I was recently informed that Windows 8 does not include Windows Media Center. Not that I have plans of purchasing Windows 8 in the near future, but that's still a shame. I run Windows 7 on all of my computers, and nowadays my desktop is really only used as an HTPC. Part of the reason is because I also have a laptop and a smart phone, but the other reason is that it works really well as a DVR. I've used it with two different TV tuners. I first used one that connects via USB, and it was fine. But I wanted something that attached more securely, so I bought a tuner card. It's an Asus card and I only use it for the OTA signal from my old TV antenna upstairs. I had a 1 GB hard drive already, but when I saw a 2 GB drive on sale, I picked that up and then set it as the save location for Windows Media Center.
It was extremely easy to do all of this. I think a person with a laptop could do this using the USB tuber and also an external hard drive. I never had any intention of paying a monthly fee for DVR access. So taking my existing computer and adding the DVR functionality was a no-brainer.
The Asus card included software, and I believe the USB tuner did as well. So in theory you wouldn't need the Windows Media Center software to use a PC as a DVR, but it's so slick and easy that I never even considered using anything else.
It's too bad that Microsoft doesn't offer this as a free add-on for Windows 8. It's yet another reason for me to skip it. Until I get a touch screen monitor, there is no reason for me to use it anyway. And by that time I might be using an OS from Google on my PC instead.
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