Use Your PC like a TiVo

摘要

You know something is popular when people start using a trade-marked noun as a verb: Xerox this, FedEx that, TiVo a show. Digital video recorders (DVRs) have achieved this status thanks to the leading set-top box brand, but there's more than one way to get your TV fix. ·At the heart of every TiVo, RePlayTV, or other living-room DVR is a hard drive like the one in your PC. Here we review three solutions (from ATI, Pinnacle Systems, and SnapStream) that let you turn an underutilized computer into a DVR, no hacking required. And there's more on the horizon: Graphics chip giant nVidia is finishing up its latest Personal Cinema offering, and ADS Tech has a new build of its Instant TV product in the works. Neither product was ready in time for our test deadline, but we will revisit both in a future issue.