So I built a TiVo...

Most people have a general idea about what a TiVo does...it grabs programming information off the WWW and uses it to record the TV shows you specify. Not really a very complicated thing...so I built one instead of buying one. Generically, this type of product is called a DVR or PVR (digital/personal video recorder).

Why in the world would I build instead of buy? Well, TiVo is EXPENSIVE. Add to the cost of the little box the fact that you have to pay a monthly subscription, and adds up very quickly. The boxes start around $99 and go to $599 depending on what you want. Monthly subscription will run you $9 to $13 per month, or $108 to $156 per year. Most cable or satellite companies have a similar product with similar prices. In most cases, cable or satellite companies will simply rent you the box.

My problem with both scenarios - I really can't stand the idea of paying a subscription fee month after month. For anything, especially TV (I already have to pay once for TV, a second time seems more like an addiction). Even worse, the quality of the video recorded for TiVo or the cable/satellite junk is usually rather low, and the amount of hours that can be recorded is usually WAY too limited as well.

HEY HEY HEY!!!! Lots of you are probably clocking out right now....that's cool, it's a pretty nerdy post. If you want to just see the final deal, CLICK HERE to wrap it up (not sure if that works in Facebook...if not, just scroll for a couple of days, you'll see it).

Anyway...opportunity presented itself when I won a teeny-tiny barebones computer at some trade show thing last fall. I thought "what am I going to do with this thing?" It would require building out with my own parts and software to make the thing usable as any kind of computer, and it would be too small for most of the work I would throw at it. Ah, but it occurred to me that the machine was small enough to fit in with my DVD player in the living room, so the idea came about to make a DVR. But how?

Did all of like 5 minutes of reading on line and determined that the main thing you need to figure out is HOW you are going to get the cable line into the computer...most people don't have that little screw-on coaxial plug on their computer, so you need to buy a part for that (it's called a "tuner card"), and there are a few choices out there for that. I already had a few spare parts (memory, CD drive, hard drive, video card) hanging around from old machines that are no longer with us, so I could re-purpose those without and cash expenditure. Then I also had a Windows XP license that I've never used (it's legal...thanks Mike) so I saved $$ there, too. All I needed was a processor and a TV tuner card.

Fast forward a couple of months later, I got the tuner card for Christmas and then I won the college football pick 'em for 2007 season and had cash-on-hand to finish building this thing out (I won it for football so Hilary green-lit my project...I think she was just amazed that I'd made money from football). A few hiccups and a couple of underestimations later, I figured it all out and got the dang thing up and running. Been testing it out with a trial software (program guide) for the last week and I gotta say...it is great. We only have about 30-40 TV channels, but there is plenty on those channels that I would like to record for viewing at one time or another. Even better, for shows that have conflicting time slots, I can record one and watch the other.

AND I found out...it's connected with YouTube and Google Videos (plus some other online movies and sources like NBC and CBS for their TV shows). Not that I can't go in the other room to enjoy the latest junk on those sites, but there's something cool about parking it on the couch and doing that in full screen.

It also does a 10 day detailed weather report. Guess they thought that was the missing piece to make this thing worthwhile....? People love weather.

For the geeks, here's a rundown of the parts and how much you might expect to pay for similar parts if you build your own:

• Shuttle XPC barebones - $200 (this is the thing I won)
• Intel E2160 processor - $68
• OCZ 512MB (x2) 533MHz RAM - $45 (mine was leftover parts from old computer)
• Western Digital 250 GB SATA hard drive - $60 (spare parts again)
• CD writer drive - $15 (spare part, but will probably get a DVD drive soon for $25)
• nVidia GeForce 6600GT 128MB video card with TV output - $60 (spare part)
• Hauppage HVR-1600 TV tuner card with remote control - $85
• Windows XP Professional OS - $100 (just happened to have it around)
  
• SageTV media center software - $70 (running a 21 day trial right now)

All told, I spent less than $200 of my own money ($140?). If you want to build this system, it would come in around $700. THAT is a lot of money, but here's where you can compare it to a typical TiVo system...assuming you only keep the thing for 3 years, this system would have an annual cost of around $230. A typical TiVo system would run you at least $210. However, to get one that compares to the system I built, your annual cost would be more like $300.

Even still, my system is better in every area but one when compared to a TiVo-style box...my system was built by me, so if it breaks or something, I've got to fix it myself. I'll assume for the sake of argument that if your cable company DVR or TiVo box breaks, they will fix it for you free of charge (optimistic, I suppose?).

To summarize (welcome back!)...my junk, when compared to the best TiVo system, is better because:

• it can record many many more hours of TV shows (important when you tell it to automatically record every episode of every show you like to watch...adds up quickly)
• it doesn't require a subscription to keep it working month after month
• the video quality is better, and can be customized. I can allow low quality for things like reality shows, high quality for stuff like movies on TV...this means I can fit even more content on the thing.
• I can still use my box to surf the web from my couch, watch YouTube videos on the thing in full screen, and do anything else that any other computer can do - TiVo is just TV recording, nothing more
• it can be cheaper (mine was/is/will be), depending upon how long you keep it and which TiVo you would want to have
• Um....I made it. That's like 5 bonus points right there.

I'll totally build one for you if you want, it wasn't so hard. You can pay for the parts, I'll build it. My fee is like...a beer (or a bear, which is what I typed when trying to type "beer"), a steak and we'll call it even.

Maybe not the bear....then you'd still owe me, except I'd probably be dead. And that's why you'd owe me. Because of the bear.