Direct Tv Dvr

If your PC already has a TV tuner card, then SnapStream Beyond TV 3 is the cheapest way to a robust DVR. And even if you have to add a tuner card, the Beyond TV 3 software is still the way to go, considering how close it comes to the TiVo or Media Center PC experience. Forums on the company's Web site even have some useful hints for getting the software to control set-top tuners with additional cables that SnapStream offers (with the disclaimer that not all devices are supported).

The bundle's software has a terrific, slick-looking interface (called ViewScape) that does not resemble a standard Windows app—which is a good thing. While all the other offerings here look like PC media players with add-ons for channel guides and like, Beyond TV 3 features easy-to-read menus that fade in and out. The channel guide is particularly stellar, letting you record all episodes of a show with a single click on the pop-up menu.

Beyond TV 3's SmartSkip feature lets you avoid commercials in shows you've recorded by marking chapter points at scene changes. It didn't miss a mark in our week of torture testing, and it was the only product to remain glitch-free over this period of time—a major plus if you want your DVR to record and do its job while you're away.

The server-like nature of the program is both liberating and impressive. You can easily log into the program (assuming it's accessible in your network) and stream a recorded file. Also, you can log on via the Web to schedule a show to record, which is great for travelers or those who somehow seem to hear about shows only while at work.

In addition to streaming files, Beyond TV 3 let us make good-quality portable files using built-in DivX and Windows Media support. These were a cinch to transfer by network to a laptop for a train ride, and you can even make Pocket PC–friendly files. The only downside is that when saving to MPEG formats, you need to use a third-party burning app to make, say, an SVCD.

We tested Beyond TV 3 paired with the wonderful Hauppauge WinTV PVR-350 tuner card ($199 direct, www.hauppauge.com). It outputs directly to a TV, and video quality is very good for a PC-based solution (the image quality is still shy of dedicated set-top boxes like TiVo). Note: While the Hauppauge WinTV PVR-350 does output directly to a TV, Beyond TV doesn't support this feature. In our testing, we used an nVidia 5200 graphics card to output the image to the television.

If you're looking for a PC-based DVR solution but don't want to buy a whole new Media Center PC, the SnapStream Beyond TV 3 is the way to go. Just be sure to pair it with a top-quality tuner card.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in PC Magazine.

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