On Thu, 5 Jan 2017 19:50:11 -0600, "Terry Coombs"
wrote:

wrote:
On Thu, 5 Jan 2017 08:27:09 -0600, "Terry Coombs"
wrote:

OK , I'm cheap and don't want to pay Directv an additional monthly
fee for them to supply a DVR so my wife can see the shows she misses
the nights she has to work . I already have a PC hooked up to the TV
and use it to play stored content , so that part is covered . What I
want is a PCI card that I can use to record a couple of the series
she likes for later playback . There's a whole bunch of stuff out
there , from just a few bucks to hundreds ... I'm not looking for
the absolute lowest price , just a functional device to capture some
video . It needs to run under WinXP Pro , though if I have to I can
install Vista (but I'd rather not) on that comp for the Media Center
program . Any suggestions for a brand or a particular model ? I'd
prefer to stay below 50 bucks ...

As long as you are happy with the A/V level of recordings (composite
video) there are plenty of cards out there or you might even find an
old Replay TV cheaper than a card and that has the ability to export
to a PC or simply store the stuff on board. The Replay also has an
intelligent commercial skip.
The problem is if you are trying to get HD or even use the HDMI at all
the cards will not pass the data because DTV tags it as protected
content. (at least that is the way Dish is). I have also had zero luck
using the Component video using an Avermedia card. As long as you are
just using NTSC composite or RF, it goes OK.

There is an HDMI converter device on the VGA output of the computer , I've
been using the RF coax connection from the receiver to the TV . And will use
either RF or component hookup to the card .

I have been able to use an old DVD recorder using the component inputs
but only if it is also hooked to a TV with the HDMI and the TV is on.
This is all part of the HDMI copy protection scheme.
It is cumbersome but I can record to a R/W disk, rip that to a MP4
file and then reuse the disk. That is generally more than I am willing
to do unless the show is unavailable to stream.

I'm hoping to save the content directly to one of the hard drives in the
computer .

The problem comes up with the Sat box. It will not export an HD show
to anything that is not DRM compliant. This is normally done using the
hardware built into the HDMI driver but my Dish box will not even send
a show out on HDMI or the 3 cable component output to a recorder,
whether it is HD or not. I assume they are forcing their DVR on you.
By a like token the Avermedia card will not accept a 1080 show from a
PC. It is supposed to take a 480p but I had given up by then.
YMMV but from what I read on the forums, this DRM is pretty good these
days. There are hacks where you use an old version of the card driver
that was a little less strict on DRM but I gave up trying to find it.
As long as you can live with the NTSC, there are old cards that will
work for you. Just be ready for a pretty nasty picture on a big screen
TV. I will give you a heluva deal on an Avermedia C027 DVR card if you
want to screw with it. (A/V, component, s-video and HDMI in) Maybe
your DTV box is not so picky