Ask Engadget: DIY HD-DVR?
It's Thursday evening, which means it's time once again for Ask Engadget. Last week's call for a decent home espresso machine yielded a ridiculous number of amazing comments from coffee geeks, this week reader CharlesV wants some tips on building his own high-def digital video recorder:
With hard drive prices plummeting (slickdeals.net has a 320GB SATA for 114 today), I have decided to take the plunge and build my own HD PVR. With MCE 2005, MythTV, and now BeyondTV all supporting HD, it seems like a logical step. However, much of today's computer hardware is focused on games and fancy 3d graphics. Do your readers have any suggestions on components (Motherboard, Case, Graphics Card, even an HD Capture Card (though the HDTV Wonder seems to be the best performer / price) for a low-cost PVR / Media Center only machine? It seems like MCE PCs all come with super Radeon 30ks or Geforce45F/X2s, and a cheaper homebuilt system could be done.
Any suggestions?
