Reinvent Your PC

Create Your Own Entertainment System

Who needs a TiVo? Well, you do, of course. But with the appropriate blend of PC hardware and software, you can turn your PC into a personal video recorder (PVR) à la TiVo, and then use it to stream your music or videos around the house.

Add a TV Tuner Card

The first step to take in building your own media center is deciding what you want to accomplish. For most people, that's capturing TV shows from the airwaves or from a cable or satellite hookup. Companies such as ATI, Hauppauge, NVidia, and Pinnacle Systems make a wide selection of products to accomplish this: TV tuner add-on boards, external TV tuner boxes that plug into your USB ports, and graphics boards with on-board TV tuners. These products almost always include software to record TV (or sometimes video from other sources, such as a camcorder), plus program guides to help you find what's on.

If you're planning on upgrading a graphics board anyway, and you want to add a TV tuner at the same time, ATI's All-in-Wonder family of graphics boards are a good compromise. The All-in-Wonder X800 XT ($500) combines a top-notch graphics board with a TV tuner and an FM radio receiver, and includes all the software you need to schedule TV or radio recordings, plus a radio-frequency (RF) remote control that works with other applications, as well.

The X800 XT also provides S-Video and composite inputs and outputs for most video interconnections, as well as DVI-I and VGA outputs for your PC display. It also comes with its own PVR software, plus Gemstar's Guide Plus program lookup and scheduler and DVD-burning software to archive your saved programs.

RF remote controls are handy, not only because you don't have to aim the remote at a sensor, but also because you can change channels from a different room. If you buy another company's TV tuner card or box, but want to take advantage of the nifty RF remote control that comes with the All-in-Wonder, you can buy the Remote Wonder ($40) separately.

If you do decide to add some form of TV tuner to your computer, you'll be at an advantage if you're a cable modem user--you already have a TV cable in close proximity. If you have to extend your TV cable to your PC, give yourself plenty of slack in the cable, or else run it underneath the carpet. Otherwise, if you (or your dog) trip over or yank the cable, it could wrench the TV connector right out of the back of the tuner card.

Upbeat Graphics Cards

If you opt for a dedicated TV tuner card instead of the All-in-Wonder, you can buy a new, ultrafast graphics board to get the display data to your monitor with the frame rates necessary for live video and 3D gaming. The new card you choose can also give you coveted features like video capture, a TV tuner, and a combination of connectors that lets you use multiple monitors: dual-DVI, DVI and VGA, or two VGA outputs.

You should remember that many newer PCs include a new type of expansion slot, called PCI Express, that older computers probably don't have. This is important because graphics board makers sell models designed to be inserted in either PCI Express slots or the older AGP slots. When buying a new graphics board, you need to buy one designed to fit into the slot your computer already has--they're not interchangeable.

Installing a new graphics board is relatively straightforward: Shut down your system, open the PC case, locate the correct slot (there's only one, and it's indented just a bit from the white PCI card slots), plug the new board in, and secure it with an appropriate screw or clamp. Then close and secure the system case, connect your monitor cable to the new card, and start up your PC. You're ready to go. (For more detailed instructions on how to install a new graphics board, click here.)

Once you install the new drive and power up the PC, Windows will identify the new board and attempt to load new drivers. While you can use the drivers on the CD that came with the board, we recommend that you visit the manufacturer's Web site and download the latest drivers, which will almost certainly be newer than the ones on the CD.

A reboot may be necessary; then you simply need to set the desired display resolution and refresh rate (right-click any empty space on the desktop, select Properties, and click the Settings tab to make these changes). You'll probably see a sharper, faster display right away; the true test will come when you run full-motion video or your favorite game.

Record and Share

Once you're recording and managing entertainment sources on your PC, you'll probably want to watch your shows in the living room. Pinnacle Systems' ShowCenter 200 ($270) can distribute your programs, photos, or music to every TV or stereo hookup in the house. The ShowCenter 200 software streams your music and videos over your wired or wireless network, and it can archive programs to DVD for safekeeping and replay elsewhere--though you will obviously need a DVD recording drive to do this.