Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

After being a devoted TiVo user for a couple of years, I decided to build a
PC-based DVR using the Snapstream BTV bundle with Firefly remote. Full
details can be found here:

http://tinyurl.com/4m7w3

Just want to list some more pros and cons of the BTV option. In no
particular order:

1) When you are watching live TV with BTV, and you decide you want to
record the show, BTV seems like it automatically discards the previously
recorded buffer, and you only get the part from hitting the record button
forward. TiVo gives you the option to include the buffer portion with your
saved recording.

2) With my setup, I can't have the TV and computer monitor on at the same
time, or at least I don't know how to do this (Keith Clark, any tips here?).
If the computer boots up with the monitor attached, then after a few seconds
of the TV being active, it switches over to the monitor full-time. No
amount of playing with XP's options for dual screens has changed this. I
find this annoying because the BTV software setup seems to require you to
boot into the XP welcome screen since a Snapstream .NET account is created,
and the only way I know to make XP boot directly into the desktop is to have
only one user account (Keith Clark, any tips on this?) Booting into the
Welcome screen means the Firefly remote is not active yet, so you still have
to keyboard/mouse things a bit.

3) Having the mouse pointer in the middle of the video screen is not great.
I know I can move it over, but I would like it to disappear UNLESS I move it
or touch the keyboard.

4) My Firefly remote causes video interference on channel 59 which gets
recorded onto the hard drive. I have a trouble ticket open with Snapstream,
and I will see what they say.

5) I recorded several hours of video last night, and the audio sync went
out on the live TV. Luckily the recorded shows seem fine, but this is a
pretty big bug unless I did something wrong.

6) The Firefly remote doesn't support other devices since it is not
infra-red based.

7) The DVR computer is bigger, slightly louder, and uses more electricity
than my TiVo which can be a real issue for some.

8) BTV is a very capable system and is a great, inexpensive choice for
someone who already has a computer to host the bundle. No loss of privacy,
tremendous flexibility, and some really cool features like streaming over IP
that I haven't even tried yet. The software will probably improve rapidly,
and TiVo had better watch out.

In general though, if you are mostly just going to watch TV vs. doing a lot
of editing of the shows, I still find TiVo to be very superior. I am not
surprised that people who don't own a TiVo will love their BTV, but that
doesn't change my opinion that TiVo just works better for recording and
watching TV.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

Tue, 31 Aug 2004 11:05:17 -0400, No@Email.com suggested:
:
: 3) Having the mouse pointer in the middle of the video screen is not great.
: I know I can move it over, but I would like it to disappear UNLESS I move it
: or touch the keyboard.

In my experience, it does disappear.

: 7) The DVR computer is bigger, slightly louder, and uses more electricity
: than my TiVo which can be a real issue for some.

Not to mention the expense. A TiVo with a lifetime subscription costs
quite a bit less than a properly built HTPC.

--
agreenbu @ nyx . net andrew michael greenburg

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

andrewunix wrote:

> Tue, 31 Aug 2004 11:05:17 -0400, No@Email.com suggested:
> :
> : 3) Having the mouse pointer in the middle of the video screen is not great.
> : I know I can move it over, but I would like it to disappear UNLESS I move it
> : or touch the keyboard.
>
> In my experience, it does disappear.
>

I just use the Firefly to move it out of the way when I first boot up the machine
and then it's a non issue.


>
> : 7) The DVR computer is bigger, slightly louder, and uses more electricity
> : than my TiVo which can be a real issue for some.
>
> Not to mention the expense. A TiVo with a lifetime subscription costs
> quite a bit less than a properly built HTPC.

My DVR is quieter than the clocks on the wall. I can hear the ticking of the two
clocks before I hear any noise from the DVR. I've literally fallen asleep on the
sofa while stuff was recording and when I woke up the only way I knew it was still
recording was by seeing the blue led on the case blink intermittently.

