Can you recommend a DVR for over the air recording?

    We recently got one of those digital tuners so that our TV would
still be able to receive channels after the change next month.  It works
great, and since it has a timer, it will switch to whatever channel we
want at any time we want.  We are able to still use our VCR with it.

   However, I think within a few months, for simplicity, we would like
to switch over to using a DVR.  Here is what I'm looking for:

1) Easy to use menu - works with over the air ATSC

2) upgradeable - if I want to pop in a larger SATA drive to upgrade it,
I can

3) mpeg 4/h.264 compression

4) USB Port - so I can export recorded files if I want to watch them
elsewhere

   Does anything like this even exist?  I've seen some DVD burning
recorders at the stores, but haven't really seen a good replacement for
a VCR yet.  I won't consider anything that has a subscription fee.
(that's partly why I avoid cable in the first place, plus most things on
cable are available free on DVD from the library within a year)

        Thanks!

 
You'd probably get better feedback on this question at an A/V forum or
at ePinions.com .  Off the top of my head though, I think you could
probably just make one yourself with a PC equipped with a HDTV tuner.

 OhioGuy wrote:


Google "MythTV".  It might have to be a do-it-yourself project,
though, I don't know if anyone is selling them commercially.  (I don't
own a TV myself, so it's all theoretical to me.)

Dave

 Dave Garland wrote:

I built and have been using one for quite some time. I have also built
additional ones for friends. Works great and has a very active community .

 OhioGuy wrote:

I built one myself using what used to be the main PC at one time.

Much more flexible than anything buyable.

You do have to know what you are doing tho.