So you have no firsthand experience and really don't know what you're talking about, got it.
I've actually tried to do this more than once and let me tell you, it's only trivial if you're willing to accept a lot of flaws as compared to cable service, which actually is trivial, if expensive.
Beside that, try to reliably find specific children's programming via torrent. Good luck.
HTPCs work well for young people with spare time and money.
Netflix has a crap ton of middle-to-low quality programming with some very large gaps, like Disney programming.
My kid wants to watch what her friends and peers watch. I think that's pretty typical of people of all ages. Would most people just watch whatever's on Netflix and eschew all other programming? Probably not.
Steve, I agree. I do love my whole house DVR setup. I don't get an employee discount, though. My cell phone plan is discounted through my employer, though, so I get a cut there. I really need to call a CSR and try to hassle them into a new promo rate again.
So you have no firsthand experience and really don't know what you're talking about, got it.
I've actually tried to do this more than once and let me tell you, it's only trivial if you're willing to accept a lot of flaws as compared to cable service, which actually is trivial, if expensive.
Beside that, try to reliably find specific children's programming via torrent. Good luck.
HTPCs work well for young people with spare time and money.
Ok, so someone who apparently thinks HTPCs are glitchy and doesn't know how to make them work is telling someone who has built perfectly working PCs for over a decade that they don't know what they are talking about.
If you want to record 4 streams, buy two of these guys. It has a lot of golden eggs, and most of the bad reviews are from people whining that there is no Linux support.
It takes one coax input, but can record two channels off of that. You can put two of these cards in the same machine, but it's probably better to build two HTPCs. Otherwise, you will need two cable boxes in one place. If you run the coax from the wall straight into the HTPC, you will only get the unencrypted channels. You want to run coax out of the cable box into the capture card.
You can use Windows Media Center or XBMC to manage the schedules, recording, etc. I suggest you record all the videos to a NAS since they will take a ton of space. If you build one of the HTPCs with a ton of drives in it, that can also be the NAS. Then any device in your house will be able to access the recorded videos. For example, you could drag one into iTunes and then onto an iPhone, since everything will be H.264 encoded.
That's really all there is to it.
Also, how about naming some actual specific TV programs that you can't find. Let's see if we can find them. I bet we can!
You built an HTPC for a totally different use case than the one I outlined and then declared yourself the winner of the conversation... that's... just sort of stupid.
You're recommending hardware that you have not used and stating that it will work, no ifs ands or buts, and that I'm wrong based on what you read on Newegg. Like I said, no firsthand experience.
As an example, Disney programming (not movies, Disney channel programming) is notoriously difficult to find via torrent. I have no doubt you'd find a few scattered episodes, but rarely will you see an entire season and rarely will you be able to reliably get a new episode close to air, which sort of kills the torrent thing as a cable replacement.
It's not like I'm spoiling for an argument over this becuase frankly, who cares that much about set top boxes? But moving goalposts to fabricate a rebuttal just for the sake of it seems kinda... pointless. And masturbatory.
You built an HTPC for a totally different use case than the one I outlined and then declared yourself the winner of the conversation... that's... just sort of stupid.
I don't need firsthand experience to know that it will work. How about we bet on it? If you are so confident that it will be buggy, why not bet? You pay for an HTPC with DVR. If I can't get it to work perfectly, I pay for it. You keep the machine either way.
Also, you still seem to be afraid to name a SPECIFIC television program that we can't get online. Gravity Falls is a Disney program, and you can find that online very easily.
Also, yeah, the point of not having cable is that you wait about a day or two to watch shows. I mean, you are talking about recording shows with a DVR anyway, so you already aren't watching it when it airs. What pressing need do you have to watch something the second it goes on the air if it's not something live like sports? You're probably paying $50-$100+ a month for cable. A $500 HTPC will pay for itself within a year.
Here's the real problem that your argument is bothering me.
You are basically saying that HTPC is bad and pre-fab boxes for dumb people are good because HTPCs are glitchy. You have not provided even one piece of evidence that HTPCs are glitchy in any way, shape, or form. You are demanding that I provide evidence that they are not glitchy, and they are glitchy otherwise. You made the claim first. Burden of proof is on you. To make it worse, I have presented multiple piece of evidence showing that I, and many other people (who do have DVR HTPC), have perfectly working non-glitchy HTPCs.