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 11:05:17 -0400, "Al" <No@Email.com> wrote:

>After being a devoted TiVo user for a couple of years, I decided to build a
>PC-based DVR using the Snapstream BTV bundle with Firefly remote. Full
>details can be found here:
>
>http://tinyurl.com/4m7w3
>
>Just want to list some more pros and cons of the BTV option. In no
>particular order:
>
>1) When you are watching live TV with BTV, and you decide you want to
>record the show, BTV seems like it automatically discards the previously
>recorded buffer, and you only get the part from hitting the record button
>forward. TiVo gives you the option to include the buffer portion with your
>saved recording.
>
>2) With my setup, I can't have the TV and computer monitor on at the same
>time, or at least I don't know how to do this (Keith Clark, any tips here?).
>If the computer boots up with the monitor attached, then after a few seconds
>of the TV being active, it switches over to the monitor full-time. No
>amount of playing with XP's options for dual screens has changed this. I
>find this annoying because the BTV software setup seems to require you to
>boot into the XP welcome screen since a Snapstream .NET account is created,
>and the only way I know to make XP boot directly into the desktop is to have
>only one user account (Keith Clark, any tips on this?) Booting into the
>Welcome screen means the Firefly remote is not active yet, so you still have
>to keyboard/mouse things a bit.
>
>3) Having the mouse pointer in the middle of the video screen is not great.
>I know I can move it over, but I would like it to disappear UNLESS I move it
>or touch the keyboard.
>
>4) My Firefly remote causes video interference on channel 59 which gets
>recorded onto the hard drive. I have a trouble ticket open with Snapstream,
>and I will see what they say.
>
>5) I recorded several hours of video last night, and the audio sync went
>out on the live TV. Luckily the recorded shows seem fine, but this is a
>pretty big bug unless I did something wrong.
>
>6) The Firefly remote doesn't support other devices since it is not
>infra-red based.
>
>7) The DVR computer is bigger, slightly louder, and uses more electricity
>than my TiVo which can be a real issue for some.
>
>8) BTV is a very capable system and is a great, inexpensive choice for
>someone who already has a computer to host the bundle. No loss of privacy,
>tremendous flexibility, and some really cool features like streaming over IP
>that I haven't even tried yet. The software will probably improve rapidly,
>and TiVo had better watch out.
>
>In general though, if you are mostly just going to watch TV vs. doing a lot
>of editing of the shows, I still find TiVo to be very superior. I am not
>surprised that people who don't own a TiVo will love their BTV, but that
>doesn't change my opinion that TiVo just works better for recording and
>watching TV.
>

BTV is in Beta testing for version 3.5 right now... when the 3.5
version is released it will be based on a completely different engine
then what is currently being sold....
I have license for BTV but had trouble with the 3.4 version so I
switched to Sage TV... Sage TV is also and excellent product... I have
not had any problems with Sage and the audio is better..
I will try BTV again once the 3.5 version is complete... when BTV 3.4
was working for me I found it to be very good ...
Glenn M


Glenn M
A GREAT DAY FOR FREEDOM...Pink Floyd

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

Al wrote:

>
>
> 1) When you are watching live TV with BTV, and you decide you want to
> record the show, BTV seems like it automatically discards the previously
> recorded buffer, and you only get the part from hitting the record button
> forward. TiVo gives you the option to include the buffer portion with your
> saved recording.

That's a hotly discussed topic in the beta test group. In my experience,
Snapstream listens to users, so I expect they'll have that functionality
eventually. It'd be nice to see it in 3.5 but I won't hold my breath.

>
>
> 2) With my setup, I can't have the TV and computer monitor on at the same
> time, or at least I don't know how to do this (Keith Clark, any tips here?).
> If the computer boots up with the monitor attached, then after a few seconds
> of the TV being active, it switches over to the monitor full-time. No
> amount of playing with XP's options for dual screens has changed this. I
> find this annoying because the BTV software setup seems to require you to
> boot into the XP welcome screen since a Snapstream .NET account is created,
> and the only way I know to make XP boot directly into the desktop is to have
> only one user account (Keith Clark, any tips on this?) Booting into the
> Welcome screen means the Firefly remote is not active yet, so you still have
> to keyboard/mouse things a bit.

Right - my DVR is a dedicated machine intended for family use in the living room
with a remote control, only for watching TV, listening to music (I ripped every
CD we've ever had to the hard drive), and looking at pictures, not email or
games or office stuff, so a single user account and auto-login wasn't an issue.

I use VNC (www.realvnc.com) to remotely do the more advanced things like defrag,
run Windows update, etc.

