As usual, I'm just reading this thread when it's finished, but I thought that I'd add a datapoint anyway, even though relative more to HD than SD receivers.
I record FTA via 4 different methods.
(1) PC PCI card (Twinhan 1020a or TT3200 {and also OTA ATSC cards})--> TSREADER. TSREADER has an EPG function that can be used manually. Recordings are a single file regardless of size. Recordings can be played back via a number of methods, such as direct to a ROKU, VLC to a PopcornHour for HD, or several other methods of SD, or you can burn DVDs. {I don't have a PopcornHour yet, I use Roku.}
You CAN play back files while they are recording, but it is not very user friendly.
(2) Coolsat-8100. The 8100 has a USB port {in the back} to which you can plug in an external hard drive or thumb drive. The drives are FAT32 formatted, so the maximum file size is a bit over 4 GB. With the factory firmware, this PVR function doesn't work, however with newer versions of factory firmware, or better yet, even newer but obsolete versions of hacker firmware, the PVR function works fairly well. It seems like each version of firmware behaves slightly different with respect to functionality. With some earlier versions, you could pause live video, and it would be recorded to disk, and you could start it playing again, and I think it would still be recording in the background, however I never investigated how long it would go. With the newer versions, I've started up recording, and it won't allow me to pause or playback while recording, but I'm guessing that there is probably a workaround that I haven't found. One problem with the 4 GB chunks, and that is that it seems like there is a maximum of about 10 files per recording, ie a maximum of about 50 GB. I tried recording a high speed network NFL game, and it cut off the end of the game (with the game winning drive) because of this limit. I think the limit is due to the fact that they number the files (that will be seemlessly played back together) with a 1 digit number, like 0-9 , and when it gets up to 9, it just stops recording. This wouldn't be an issue for SD or 99% of even moderate to high speed HD recordings, but the high speed network feeds really spit out GBs of data. You can set the recording time to 24 hours, which would easily fit within the file limitations. The files can be moved to a PC for editing and alternative playback .
(3) Diamond-9000 . My 9000 was an ebay purchase, and it was crippled by the hacker software that the original owner put on it, however I still use it quite a bit. Like the 8100, it has a USB port, however it is on the front, which is very convenient for use with a thumb drive. I've recorded entire OTA ATSC HD NFL games on a 32GB thumb drive, and moved over to my laptop for playing back interesting plays, capturing frames, etc. Also connect a 500GB external hard drive to it, which now has 3 or 4 NFL games on it, and hopefully one more (for the other thumb). The only annoying thing about the front USB connection is that if your chair is to the right of the receiver, the USB connector blocks the IR remote control.
The 9000 also splits up files, but it splits them into approximately 1.5 GB files, however it numbers them with 2 digit numbers, so an OTA ATSC NFL game for example went up to like 16 files or something like that (OTA doesn't require as much memory as the high speed sat feeds). I haven't figured out a way to record and play back at the same time with the 9000.
Main problem with MY 9000 is that it has a severe skipping problem, apparently due to the hacker software. It works PERFECTLY on OTA ATSC. When I first got it, it would work on SD FTA, and on low to medium speed HD, but skipped badly on high speed network HD. Then, for no known reason, it started working on EVERYTHING, regardless of speed, HD, or SD. Worked perfectly for a couple months, then it reverted to skipping badly on high speed HD, then started skipping on medium speed HD (like PBS), and now it even skips occasionally on some SD content. But again the skipping problems are probably due to the hacker software, so I suspect that a virgin 9000 would be a good PVR. And I think that the skipping isn't a PVR problem, but a playback problem, in that if played back on computer I didn't notice the skips, however it can't even record the high speed network stuff, as it pretty much shuts down the receiver when you try. But again a non-hacked 9000 would probably be OK.
(4) TIVO. I have 3 stand alone series I TIVOs, and often use these for regular SD recordings. The TIVOs are more user friendly, however I don't have mine integrated with the FTA receivers to the extent that it can change channels. I'm sure that it can be done, but I find it easier to just set the TIVO to record, then switch the FTA receiver to the channel I want.
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I pretty much just use my Diamond 9000 for OTA ATSC HD and satellite FTA SD and some low-medium speed HD stuff, and SD mpeg4 content. I use the Coolsat for OTA ATSC HD, and for both SD and high speed HD FTA recording, and for MPEG4 content. I use TSREADER for recording anything, ie ATSC OTA (via an Air2PC PCI card, DVB-S2 via TT3200, or regular DVB-S via Twinhan. I currently can't play back MPEG4 recording though. I use TIVOs for most SD stuff. Not quite as good as recording directly from FTA satellite or OTA ATSC, but much more convenient.
There.... another data point on 4 other methods, for future reference. I LOVE the PVR recordings, particularly for NFL games, because I like to play back controversial plays and play the HD back frame by frame on my laptop. It sure requires a lot of storage space for HD, but you can get a heck of a lot of SD on them.
