Build A DVR

Asus EEE B208 - Mac Mini DVR Killer?

Ian — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:10:25 +0000

Engadget has a great writeup on the Asus EEE B208. This nettop is sporting a dual-core Atom processor, built in HDMI, and a graphics chip powerful enough to decode Blu-Ray at 1080p (HD 4350). Price is unknown as is the street date. Looks like a direct competitor to the Mac-Mini as a DVR.

Pros:

Built in HDMI
Even smaller form-factor
Lower price (probably )

Cons:

Dual core Atom is slower than Core2Duo, although the C2D may be overkill for DVR-only duty
No set street date…1

The Sexiest Little Case You Ever Saw

Ian — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:10:07 +0000

Whoever said that looks don’t matter never had to convince his wife to allow a computer in the living room. If this tiny homemade DVR doesn’t inspire you to greater heights, I don’t know what will. The mCubed HFX Micro M2 case is an absolute beauty and as quiet as a whisper. What’s even more amazing, the creator built it for his parents. Unfortunately for those of us stateside, it is only available in the UK and shipping costs push the case’s price to almost $600.

This build runs dual tuners and uses Media Center for software.

Get Your DVR Deals with the new RSS Feed

Ian — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:01:42 +0000

For your shopping pleasure, I’ve added a DVR Deals section to the site (most easily seen on the home page). I’m not including these posts in the main RSS feed in case you find them annoying. However, if you would like to receive DVR Deals in your feed reader, get your deals right here. Thanks all!

A DVR Recipe: Low-Power, AMD-Based DVR with Blu-Ray

Ian — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:10:09 +0000

From Wiley Style comes the story of a homemade DVR that I’m sure many Build A DVR readers can relate to. Ups and downs, hardware swaps, disappointments with software. In the end, however, the journey is worth it and another successful DVR joins the world.

Build details:

AMD Phenom X4 9150e processor
An nForce 750A motherboard with HDMI (here are two that fit the bill: a Zotac and an XFX (neither have great reviews)
Originally, Hauppauge 1600
An GeForce 8400 GS video card was later added to power Blu-Ray playback
The Hauppauge was upgraded to an 1800 for dual HD tuner support
A Logitech Harmony 360 remote for Xbox 360 control
Vista Ultimate for media center software
1 TB hard drive
Arcsoft TotalMedia Theater

Amazing Mediaportal Install Guide

Ian — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:01:57 +0000

Are you a Mediaportal evangelist? Here’s a priceless resource from avsforums.com to help convince others to try out the freeware masterpiece.

It is far more configurable than Windows Media Center, and it works out-of-the-box with the MCE remote. And because it provides so much more configuration some find it a daunting task to install and configure. Therefore, this guide will help alleviate some of that burden and help get a MediaPortal installation up & running.

It addresses basic Mediaportal installation, necessary drivers and miscellaneous files, plus setup for MP TV-Series, Moving Pictures, and the RSS Reader.

Have You Tried Boxee?

Ian — Sun, 03 May 2009 23:13:16 +0000

As sites like Hulu and TV.com continue to grow and networks continue to add juicy cable-bill-free content to their websites, it is becoming increasingly important to have easy access to this media via your homemade DVR. Newcomer Boxee continues to make waves as the best way to access online media. Their continuing back-and-forth with Hulu makes me somewhat less interested in running the alpha-release version on my XP box, but Underground Media: Reloaded has an interesting take, specifically for Linux machines.

I’m currently working on a lightweight, simple app to display my Hulu queue and launch the appropriate video. All I need is to figure out how to launch it in full screen. Sign up for the mailing list if you’re interested…

So, what’s your take on Boxee, whether you’re running Windows, Linux, or a Mac?

A HD Capable, Blu-Ray-Playing DVR For Under $500

Ian — Sat, 02 May 2009 20:10:59 +0000

Who said that conquering the world of media had to be expensive? Over at Jellysidedown, there is a recipe for a Blu-Ray spinning, HD-recording DVR for less than $500… with pictures to boot!

This little beauty is sporting a Gigabyte motherboard with on-board video that pumps 1080p out of a built in HDMI port (read more about how to select a motherboard for your DVR) and is powered by a dual core AMD Brisbane. The box can spin both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD and burn DVDs with its LG drive (more Blu-Ray drives for your DVR). An eco-friendly Corsair power supply keeps it filled with electrons and the media gets stored on a 320 GB drive.

Seems like a great little world-conqueror. I would definitely want to beef up the hard drive space (I started with a 320gb drive myself and am now bursting with 2TB) but am certainly pleased at the compactness of the build.

What do you think about this build? Run anything similar?

Disney Pushes HTPCs One Step Closer to World Domination

Ian — Fri, 01 May 2009 02:05:53 +0000

Rarely does a large company like Disney play into the hands of us DVR-builders. Today there is wonderful news across the internet. Disney is getting a 30% stake in our cutting-cable ally Hulu. This means Lost, Desperate Housewives, and Grey’s Anatomy will all be showing up in your Hulu queue. I guess I’ll have to update that cutting cable guide.

Organize Movies With Moving Pictures

Ian — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:01:40 +0000

For many DVR builders, Mediaportal is the engine that powers their media world. This fantastically free piece of software already has MP TV-Series for organizing television shows and now features a matching partner for movies in Moving Pictures.

Now some Mediaportal old-timers may ask, “why can’t these kids use Mediaportal’s My Movies.” Well, the built-in movie management is decent (goes out to IMDB for information, sorts movies in various orders, automatically adds new movies into the database), but I always found it lacking - maybe a 3 out of 4. It’s very limited in viewing options and I felt like it needed too much help to get things right. If I’m going to conquer the world with my DVR, it needs to handle things like this on its own.

Moving Pictures takes movie management to the next level. Just like TV-Series, you’ll need to tell the plugin where you keep your movie files. You can naturally add multiple directories. Like a good plugin should, Moving Pictures then heads out to the internet to grab details for your movie files. If the plugin needs some clarification in matching up a title, it will let you know. Exact matches need no assistance from you. If you find some movies missing, you may want to check to make sure Mediaportal knows which extensions to grab (for example, I had to add .iso). Your DVR may be a media-mogul, but it’s no mind reader.

Once Moving Pictures has churned through your incredible movie library, you can fuss with the main details in the Movie Manager tab. Customize your display art for each movie, adjust details and information, and set your sort order here. Fire up Mediaportal and enjoy the beautiful interface provided by Moving Pictures and the Mediaportal skin artists out there. Your DVR is one step closer to world domination.

Download Moving Pictures.

Anyone experienced Moving Picture users out there with some insider tips?

Control Boxee Using Your iPhone

Ian — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:01:58 +0000

For world-conquering owners of handbuilt DVRs, The iPhone has become a surprisingly useful device. Recently, that feisty startup Boxee has created an app specifically designed to control their HTPC frontend software through the touchscreen wonder-phone. Words fail to describe the gesture mode of this app, so enjoy a video review from TapCritic:

The Boxee remote app is available for FREE from