Build Your Own PVR :: Why Tivo When you can Freevo?
Build Your Own PVR :: Build Your Own Personal Video Recorder 101
: "Build Your Own Personal Video Recorder 101
ABSTRACT: What the heck is a PVR and why you'd want to build one.
AUTHOR: Rampy (reviews AT byopvr.com)
What's A PVR?
A PVR is an acronym for Personal Video Recorder... sometimes it is referred to as a Digital Video Recorder (DVR). A PVR is like a very smart digital VCR on steroids.
Why would anyone want anything more than a VCR? Let me use myself as a usecase. I have a Tivo. The basic functionality of a PVR allows you to schedule recordings by program instead of just time/date/channel a traditional VCR offers. I can interact with the program guide to find details about upcoming shows so I can record only the 'Seinfeld' episode where George tries to preserve his high score on a Frogger machine and NOT the Keith Hernandez episodes. I can make wishlists 'queries' that tell my Tivo to record any shows/movies that a have a specific actor. The next time 'Treasure of Sierra Madre' is shown it's going to be taped, even if it's 4 months from now at 3:45am on TCM. I can record only the NEW episodes of 'CSI' or 'Friends' and never see a re-run (unless I want to). "