Since TiVo is basically a big hard drive run by TiVo software, it would seem to me that there would be a way to turn my future Dual 2 into a phat TiVo Monster Machine. Has anyone done it? Can it be done?
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Turning G5 into TiVo monster?
- Thread starter KLJennings
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Re: Turning G5 into TiVo monster?
I've never tried it on a Mac but I've done it on a PC and, frankly, it isn't worth the hassle. I didn't skimp on the hardware. AMD XP1800+ (near the top of the heap at the time) and an ATI 8500DV video card.
The first thing I noticed after assembling everything is that the software just plain sucked. Using ATI's software, I only had a week of program data and no way to automatically record upcoming shows. Every few days, I had to manually update the program guide and manually select shows to record. That sucked. Then there was the fact that it wouldn't record in the background if I was playing games. That made my brand new ~$500 machine a dedicated box. TV only. Then there was the way the TV-on-Demand functions never functioned reliably. They'd only work for an hour or two after booting. Then I'd just get a quick pause and back to live TV.
I tried a few other software packages but nothing was stable enough to justify spending additional money on a PC solution. There were a few linux projects hitting maturity but that was a lot of work and would have totally locked the box into a single role machine since I wouldn't be able to run any of my games at any time.
After a few months, I bought a Tivo. I love it. It does nearly everything I wanted my PC solution to do and it does it well. It doesn't crash. All of the functions work all of the time. My PC is free to do whatever I want whenever I want. I can let it run for weeks (or months) without having to do anything but just watch TV.
Bottom line: If you want a Tivo, buy a Tivo. You won't be able to create a better or more reliable product on your own.
I've never tried it on a Mac but I've done it on a PC and, frankly, it isn't worth the hassle. I didn't skimp on the hardware. AMD XP1800+ (near the top of the heap at the time) and an ATI 8500DV video card.
The first thing I noticed after assembling everything is that the software just plain sucked. Using ATI's software, I only had a week of program data and no way to automatically record upcoming shows. Every few days, I had to manually update the program guide and manually select shows to record. That sucked. Then there was the fact that it wouldn't record in the background if I was playing games. That made my brand new ~$500 machine a dedicated box. TV only. Then there was the way the TV-on-Demand functions never functioned reliably. They'd only work for an hour or two after booting. Then I'd just get a quick pause and back to live TV.
I tried a few other software packages but nothing was stable enough to justify spending additional money on a PC solution. There were a few linux projects hitting maturity but that was a lot of work and would have totally locked the box into a single role machine since I wouldn't be able to run any of my games at any time.
After a few months, I bought a Tivo. I love it. It does nearly everything I wanted my PC solution to do and it does it well. It doesn't crash. All of the functions work all of the time. My PC is free to do whatever I want whenever I want. I can let it run for weeks (or months) without having to do anything but just watch TV.
Bottom line: If you want a Tivo, buy a Tivo. You won't be able to create a better or more reliable product on your own.
Buy a ReplayTV and use DVArchive. DVArchive runs on anything that can run Java and emulates and ReplayTV 4xxx or 5xxx box. These have Ethernet built-in so all you have to do is get them connected to your network and go from there.
http://dvarchive.sourceforge.net/
http://dvarchive.sourceforge.net/
dvarchive is cool. It will let you easily transfer shows to your mac and watch with VLC. I like the tivo's and the home media option, but the replay tv with dvarchive rocks.
I always use my powerbook to watch mcgyver and enterprise episodes while I am washing dishes.
I always use my powerbook to watch mcgyver and enterprise episodes while I am washing dishes.