To use TV and computer CRT at the same time requires setting an option in your
video card's driver. With most current ones it should be possible.

In my case the DVR is *only* connected to a TV *or* a monitor, never both. The
only times it was ever hooked to a monitor was when I was first installing
everything and when I installed SP2 - the rest of these months it's been running
24x7 in the living room connected to the TV.

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

Glenn M wrote:

> On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 11:05:17 -0400, "Al" <No@Email.com> wrote:
>
> >After being a devoted TiVo user for a couple of years, I decided to build a
> >PC-based DVR using the Snapstream BTV bundle with Firefly remote. Full
> >details can be found here:
> >
> >http://tinyurl.com/4m7w3
> >
> >Just want to list some more pros and cons of the BTV option. In no
> >particular order:
> >
> >1) When you are watching live TV with BTV, and you decide you want to
> >record the show, BTV seems like it automatically discards the previously
> >recorded buffer, and you only get the part from hitting the record button
> >forward. TiVo gives you the option to include the buffer portion with your
> >saved recording.
> >
> >2) With my setup, I can't have the TV and computer monitor on at the same
> >time, or at least I don't know how to do this (Keith Clark, any tips here?).
> >If the computer boots up with the monitor attached, then after a few seconds
> >of the TV being active, it switches over to the monitor full-time. No
> >amount of playing with XP's options for dual screens has changed this. I
> >find this annoying because the BTV software setup seems to require you to
> >boot into the XP welcome screen since a Snapstream .NET account is created,
> >and the only way I know to make XP boot directly into the desktop is to have
> >only one user account (Keith Clark, any tips on this?) Booting into the
> >Welcome screen means the Firefly remote is not active yet, so you still have
> >to keyboard/mouse things a bit.
> >
> >3) Having the mouse pointer in the middle of the video screen is not great.
> >I know I can move it over, but I would like it to disappear UNLESS I move it
> >or touch the keyboard.
> >
> >4) My Firefly remote causes video interference on channel 59 which gets
> >recorded onto the hard drive. I have a trouble ticket open with Snapstream,
> >and I will see what they say.
> >
> >5) I recorded several hours of video last night, and the audio sync went
> >out on the live TV. Luckily the recorded shows seem fine, but this is a
> >pretty big bug unless I did something wrong.
> >
> >6) The Firefly remote doesn't support other devices since it is not
> >infra-red based.
> >
> >7) The DVR computer is bigger, slightly louder, and uses more electricity
> >than my TiVo which can be a real issue for some.
> >
> >8) BTV is a very capable system and is a great, inexpensive choice for
> >someone who already has a computer to host the bundle. No loss of privacy,
> >tremendous flexibility, and some really cool features like streaming over IP
> >that I haven't even tried yet. The software will probably improve rapidly,
> >and TiVo had better watch out.
> >
> >In general though, if you are mostly just going to watch TV vs. doing a lot
> >of editing of the shows, I still find TiVo to be very superior. I am not
> >surprised that people who don't own a TiVo will love their BTV, but that
> >doesn't change my opinion that TiVo just works better for recording and
> >watching TV.
> >
>
> BTV is in Beta testing for version 3.5 right now... when the 3.5
> version is released it will be based on a completely different engine
> then what is currently being sold....
> I have license for BTV but had trouble with the 3.4 version so I
> switched to Sage TV... Sage TV is also and excellent product... I have
> not had any problems with Sage and the audio is better..
> I will try BTV again once the 3.5 version is complete... when BTV 3.4
> was working for me I found it to be very good ...
> Glenn M
>
> Glenn M
> A GREAT DAY FOR FREEDOM...Pink Floyd

Glenn,

Why not sign up for the beta? The more of us voicing our opinions and filing bugs
the better... If you have only one tuner card you'll find the current build
really stable.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"Keith Clark" <clarkphotography@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4134DDF1.3BC5E9FE@hotmail.com...
>
>
> andrewunix wrote:
>
> > Tue, 31 Aug 2004 11:05:17 -0400, No@Email.com suggested:
> > :
> > : 7) The DVR computer is bigger, slightly louder, and uses more
electricity
> > : than my TiVo which can be a real issue for some.
> >
> > Not to mention the expense. A TiVo with a lifetime subscription costs
> > quite a bit less than a properly built HTPC.
>
> My DVR is quieter than the clocks on the wall. I can hear the ticking of
the two
> clocks before I hear any noise from the DVR. I've literally fallen asleep
on the
> sofa while stuff was recording and when I woke up the only way I knew it
was still
> recording was by seeing the blue led on the case blink intermittently.

