Thursday, November 8, 2007

Why Tivo when there is MythTV?

You could spend $300 on a Tivo and $13 a month subscription fees, or turn your old PC into a HD-DVR for a lot less.
Turning my old PC into a new HD-DVR we need to establish what I want.
  1. High Definition
  2. Dual tuners (so I can record and watch TV at the same time)
  3. Plenty of storage
I have most of the items below, but have added links and prices so you can start from scratch.
Barebones P4 3.4ghz w/ case - $145.97
1GB DDR2 RAM - $19.98
GeForce 6200 PCI-E - $19.99
Internal 16x DVD-R - $17.99
pcHDTV hd-5500 (x2) - $129.00 (each)
250GB SATA HDD - $49.99
Total Cost = $511.92
My actual cost with existing parts is $277.98


Now that we have our PC and parts we need to install an OS. Mythdora is my recommendation. It's an OS and DVR package that is totally free and it is very simple to install.
Download the Mythdora ISO(s) here.
This may take a while, so now is a good time to put together our computer. Also, note that we will need a monitor for the install of the software.

After you download the ISO file you will need to burn a DVD using a program like Nero Burning ROM or Roxio Easy CD creator. Once you have the DVD burned and you new PC built it is time to install Mythdora. Fire up your new PC and put the DVD in the drive. This should begin the installation process. Follow along with the videos below.


Part 2

Part 3


Or if you would rather read a detailed instruction click here