Look up MythTV, BeyondTV, and SageTV. I think MythTV is linux based, and it's free. The others have trial periods that are pretty long, so you can check them out.
BeyondTV is rather expensive, US$ 70 if I remember right from their Web site. At this price we're better off waiting for a FutureShop or BestBuy sale and then buying a PVR card with software included. A few months ago they had a Hauppauge 150 PVR on sale for CDN $70 and it included BeyondTV.
------- I don't really know what I'm talking about, just reading from other forums, so take this info with a grain of salt, OK? Good luck, and please post what you find out -------
I've got a question though: MediaPortal says it creates dvr-ms files. Can you record shows with it on a computer and then watch them on another (a laptop, for example)? I'm reluctant to record my favourite shows with Windows MCE because I'll lose them all when I change computers or move to Linux. Can MediaPortal create mpg files without any of the DRM garbage?
I have a cheap ATI All-in-Wonder 200 PCI Bus card. Unfortunately media portal does not support my card. I did get it working with sagetv but was having audio issues. Right now I am using InterVideo's WinDVR and it does the trick, but I would like a program with a Tivo like EPG interface. GBPVR also does not support my card as well as Windows MCE. Does anyone know of a program that does support the card and offers a TIVO like interface for recording? Also, wanted to try beyond tv but it says the trial has expired even though I have never used it before. Any way to fix this? tried redownloading but same thing.
i have a tv wonder 650 and the media center that came with it is ok, but it takes nowedays longer to load up after i recorded couple shows, and i cant pause teh recording, so that sux