Instead, what you should say is the truth. The truth is that you prefer idiot boxes that are more expensive with limited functionality not because of a fault with HTPC technology, but because of a fault with YOU. That fault being, lack of technological skill and knowledge. If you built an HTPC, yeah, it would probably be all fucked up. Not because HTPCs are fucked up, because you fucked it up.
The reason I don't make a showdown of "finding programming on torrents" is that it's not something you can resolve in this thread. You'll no doubt find "Jake and the Neverland Pirates", for example. What's tough is getting new episodes near to when they air, or finding exactly the episode you're missing. One or two weeks in a row of not being able to get the new episode = crying kid. Sure, I can find something else for her to do during that half hour that week, but that's not relevant to the assertion which is that HTPCs lack in this area. Kids' shows are just not priorities on torrent sites, for what are probably obvious reasons.
The only proof you need of the issues HTPCs have when recording from cable (and if you use an encrypted service like U-Verse, just forget it anyway) is to go out and lurk on ANY HTPC hobbyist forum in existence.
An appliance that comes out of a box, is cheap ($400 or less), and just works, is infinitely preferable to cobbling something together that might work 97% as well and come with basically no warranty ON THE USE CASE (yes, the individual components will have warranties).
This isn't an argument about technology as much as it's an argument about lifestyle.
You have never built an HTPC box that records multiple cable streams, and therefore are pulling things out of your ass. You're submitting NewEgg reviews as evidence, for fuck's sake. There's a heavy dose of projection going on in your last post.
Hey Muppet, I'm not a parent, but a lot of my friends are, they use Netflix, Hulu and Amazon to show their kids everything. Disney just signed a deal with Netflix, Netflix has a crap ton of Disney stuff.
You are torrenting wrong. You don't look for individual episodes. You torrent the whole damn show and keep every single episode on the hard drive forever. Pirate bay has torrents for complete seasons Jake & The Neverland Pirates. Also, many of the episodes are on YouTube. The whole first season is on Netflix.
You have never built an HTPC box that records multiple cable streams, and therefore are pulling things out of your ass. You're submitting NewEgg reviews as evidence, for fuck's sake. There's a heavy dose of projection going on in your last post.
If you are so confident, why not take my bet? You have nothing to lose. If you win, you get a free, if janky, HTPC. If you lose, you bought yourself a perfect HTPC.
I think it is definitely an issue with lifestyle. You have relied on cable so long for your video content, you really don't see just how much is out there on the net, or know how to get it. Between legal and illegal sources, there is actually more total content available off cable than on.
Netflix has Disney movies, but so far as I've seen no Disney Junior programming yet, which is the only Disney media my little one really consumes so far. She's very specific, probably owing to her ASD. We have Netflix, Crunchyroll, and unfortunately, U-Verse (unfortunate only because of the expense.) I haven't signed up for Hulu Plus yet because they're missing one or two shows that would make them a cable replacement for us.
At some point we'll be paying an absurd cable bill just so my wife can watch soaps, and at that point we'll have to have a conversation...
Scott: Torrenting "the whole damn show" doesn't give you the new episodes as they come out. That makes it not a cable replacement. See: the use case. Again.
The soaps mostly have to be watched on the parent network sites, I think. She watches General Hospital and Days. She wants to watch them on the TV, not in a browser media player. Can't say I blame her.
Yes, there are lots of compromises we could accept to use an HTPC. I never disputed that to begin with. That's why XBOX One is tentatively appealing to me. If Hulu suddenly had soaps and BBC programming, I wouldn't even have cable anymore.
The soaps mostly have to be watched on the parent network sites, I think. She watches General Hospital and Days. She wants to watch them on the TV, not in a browser media player. Can't say I blame her.
Yes, there are lots of compromises we could accept to use an HTPC. I never disputed that to begin with. That's why XBOX One is tentatively appealing to me. If Hulu suddenly had soaps and BBC programming, I wouldn't even have cable anymore.
Uh, what do you mean not in a browser media player? If you have an HTPC you are watching on the TV and you full-screen that video. If they don't allow full screen in their player for whatever reason, you can pirate that shit so easily.
