TV Box

[Joe]

I have Cox Digital & HD service on two tv's and two dvr boxes...but the the price to rent them is stupid high...
I know we have a legal right to buy our own box - I'm not looking to steal cable, just beat the box rental fees...
Any suggestions?

[JohnR]

Setup Box or Computer Based?

I believe you can find Tivos but not sure if they have tuners as well an d they can get pricey.

For standard service you can get a computer (often with Windows XP MCE) with a built in TV tuner card that you can plug into cable.

If you have the right computer that can Tune HDTV/Analog/Digital TV and output S-Video or Component you can use the computer to run the TV as well...

There are tons of things out there and the decision process is tough. For a geek you can check out avsforum.com and come up with solutions for building your own (HD MythTV / MCE box). Or for the non-geek you can find a company that specializes in media center PCs and run with that.

Unfortunately, the options are endless which means decisions are tough too

I am working on a system to watch HDTV over the air and delay signing up for other HD packages until later after the COX / Verizon dust settles

Google tivo forums, gdty forums, htpc forums (home theater PC) ... Be carefull, you can create a monster

[Raven]

Originally Posted by JohnR

(home theater PC) ... Be carefull, you can create a monster

i bought a gateway John, A media center PC and despite my best efforts thus far....
i couldnt get my pc to show tv with my present direct tv
conection. i split it the signal just after the out on the box....

no matter what i've done the signal is never found....
so i "know" its complicated.....

[Joe]

thanks John....I'm more inclined to go with the box rather than the pc tv set up...
I'll look into it some more..

[crash]

Few of my friends use snapstream on their tv servers. gets a bit technical, but there is no monthly fees, and you can do a lot more with a snapstream server than a tivo.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by Raven

i bought a gateway John, A media center PC and despite my best efforts thus far....
i couldnt get my pc to show tv with my present direct tv
conection. i split it the signal just after the out on the box....

no matter what i've done the signal is never found....
so i "know" its complicated.....

Go to AVSForum.com

[MrHunters]

i use snapstream...

LOVE IT! 40bucks runs on windows.... add as many tuners as you want...

if you want a free solution

google mythtv