[Frankie Spankie]

Hi, I've recently been looking into building a HTPC. I don't want something fancy, essentially I want to use it as a DVR and just to watch movies from Netflix on it. Since I'm looking for something simple, making it as cheap as possible is important to me.

Does anybody recommend a good PVR card I can use for the build? Most people I've talked to outside of these forums seem to recommend USB options but those all get pricey. Is there any good PCI-e options that I can use for such a build? I'd like to get rid of my cable box so I save money on monthly payments of a DVR and a cable box. I know I'd need a cable card but I've heard they're much cheaper than the box itself so I'm fine with that.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[wsume99]

There is only one pci-based cableCARD tuner that I am aware of - the Ceton InfiniTV 4. You could also go with a network based solution like the HD Homerun Prime or the Hauppauge DCR-2650. Ceton also offers a USB cableCARD tuner.

[romasi]

I have (had) a Ceton InfiniTV4 and a HD Homerun prime. I love the the HD Homerun prime. My Ceton seemed to lock up a lot and when my PC crashed, I removed it during the rebuild and added the HD Homerun prime to my network instead. I love the iPad app for the HD Homerun prime (turns my iPad into a TV), and the performance with my pc is as good as the Ceton card.

I like the HD Homerun prime because my tuner is not tied to a single machine, but is a resource that I can connect to from multiple clients (like my iPad.)

Now the cost issue - with comcast my cablecard is $8 and my comcast DVR is $16 (or $18). So for me, it will take 18 months to pay off the HD Homerun Prime ($180). Then I need to figure out the cost of the HTPC.

Now for you, the cable card may be cheaper. But for me, this only works if I replace multiple set-top boxes over a span of 2 years.

[Frankie Spankie]

The Ceton was recommended to me but that's definitely on the pricey side. I might get it in the future when I go for a big HTPC build but for now I'm only interested in something small.

The Hauppage DCR-2650 was also recommended to me which I am considering and just using my current PC. My PC is just used as a gaming PC, the specs are:

2.66Ghz Quad-Core
nVidia GTX560Ti 1GB
8GB RAM
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit (although a friend of mine got me a 7 upgrade from his college on the cheap, just need to grab it from him)
600w Power Supply

I was told I was better off getting a dedicated machine though. Would I only need the resources for recording or is it a resource hog for just watching TV too? What I'm wondering is if I can play a demanding game while watching TV (I do use my television as a secondary monitor) and not suffer major performance issues. I know it seems kind of strange to be playing games while having the TV on but it's mostly for games with my friends while I'm just messing around in a game waiting for them to log on.