinued product on their website. So it may not work with the streaming boxes. I could replace my Dual with the newer HDHomeRun CONNECT Duo. I also have the 3-tuner HDHomeRun Prime, which I use for my CableCARD cable TV service from Charter/Spectrum.

As for viewing and recording either OTA or cable TV, I'd like the streaming box to match the functionality I had with WMC, such as:

1. An EPG with a grid showing rows of channels and time in columns. The data I was getting from EPG123 covered about 10 days.
2. I would like to be able to customize the grid so only the channels that I watch are included. I want only the HD cable channels to appear, not the SD.
3. Combine like channels from different tuners. If a tuner was currently in use, it would automatically switch to another tuner that had the same programming. For example, my Prime has 3 CableCARD tuners and the Dual has 2 NTSC OTA tuners. For some programs, like the local HD network broadcasts ABC-HD, NBC-HD, etc., there are 5 tuner options for the same broadcast that is coming over-the-air or from the cable. Instead of having different grid listings for the OTA 27.1 channel and the cable 607 channel, these could be combined into a channel group.
4. Let me rename the channel number. This is extremely useful and improves the family/wife acceptance factor. For many, many years our cable service used cable channel 5 for NBC. When they added HD channels the SD version remained 5 and the HD version was 615. I could disable the SD version and rename 615 to 5 so family members could easily find NBC on the grid in a familiar place/order.
5. Quickly navigate to a channel by using the numeric keypad on a remote or keyboard. I could jump to NBC by entering '5' on the remote. While in EPG grid mode, this would display the grid at the channel 5 position and when watching live TV it changes to channel 5 and displays whatever is the current show on 5.
6. The ability to record a single episode or set it to record the whole season (series).
7. Schedule future recordings by being able to search the program guide by title, etc.
8. Specify which specific channel to record when the program might be shown on multiple channels
9. Specify whether the recording is only for new or previously broadcast programs
10. Be able to set a time buffer before and/or after a show. This is good for sporting events that might run late. I usually set the recording to go an extra 30 minutes.
11. Be able to watch a show that is currently recording. For example, if the show has been playing for 15 minutes (and recording), we'd like to go to the recording and start watching it from the beginning.
12. This would be a bonus because WMC couldn't do this... It would be great if we were watching a show and after about 20 minutes we decided to record it and the recording would start from the very beginning.

Is there anything that can do this? The more I read up on Plex, Kodi, Channels Plus, etc., etc., the more confused I get. We only have one HDTV, so we aren't trying to set up a whole-house DVR. I have an UnRAID media server and could use plugins for those apps/programs that might integrate with my network. However, I'd need to upgrade UnRaid from v5 to v6. I would just use the server to store recorded TV episodes.

 

[Osamah Khan]

Things have come a looong way since the days of windows 7 HTPC. What you want to do can be accomplished using a dozen different ways with streaming devices. I believe most of them can do what you want.

HD homerun has native apps with EPG for all major streaming devices. Shield and AppleTV would be my recommendation. Additionally you could use any Kodi based solutions as well such as Libreelec or Corelec. Then there are your other sub $100 Chinese android boxes which will work but I’ll stay away from them. raspberry Pi is another good solution. It depends on what else you want besides live TV.

You will have to consider a solution where you have a NAS or a separate PC based DVR backend and the streaming device can act as a front end. HD homeruns support a number of out of the box consumer NAS devices you can setup to act as storage for recordings, and you can use native HD homerun app on shield or appletv. You can also use Kodi on shield or MRMC on appletv for viewing.

If I am not mistaken you may have to pay for love EPGs because WMc provided that for free but apart from that I think you have to pay. Look into Plex DVR or Emby DVR as well.

 

[Osamah Khan]

I realized later you have unraid, so you don’t need a separate NAS. Just update firmware of hdhomerun and you may have to purchase their DVR feature. So you can record directly to unraid. And any of the streaming boxes will work just fine.

 

[Charles R]

If you want to record cable... purchase a TiVo. It's that simple.

 

[tenthplanet]

If you want to record cable... purchase a TiVo. It's that simple.

Second that. Tivos can easily have larger hard drives put in too if you store a lot of shows.

 

[Brian Hampton]

I replaced my HTPC with a ATV4K.

But, ... The HTPC took over as a Plex server for the house.