The goal is to limit the number of different places and different clients that have to be used to consume content. Ideally we're not launching a browser for one show, Netflix for another, etc.
At least in the case of Netflix, Hulu, etc, there are clients optimized for your particular STB (at least if you buy an appliance), and that streamlines the experience for my non-tech savvy (which really just means non-tech patient) wife. Navigating to a bunch of different websites is a pain in the ass, and there are more points of failure, too. That's the appeal of an all-in-one box. I feel like I'm talking to a Martian at this point.
Rochelle - If "web only" means it doesn't run on the XBOX Hulu client, that's crap. I will never understand why they segment stuff up this way. I mean, I understand legal and contracts and blah blah blah but not WHY they can't pull heads from asses and just make stuff work.
If Hulu has NBC, soaps, and BBC, then I think Disney Junior is our only remaining hurdle to getting rid of cable. Bah.
Rochelle - If "web only" means it doesn't run on the XBOX Hulu client, that's crap. I will never understand why they segment stuff up this way. I mean, I understand legal and contracts and blah blah blah but not WHY they can't pull heads from asses and just make stuff work.
And this is the primary reason to get an HTPC. The TV companies apparently do not understand that computers can be plugged into televisions. Many consumers also do not realize this. They are fine letting people stream their programs for free or cheap if they are sitting at a computer on a tiny screen. They don't realize that a screen is a screen is a screen. If you get a limited set top box like an XBox, they know that is connected to a big TV in front of a couch, so they don't want to you to have the video there. HTPC, even it is only as user friendly as a PC, lets you watch everything and play everything. It has no limitations. Whatever inelegance it has, it pays for it by removing all the limits.
This is what happens when you get married and your technology purchases have to reflect your family's tastes, who might not all be geeks. LOL.
This
Sounds like your major problem. It is also a problem that Scott can not fix.
Don't be so sure. I have full faith that enough time with Scott would drive a married geek/non-geek couple to divorce.
I think the idea is that it will happen on its own. Sometimes the geek will stand up for themselves and hold onto their geekery, ending in divorce. Alternatively the geek will degeek as the non-geek demands.
The third scenario is where the non-geek tolerates, but ignores the geekery and they just live out their boring lives while imagining what their lives would have been like if they had stayed single or actually married someone who they had something in common with. They may or may not have regrets.
This is what happens when you get married and your technology purchases have to reflect your family's tastes, who might not all be geeks. LOL.
This Sounds like your major problem. It is also a problem that Scott can not fix.
Don't be so sure. I have full faith that enough time with Scott would drive a married geek/non-geek couple to divorce.
Sounds like a premise for a reality tv show: Get my non geek spouse to divorce me!
I just want a reality show where Scott tells people about all the things they do that suck. Marriage could be one episode. We could call it "You're Doing it Wrong." Somebody start working up a spec script.
Comments
I've actually tried to do this more than once and let me tell you, it's only trivial if you're willing to accept a lot of flaws as compared to cable service, which actually is trivial, if expensive.
Beside that, try to reliably find specific children's programming via torrent. Good luck.
HTPCs work well for young people with spare time and money.
My kid wants to watch what her friends and peers watch. I think that's pretty typical of people of all ages. Would most people just watch whatever's on Netflix and eschew all other programming? Probably not.
Steve, I agree. I do love my whole house DVR setup. I don't get an employee discount, though.
If you want to record 4 streams, buy two of these guys. It has a lot of golden eggs, and most of the bad reviews are from people whining that there is no Linux support.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=15-100-044&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=(keywords)&Page=1#scrollFullInfo
It takes one coax input, but can record two channels off of that. You can put two of these cards in the same machine, but it's probably better to build two HTPCs. Otherwise, you will need two cable boxes in one place. If you run the coax from the wall straight into the HTPC, you will only get the unencrypted channels. You want to run coax out of the cable box into the capture card.
You can use Windows Media Center or XBMC to manage the schedules, recording, etc. I suggest you record all the videos to a NAS since they will take a ton of space. If you build one of the HTPCs with a ton of drives in it, that can also be the NAS. Then any device in your house will be able to access the recorded videos. For example, you could drag one into iTunes and then onto an iPhone, since everything will be H.264 encoded.
That's really all there is to it.