My DVR is pretty quiet too thanks to the Zalman parts you recommended, but
not as quiet as my TiVo which doesn't seem to have a fan. The DVR sits
about 12 inches from my right elbow, so it's pretty easy to hear the noise
it does make. If it was across the room, I probably wouldn't hear it. BTW,
it also is not as quiet as the Sony Vaio I bought off the shelf at Best Buy.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 08:34:15 -0400, Al wrote:

>
> "Keith Clark" <clarkphotography@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:4134DDF1.3BC5E9FE@hotmail.com...
>>
>>
>> andrewunix wrote:
>>
>> > Tue, 31 Aug 2004 11:05:17 -0400, No@Email.com suggested:
>> > :
>> > : 7) The DVR computer is bigger, slightly louder, and uses more
> electricity
>> > : than my TiVo which can be a real issue for some.
>> >
>> > Not to mention the expense. A TiVo with a lifetime subscription costs
>> > quite a bit less than a properly built HTPC.
>>
>> My DVR is quieter than the clocks on the wall. I can hear the ticking of
> the two
>> clocks before I hear any noise from the DVR. I've literally fallen asleep
> on the
>> sofa while stuff was recording and when I woke up the only way I knew it
> was still
>> recording was by seeing the blue led on the case blink intermittently.
>
> My DVR is pretty quiet too thanks to the Zalman parts you recommended, but
> not as quiet as my TiVo which doesn't seem to have a fan. The DVR sits
> about 12 inches from my right elbow, so it's pretty easy to hear the noise
> it does make. If it was across the room, I probably wouldn't hear it. BTW,
> it also is not as quiet as the Sony Vaio I bought off the shelf at Best Buy.



I know. OEM's have access to the really solid cases. I had an HP once that
was completely silent as well. That thing was built like a tank.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"Keith Clark" <clarkphotography@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:41350B0F.9293B57F@hotmail.com...
>
>
> Al wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > 1) When you are watching live TV with BTV, and you decide you want to
> > record the show, BTV seems like it automatically discards the previously
> > recorded buffer, and you only get the part from hitting the record
button
> > forward. TiVo gives you the option to include the buffer portion with
your
> > saved recording.
>
> That's a hotly discussed topic in the beta test group. In my experience,
> Snapstream listens to users, so I expect they'll have that functionality
> eventually. It'd be nice to see it in 3.5 but I won't hold my breath.

That's good to hear.

> >
> > 2) With my setup, I can't have the TV and computer monitor on at the
same
> > time, or at least I don't know how to do this (Keith Clark, any tips
here?).
> > If the computer boots up with the monitor attached, then after a few
seconds
> > of the TV being active, it switches over to the monitor full-time. No
> > amount of playing with XP's options for dual screens has changed this.
I
> > find this annoying because the BTV software setup seems to require you
to
> > boot into the XP welcome screen since a Snapstream .NET account is
created,
> > and the only way I know to make XP boot directly into the desktop is to
have
> > only one user account (Keith Clark, any tips on this?) Booting into the
> > Welcome screen means the Firefly remote is not active yet, so you still
have
> > to keyboard/mouse things a bit.
>
> Right - my DVR is a dedicated machine intended for family use in the
living room
> with a remote control, only for watching TV, listening to music (I ripped
every
> CD we've ever had to the hard drive), and looking at pictures, not email
or
> games or office stuff, so a single user account and auto-login wasn't an
issue.

So you don't have a Snapstream .NET account setup on your computer? It
seemed to be installed automatically by their softwar, and that account's
existence prevents me from booting directly into BTV. At least, that is how
I understand XP's booting procedure.

>
> I use VNC (www.realvnc.com) to remotely do the more advanced things like
defrag,
> run Windows update, etc.
>
> To use TV and computer CRT at the same time requires setting an option in
your
> video card's driver. With most current ones it should be possible.

