2. Starting Off

Two years ago, I had accumulated $70 by fixing computers and recovering files for people in my dorm. My favorites are "Oops I accidentally deleted my term paper can you recover it" or "I was about to save it when my OS crashed" but I digress. My freshman year roommate had a really nice top-of-the-line $700 LCD display that had a tuner built into the back that he was really proud of (his screen was worth more than my entire computer). So I figured why not buy a tuner and watch a little TV. I also thought it would be nice if I could record shows.

So I looked up cheap tuners and the cheapest one with decent ratings was a Hauppauge WINTV-GO. But in the reviews, people complained about the software and said to get the Hauppauge PVR-150, which at the time I couldn't afford. However, I found a Hauppauge PVR-150 MCE that was within range of my budget. By luck, I also found a reviewer who gave it a five star rating and used it with a free application called GB-PVR.

Hauppauge PVR-150 MCE

Intrigued, I first took a look at the software before I even purchased a tuner card and found myself looking at an active Wiki dedicated entirely to GB-PVR. My curiosity got the best of me and I tried out the software by playing videos that I had downloaded. Given its price (free) and features, it didn't take me long to make GB-PVR the core of my HTPC.