Conclusion
I don't pretend that this article is the answer to every question that you've ever had about building a cheap HTPC. It's more of a gateway article to let you know that there is quality PVR software out there for free and it's up to you to get it to work. When you build an HTPC on the cheap you have to become your own hardware and software expert.
If you choose GB-PVR as media application, you'll need to scour the forums and wiki in search of answers to your specific questions. Many will say this is insane, but I say it's a very interesting hobby that is constantly changing. I hope that Microsoft doesn't dominate the HTPC world and dream there will always be alternatives such as GB-PVR to let users go beyond what can be bought in nice, neat retail packages.
GB-PVR Plug-ins
Here are my picks for plug-ins that can be used to pimp your GB-PVR:
I got game emulators working from Nes all the way up to Playstation by using the My Programs plug-in. All that you need to do is go to the Configuration menu under Plug-ins and enter the location of the emulator as well as the syntax for launching the game from a command line.
For example, "%ROM%" has you launch the game in the command line by entering it in quotes. You're lucky that now these are listed. I was forced to first launch the games using a command line to determine which emulators needed quotes. It took a lot of work to get the ROMS loading correctly.
I then set up the My Music plug-in, which enabled the browsing of iTunes library xml for iTunes playlists. The only downside is that m4p files cannot be played, which is nothing new. But mp3, mp2, and wav files are easily playable even in playlists.
My Music Plug-in (image courtesy of GB-PVR)
Windows Media Player fans will find the same "no play" problem with WMA files. The mydatabase.mdb file is needed and the configuration file defaults to having the indexer point to the C drive. This can be annoying, because the plug-in will not work until this is fixed if your OS is on another drive.
You'll also need to install dbpoweramp for CD ripping and My Videos
You can choose to use an external player as long as you can figure out the syntax to launch it from a command line;similar to gaming ROMs. Using this plug-in you can play virtually any video file and copy all mpeg 2 streams to DVD. Similar to My Music, My Videos also requires mydatabase.mdb to be downloaded and the config file to be changed if your content is located somewhere other than your Windows "C" drive.
This plug-in particularly annoys me because it slows the start up of GB-PVR even with an Athlon X2 4400+ and 1 GB of RAM. I think this is due to its connecting to the Internet at start up to retrieve information about the shows you have recorded.
Gets the weather for a selection of zip codes from weatherchanel.com.
Weather Plug-in (image courtesy of GB-PVR)
Gets theatre listings by zip code.
Lets you view pictures using GB-PVR. It has the same install issues as My Music and My Videos. But in spite of some of the installation hassles, these plug-ins will help you to enjoy your GB-PVR even more.
