Anybody for a free DVR?

A few days ago, I got the sudden urge to build a media center PC that could replace our 10+ year-old TiVo.  I looked at several options, such as LinuxMCE, Windows Media Center, etc, but came to the conclusion that MythTV would fit the bill perfectly, so to speak.

The problem with LinuxMCE is it's too big.  Between phone integration and home automation, there's not much room for just a media center.  Windows Media Center is just Windows-y, so that one got ruled out quickly.

MythTV does exactly what I want.  It's built to be a fast, efficient media center, but it's got enough features to pwn the TiVo, such as weather, video, and news feeds.

One of the coolest things about MythTV is it's modular--the database is different from the GUI.  In theory, I could set up thinclients by each of my TVs, make a network boot image, and have a massive server sitting  in the backroom somewhere.  But, I don't have the money for that.

The only drawback to MythTV is it doesn't do channel handling really well.  It also recommends an account on SchedulesDirect.org, which costs $20 per year for programming feeds.

As for the setup, it took me an afternoon, and I wouldn't recommend MythTV to a first-time Linux user.  There are some hoops I had to jump through to make it work with my TV tuner.  Kudos to Dave Kerr for giving me a Hauppauge PVR-150.  It's not the best tuner in the world, but it works.

Some interesting links:
http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_pvr150.html
http://www.mythtv.org/
http://www.mythbuntu.org/
http://www.linuxmce.com/