Also, how about naming some actual specific TV programs that you can't find. Let's see if we can find them. I bet we can!
You're recommending hardware that you have not used and stating that it will work, no ifs ands or buts, and that I'm wrong based on what you read on Newegg. Like I said, no firsthand experience.
As an example, Disney programming (not movies, Disney channel programming) is notoriously difficult to find via torrent. I have no doubt you'd find a few scattered episodes, but rarely will you see an entire season and rarely will you be able to reliably get a new episode close to air, which sort of kills the torrent thing as a cable replacement.
It's not like I'm spoiling for an argument over this becuase frankly, who cares that much about set top boxes? But moving goalposts to fabricate a rebuttal just for the sake of it seems kinda... pointless. And masturbatory.
Also, you still seem to be afraid to name a SPECIFIC television program that we can't get online. Gravity Falls is a Disney program, and you can find that online very easily.
Also, yeah, the point of not having cable is that you wait about a day or two to watch shows. I mean, you are talking about recording shows with a DVR anyway, so you already aren't watching it when it airs. What pressing need do you have to watch something the second it goes on the air if it's not something live like sports? You're probably paying $50-$100+ a month for cable. A $500 HTPC will pay for itself within a year.
Here's the real problem that your argument is bothering me.
You are basically saying that HTPC is bad and pre-fab boxes for dumb people are good because HTPCs are glitchy. You have not provided even one piece of evidence that HTPCs are glitchy in any way, shape, or form. You are demanding that I provide evidence that they are not glitchy, and they are glitchy otherwise. You made the claim first. Burden of proof is on you. To make it worse, I have presented multiple piece of evidence showing that I, and many other people (who do have DVR HTPC), have perfectly working non-glitchy HTPCs.
Instead, what you should say is the truth. The truth is that you prefer idiot boxes that are more expensive with limited functionality not because of a fault with HTPC technology, but because of a fault with YOU. That fault being, lack of technological skill and knowledge. If you built an HTPC, yeah, it would probably be all fucked up. Not because HTPCs are fucked up, because you fucked it up.
The only proof you need of the issues HTPCs have when recording from cable (and if you use an encrypted service like U-Verse, just forget it anyway) is to go out and lurk on ANY HTPC hobbyist forum in existence.
An appliance that comes out of a box, is cheap ($400 or less), and just works, is infinitely preferable to cobbling something together that might work 97% as well and come with basically no warranty ON THE USE CASE (yes, the individual components will have warranties).
This isn't an argument about technology as much as it's an argument about lifestyle.
You have never built an HTPC box that records multiple cable streams, and therefore are pulling things out of your ass. You're submitting NewEgg reviews as evidence, for fuck's sake. There's a heavy dose of projection going on in your last post.
I think it is definitely an issue with lifestyle. You have relied on cable so long for your video content, you really don't see just how much is out there on the net, or know how to get it. Between legal and illegal sources, there is actually more total content available off cable than on.
At some point we'll be paying an absurd cable bill just so my wife can watch soaps, and at that point we'll have to have a conversation...
Scott: Torrenting "the whole damn show" doesn't give you the new episodes as they come out. That makes it not a cable replacement. See: the use case. Again.
Yes, there are lots of compromises we could accept to use an HTPC. I never disputed that to begin with. That's why XBOX One is tentatively appealing to me. If Hulu suddenly had soaps and BBC programming, I wouldn't even have cable anymore.
At least in the case of Netflix, Hulu, etc, there are clients optimized for your particular STB (at least if you buy an appliance), and that streamlines the experience for my non-tech savvy (which really just means non-tech patient) wife. Navigating to a bunch of different websites is a pain in the ass, and there are more points of failure, too. That's the appeal of an all-in-one box. I feel like I'm talking to a Martian at this point.
Rochelle - If "web only" means it doesn't run on the XBOX Hulu client, that's crap.
If Hulu has NBC, soaps, and BBC, then I think Disney Junior is our only remaining hurdle to getting rid of cable. Bah.
Sounds like your major problem. It is also a problem that Scott can not fix.
The third scenario is where the non-geek tolerates, but ignores the geekery and they just live out their boring lives while imagining what their lives would have been like if they had stayed single or actually married someone who they had something in common with. They may or may not have regrets.