PCWizKid has been looking at alternatives to using a DVR Box for recording his favorite shows missed. Some people may have satellite or are able to watch the show later in different time zones to catch up, some may download recorded shows or even watch them online , but nothing beats recording your own to a portable or standard format that you can view later from your PC. First I must say that the Nero LiquidTV is truly a complete package for those getting into the DVR experience or are planning to use their new PC as an entertainment unit. The intent with the popular TiVo experience to enable you to view what you want when you want is now an option for your PC.
One thing to point out is that because this is for your PC there is a lot of dependancy on your PC hardware. This means that you need to meet the minimum system hardware requirements for experiencing it properly. CPU, Video Card, Memory and Hard drive space is specifically what we are referring to. I would recomend a system that has a Dual Core CPU running at 2.6Ghz or a quad core system. At least 2 GB of RAM and a video card that has at least 256MB of video RAM. I also would like to point out that for recording you need to have a hard drive large enough to hold the recordings (see further below for the system requirements from Nero).
Watch and record shows in HD and Standard formats on your TV or on your PC
Export your favorite programs to portable media players
Burn shows to DVD or save them to your hard drive
Pause Live TV on your PC
Includes a 12-month subscription to the TiVo® service
All the great TiVo features like Season Pass® and WishList® included
PCWizKid's favorite features are:
Timeshifting
No need to schedule your life around the airdates of your favorite TV shows. Nero LiquidTV™ | TiVo® PC puts you in charge of when and where you watch TV.
Watch in HD and standard quality
Nero LiquidTV™ | TiVo® PC lets you watch and record your shows in High Definition for the ultimate in image quality and sound.
Watch and pause live TV on your PC
Need to answer the door in the middle of your favorite live program? No problem. Just press Pause and come back to it when you’re ready.
Connect to a TV
Connect your computer to your TV set and enjoy your content on the largest screen in the house.
Supports four tuners
Record two shows at once with support for up to 4 analog, satellite, and cable (ATSC and NTSC) tuners. Only supports one set-top-box among them.
Home Movie Sharing
Get your home videos out of your PC and into the living room where everyone can watch. Or export them to an iPod® or PSP® with ease and show them off wherever you go. Supported formats: .tivo, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (H.263 + H.264), AVI, WMV.
General System Requirements
Windows® XP Home/Pro with SP2, Windows® XP Media Center Edition, Windows® XP Professional x64 Edition, or Windows Vista® x86/x64
DirectX® 9.0c or higher
For analog channels using a TV tuner with built in encoder, or for digital SD channels: 2.0 GHz Intel® Pentium® IV processor or AMD Athlon™ XP 2000+ or Dual Core CPU with less GHz
For analog channels using a TV tuner without built in encoder: 3.0 GHz Intel® Pentium® IV processor or AMD Athlon™ XP 3200+ or Dual Core CPU with less GHz
256 MB RAM (512 MB RAM for Windows Vista® and/or HDTV)
500 MB hard drive space for standard installation of all components
Minimum of 20 GB available hard drive space for recordings is recommended (= about 5 hours of SD recording)
Graphics card with at least 64 MB video memory and a minimum resolution of 800 x 600 pixels at 32-bit true color. The graphics cards must be completely compatible with DirectX® 9.
BDA-compatible TV tuner or video capture card for analog and digital recording (included in the retail box – USB port required). You can find a list of compatible devices here.
Supported TV sources: analog cable, analog and digital antenna; digital cable and satellite via Set-Top-Box
16-bit Windows® compatible sound devices and speakers
Broadband Internet connection
Internet Explorer® 6.0 or higher
CD/DVD ROM for installation from CD
Latest version of all device drivers must be installed
Additional System Requirements for HD Contents
3.0 GHz Intel® Pentium® IV processor or AMD Athlon™ XP 3200+ or Dual Core CPU with less GHz
512 MB RAM
Minimum of 40 GB available hard drive space for HD recordings is recommended (= about 5 hours of HD recording).
Graphics card with a minimum of 256 MB video RAM
Conclusions
The Nero LiquidTV works great as a DVR and has the basic popular TiVo features you would expect. It recorded the live TV bufferlike a real TiVo but requires a powerful CPU and Video card for HD recordings. The ergonomic TiVo remote worked as expected and controlled changing the channels on the cable box tested with, however the tests over the air with the antenna proved to be good aswell for those that are on the go and what to take their TV viewing with them on the road! The included TiVo subscription is nice, but once it runs out you would need to renew it. However the guide was complete and accurate and makes it easy to schedule your recordings on your favorite shows.
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No need to schedule your life around the airdates of your favorite TV shows.
Nero LiquidTV™ | TiVo® PC lets you watch and record your shows in High Definition for the ultimate in image quality and sound.
Connect your computer to your TV set and enjoy your content on the largest screen in the house.
Get your home videos out of your PC and into the living room where everyone can watch. Or export them to an iPod® or PSP® with ease and show them off wherever you go. Supported formats: .tivo, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (H.263 + H.264), AVI, WMV.
