ok so tivo isnt cuttin it for me, im gonna build a pvr in the very near future and need to know what software to use...so far the top of my list is SnapStream Video Station (http://www.snapstream.com). it seems to have all the features i like about my tivo, and yet uses an open format and will be on a pc (therefore i have portability of videos, thats what i really need)...dont get me wrong, i love the tivo, if just for the program guide and time-shifting ability (ESPECIALLY the time-shifting, thats why i like snapstream over a lot of the other (free) software out there).

hope to hear some good feedback. thanks.

wow, nothin

I haven't bought my TiVo yet. Waiting for a new model, so that the existing ones get a price cut.

I think a PVR would be too much work at this point personally, but maybe someday.

Good luck with your project NAAAARRRRF.

I use my ATI AIW to record all I want. No need to buy or get anything else from others. TiVO is crap use what you have, your PC.

yes thats my point, lol...im looking for software to use with the pc to run it as a dedicated pvr...i have a tivo already and im just not happy enough with it

Ok, then let's start with what type of card do you have?

My AIW works just fine using the included apps (MMC) from ATI. It also has a remote and scheduling feature that I use to record everything in any format I want. Everything I see about that snapstream is already included in my ATI.

the card i want is the hauppauge wintv pvr-350 (http://www.hauppauge.com/html/wintvpvr350_...0_datasheet.htm)

i already have a wintv usb and the pvr-350 will come with the same software, and imo its not the best software, and u have to change from fullscreen and stuff to access the program guide

does your AIW have hardware encoder and decoder? does the software allow time-shifting? how much is that card?

edit: also, how well does it handle in winxp? i have an ati tv-wonder in my desktop and have had nothing but trouble ever since i installed windows xp...i get the scrambled picture deal (which is easily remedied by just not having the mmc as the active window when it loads [i just click on the start menu again right after i click to load the tv, lol] but thats a pain in the ass, and it scrambles up again as soon as u go to record or anything).

also with my tv-wonder, i get horrible crashes in xp...lets say im watching tv...whether its fullscreen or windowed makes no difference...after a few minutes i get a full screen freeze of everything, tv and windows included, and nothing works...except the tv audio, that continues fine...but i have to hard-reset the machine and reboot.