I know this is a favourite topic for a number of people, and I'm hoping to get (at best) a pointer to a good turnkey supplier in the UK, or at worst a pointer to a place to get DIY.

The spec:
- a PVR unit that will sit in the UK and record analogue and Freeview digital TV to disk
- ability to schedule recordings over the web
- recordings to be either time based (channel 4 from 8pm to 9pm) or show based (record all episodes of Green Wing)
- disk recordings to be accessible from the web so they can be uploaded as a file over a broadband connection to another location

- in event of problems, unit should be resettable by pushing a Big Red Switch on the front, and should automagically get itself back into full working mode

Ease of use, and system stability, are much more important than cost.


Any thoughts ?

Many thanks

Mark

SageTV should do what you want. With their PlaceShifter you can also watch (ala SlingBox) your video from anywhere with a net connection.

The newest version of SageTV is adding support for DVB-S cards to compliment the support they've already added for DVB-T.

The only part I'm not positive about is the ease of changing your recording schedules over the net. Just skim their documentation and forum for the answer though.

http://sagetv.com

It's still the best PC-based PVR software I kinow of.

My setup is that I've left my tivo there along with a slingbox. The quality is a bit so-so - google wifi only gives me about 300-400kbit for reliable streaming - but seeing as the only sort of things I tend to watch are car programmes and never mind the buzzcocks, I can live with it... connecting the laptop to the plasma is possibly overkill though.

For other stuff, I have to admit I use uknova to torrent UK TV. Works very well, their policy of never having anything on there which you can buy commercially keeps it up to date (plus they come up with some great gems that never made it to DVD) - and hopefully out of major trouble. HDTV (ish) direct rips are also appearing there, I just got the first few of Jack Dee's new sitcom in HDish resolution from there at 500MBish per episode. I don't tend to hoard the torrents, I usually just watch then delete.

Hugo

From a DIY perspective MythTV will do all of that and a heck of a lot more. Mythweb in particular is very comprehensive. I use it to set all my recordings. Never really tried the bootable myth-centric distros as it was dead easy for me to get running on my existing machines. Knoppmyth was one of them.

It would be failing in my duty not to point out, as I always do when PVR's or MythBox are discussed, that DigiTV is highly satisfactory and does all these things and more! Mine's linked to DigiGuide which must be the most effortless way of setting programmes.
Oh, no analog recordings, but what can you want that isn't also on freeview, and no big red button, but by the latest software version it just doesn't fail me.

Thank you everyone. I think I will go the Sage route and am now checking out suppliers who can deliver and install a pre-built system.

Regards

Mark

Having dug around some more, I think I am going to try out one of these Topfield units:

http://www.topfield.co.kr/product_e/pr_feature01.asp?cb=DSR&cm=PVR&pn=TF6000PVR#p

Thanks again for all the advice.

Mark

Do they have any pages that show actual screenshots of the interface? Their pages and brochure are what I like to call "anti-marketing" - they're the perfect combination of useless facts jumbled together to un-sell the product.

Yes, that seems to be a real Korean characteristic. I spend quite a bit of time in Seoul, really enjoy working there, and always have a great time if I meet any of these small "we've got this really great gadget that everyone will want" companies. (But never ever say yes to the question "well that was a nice dinner, but now we should go on to a bar because it's only 1am, and we know this really great new drinking-shots-for-cheap place, would you like to come ?").

But I think all the engineers must do the same marketing course, which seems to consist of "build a website, add a photo of the CEO and a few product shots, then leave everything else up to your distributors".