Also,... I don't watch or record TV so our viewing habits and needs are not and all similar.

Still... I think you have had a couple of great suggestions here so far. I hope it works out.

-Brian

 

[Osamah Khan]

I do not own a TiVo but the OP has HD homeruns already. It is much easier to simply buy a Nas which you can keep expanding based on your need for dvr purposes and get a streaming device. Much better than buying tivo with its subscription in this situation.
Cheaper and efficient

 

[Charles R]

I do not own a TiVo but the OP has HD homeruns already. It is much easier to simply buy a Nas which you can keep expanding based on your need for dvr purposes and get a streaming device. Much better than buying tivo with its subscription in this situation.
Cheaper and efficient

TiVo offers Lifetime... I have a whopping $199 invested. Also virtually no one else (certainly not with commercial AutoSkip and its slickness) allows you to record cable protected content.

 

[psuKinger]

TiVo offers Lifetime... I have a whopping $199 invested. Also virtually no one else (certainly not with commercial AutoSkip and its slickness) allows you to record cable protected content.

I might be misunderstanding you, and if I am I apologize. Additionally, I *might* be uninformed about TiVo. BUT:


- I like to "keep" long-term a small percentage of the content that I DVR. I run it through VideoReDo to chop the commercials out and then funnel it over to a different folder structure for access via Plex. I'm not sure if you can do that with TiVo? Maybe you can.


- If the point you were making was that it's difficult to be able to move/edit your recordings via alternatives other than TiVo, I just wanted to point out that I have Comcast. I'm pretty sure they're the single-largest Cable TV provider... and with Comcast you can move/recopy/edit anything Comcast sends you that isn't a "premium" channel (HBO/Showtime/etc). Those are flagged "copy once". Everything else is Copy-Freely, and has been for the 8 or 9 years that I've been fiddling around in the "home theater PC / Plex / Networking, Media Servers, and Content Streaming" hobby....


TIFWIW.

 

[psuKinger]

My good old Windows 7 HTPC (with Windows Media Center) bit the dust and now I'm trying to decide what to do. The options I'm considering are 1) replacing/repairing the HTPC, 2) replacing it with a streaming box like the NVIDIA Shield and connecting it to my HDHomeRun devices for viewing live and recorded TV, or 3) replacing it with a streaming box and drop cable TV. For this thread, I'll concentrate on the last two options. I've already asked questions about the 1st option over in the 'Home Theater Computers' forum.

Option 2: Replace the old HTPC with a streaming box that can be configured to work with my HDHomeRun devices for live and recorded TV.

I haven't looked into this option much because what I had was working fine. I've been following the forums and have read quite a few positive comments about the NVIDIA Shield as an HTPC replacement. As is with anything you research on forums or reviews on Amazon, there are plenty of people complaining about problems with these devices. I don't know if there are better streaming boxes now but I understand that the latest Shield is pretty dated. Is there a newer box coming out soon? I'd like to know what the best solutions are for viewing and recording live TV with the Shield. I don't know if SiliconDust supports the old HDHomeRun Dual any more because it looks like a discontinued product on their website. So it may not work with the streaming boxes. I could replace my Dual with the newer HDHomeRun CONNECT Duo. I also have the 3-tuner HDHomeRun Prime, which I use for my CableCARD cable TV service from Charter/Spectrum.

As for viewing and recording either OTA or cable TV, I'd like the streaming box to match the functionality I had with WMC, such as:

1. An EPG with a grid showing rows of channels and time in columns. The data I was getting from EPG123 covered about 10 days.
2. I would like to be able to customize the grid so only the channels that I watch are included. I want only the HD cable channels to appear, not the SD.
3. Combine like channels from different tuners. If a tuner was currently in use, it would automatically switch to another tuner that had the same programming. For example, my Prime has 3 CableCARD tuners and the Dual has 2 NTSC OTA tuners. For some programs, like the local HD network broadcasts ABC-HD, NBC-HD, etc., there are 5 tuner options for the same broadcast that is coming over-the-air or from the cable. Instead of having different grid listings for the OTA 27.1 channel and the cable 607 channel, these could be combined into a channel group.
4. Let me rename the channel number. This is extremely useful and improves the family/wife acceptance factor. For many, many years our cable service used cable channel 5 for NBC. When they added HD channels the SD version remained 5 and the HD version was 615. I could disable the SD version and rename 615 to 5 so family members could easily find NBC on the grid in a familiar place/order.
5. Quickly navigate to a channel by using the numeric keypad on a remote or keyboard. I could jump to NBC by entering '5' on the remote. While in EPG grid mode, this would display the grid at the channel 5 position and when watching live TV it changes to channel 5 and displays whatever is the current show on 5.
6. The ability to record a single episode or set it to record the whole season (series).
7. Schedule future recordings by being able to search the program guide by title, etc.
8. Specify which specific channel to record when the program might be shown on multiple channels
9. Specify whether the recording is only for new or previously broadcast programs
10. Be able to set a time buffer before and/or after a show. This is good for sporting events that might run late. I usually set the recording to go an extra 30 minutes.
11. Be able to watch a show that is currently recording. For example, if the show has been playing for 15 minutes (and recording), we'd like to go to the recording and start watching it from the beginning.
12. This would be a bonus because WMC couldn't do this... It would be great if we were watching a show and after about 20 minutes we decided to record it and the recording would start from the very beginning.

Is there anything that can do this? The more I read up on Plex, Kodi, Channels Plus, etc., etc., the more confused I get. We only have one HDTV, so we aren't trying to set up a whole-house DVR. I have an UnRAID media server and could use plugins for those apps/programs that might integrate with my network. However, I'd need to upgrade UnRaid from v5 to v6. I would just use the server to store recorded TV episodes.

The solutions that I use the most don't check all of your boxes... but I use an HDHomeRun Prime (similar) to tune Cable TV channels.



I access tuners and schedule DVR recordings using their own software (HDHomeRun DVR). It doesn't check all of your boxes. It checks a lot of them, but not all of them. There are things I miss about WMC (grid guide, in particular).


I run the "record engine" and use storage space straight off my QNAP NAS, rather than using any of my resources from my "primary" Win10 Server (which is running Plex, Roon, Steam, etc, for me).


I "grab a tuner" and watch Live TV and DVR'd content via the HDHomeRun View app installed on NVidia Shields and Win10 PCs in my house.


The Shield also has access to Google's Live Channels app, which will also take over a live tuner but present a Grid Guide which is sometimes nice. This can be used for DVR, too, and since you mentioned you weren't trying to do whole-home-DVR, this might be something for you to look into? I'm only familiar with it for Live TV, because anything DVR'd on it I believe stays locally-accessible only on that Shield, which isn't a good solution for me...



There's lots of other software out there that others use, and lots of other hardware out there that they like with it. I have an AppleTV too, but I don't use it for Live TV/DVR because it doesn't run the HDHR app that I currently use (and mostly-ish like). There is a solution on ATV that ATV owners do like a lot... if you prefer that option over a Shield and you post in the ATV thread I'll bet you'd get the "preferred solution" fairly easily from them.

 

[Charles R]

I like to "keep" long-term a small percentage of the content that I DVR. I run it through VideoReDo to chop the commercials out and then funnel it over to a different folder structure for access via Plex. I'm not sure if you can do that with TiVo? Maybe you can.

It's easy to transfer unprotected content with TiVo.

If the point you were making was that it's difficult to be able to move/edit your recordings via alternatives other than TiVo, I just wanted to point out that I have Comcast.

Point was most DVR solutions can't record protected content.

Sure there are many solutions (I have tried most of them) however if you wish to record cable it's virtually impossible to make a solid case for something other than TiVo. Of course there are exceptions however the blanket is pretty large.

 

[psuKinger]

It's easy to transfer unprotected content with TiVo.

Cool. I did not know that.

Sure there are many solutions (I have tried most of them) however if you wish to record cable it's virtually impossible to make a solid case for something other than TiVo. Of course there are exceptions however the blanket is pretty large.

It certainly wouldn't be hard for me to make a solid case for something other than TiVo for me and my situation.... but if you have a strong preference for it and it's "right for you", I wouldn't argue that for even a moment.

 

[Charles R]

It certainly wouldn't be hard for me to make a solid case for something other than TiVo for me and my situation.... but if you have a strong preference for it and it's "right for you", I wouldn't argue that for even a moment.

Per se it's not right for me... I have zero interest in recording cable. I was addressing his "rights"