I have the ATI Radeon 9100 IGP onboard video, which I believe is the same
one as in your DVR. Poked around for some driver options, but I didn't find
any. Maybe I need to download something from their website. The option I
get from right-clicking on the desktop, Properties, and then Settings
doesn't seem to take when I choose multiple monitors. The video monitor
flashes for a second, and then I revert to just the computer monitor.

To be really functional, I would like the video on the TV, and be able to
work from the desktop on my computer monitor.

>
> In my case the DVR is *only* connected to a TV *or* a monitor, never both.
The
> only times it was ever hooked to a monitor was when I was first installing
> everything and when I installed SP2 - the rest of these months it's been
running
> 24x7 in the living room connected to the TV.

It is definitely easier just to leave it on. Since I have two TiVo's doing
my main recording, I just turn on the DVR for those times when I need to
record three things at once.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

>(I ripped every
>CD we've ever had to the hard drive),

Have you also ripped all the DVD movies and copied them
to the hard drive as well?

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

me6@privacy.net wrote:

> >(I ripped every
> >CD we've ever had to the hard drive),
>
> Have you also ripped all the DVD movies and copied them
> to the hard drive as well?

No. I've thought about it, but that would take a big hard drive,
although I can get pretty reasonable quality in about a gigabyte per
movie... That said, I have some favorites that I like to watch a lot
(Office Space!), that are on the hard drive, just because it's easier
than pawing through the stacks of cases to find the original disc. MP3's
are a different story though. You can put thousands of 'em in just a few
gigs, even at 256 kbits. I have a pretty decent library of my favorite
TV shows in Xvid (mpeg-4) though. Since I don't distribute them to
anyone, and don't download any, it's not illegal (except for removing
the commercials...LOL! ;-> ). But even those I burn to DVD-R rather than
leave on the hard drive since I can get quite a few hours of very good
quality video on a DVD-R in Xvid format.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

In article <4135F812.1F29F75E@hotmail.com>, clarkphotography@hotmail.com
says...
> No. I've thought about it, but that would take a big hard drive,
> although I can get pretty reasonable quality in about a gigabyte per
> movie... That said, I have some favorites that I like to watch a lot
> (Office Space!), that are on the hard drive, just because it's easier
> than pawing through the stacks of cases to find the original disc. MP3's
> are a different story though. You can put thousands of 'em in just a few
> gigs, even at 256 kbits. I have a pretty decent library of my favorite
> TV shows in Xvid (mpeg-4) though. Since I don't distribute them to
> anyone, and don't download any, it's not illegal (except for removing
> the commercials...LOL! ;-> ). But even those I burn to DVD-R rather than
> leave on the hard drive since I can get quite a few hours of very good
> quality video on a DVD-R in Xvid format.
>
>
>

Have you seen that bittorrent plug in for MythTV? It's the future man
I almost feel sorry for cable companies, but then I remember who I'm
writing the check to every month for my internet access.
--
_________________________
Chris Phillipo - Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
http://www.ramsays-online.com

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

Chris Phillipo wrote:

> In article <4135F812.1F29F75E@hotmail.com>, clarkphotography@hotmail.com
> says...
> > No. I've thought about it, but that would take a big hard drive,
> > although I can get pretty reasonable quality in about a gigabyte per
> > movie... That said, I have some favorites that I like to watch a lot
> > (Office Space!), that are on the hard drive, just because it's easier
> > than pawing through the stacks of cases to find the original disc. MP3's
> > are a different story though. You can put thousands of 'em in just a few
> > gigs, even at 256 kbits. I have a pretty decent library of my favorite
> > TV shows in Xvid (mpeg-4) though. Since I don't distribute them to
> > anyone, and don't download any, it's not illegal (except for removing
> > the commercials...LOL! ;-> ). But even those I burn to DVD-R rather than
> > leave on the hard drive since I can get quite a few hours of very good
> > quality video on a DVD-R in Xvid format.
> >
> >
> >
>
> Have you seen that bittorrent plug in for MythTV? It's the future man
> I almost feel sorry for cable companies, but then I remember who I'm
> writing the check to every month for my internet access.
> --

It's a cool idea but the pipes aren't fat enough - who in their right mind is
going to download 3.3 GB just for a one hour TV show? Not me. Maybe if I had
multiple DS3 lines...