2009 is shaping up to be the year of the PVR War. So, with the battle between TiVo and Foxtel just getting started, now is as good a time as any to join the fray, or at least sign someone else up for it, by buying them a TiVo or IQ subscription this Christmas.

As for which side is worth backing, well, we'll have to leave that one up to you. Though we do have something for you to consider; Foxtel may seem the more economical of the two options, but if the murmurings from TiVo are any indication, come early next year, loyal customers may very well consider their $699 for a PVR money well spent.

[Christmas Gift Guide]

Tivo next week will begin a trial of offering a downloadable movie of the week to subscribers (first title up: The Waterhorse, pictured), but it's not quite as generous as it seems. The service, being offered in conjunction with Blockbuster and due to hit all Australian Tivo boxes by December 1, is essentially designed to make sure that people don't get a rude shock on their ISP bill when Tivo's full downloads service launches in March 2009. Or as the company PR puts it: "The aim is to provide TiVo customers with the ability to road test downloading video content over the internet straight to the lounge room and understand the critical role both internet speed and download quotas play in ensuring the service is a pleasurable one." We've noted before that movie downloads are always risky if you have to pay for the bandwidth, and despite Tivo's promise to use effective compression, we suspect this is going to prove too costly for a lot of people's download caps.

The Aussie implementation of Tivo has only just gone on sale, but the developers of the PVR technology are already talking up forthcoming features. Nick Tabakoff at the Australian reports that Tivo should offer free viewing of YouTube clips from early next year, with earlier plans to charge for the feature now apparently dumped. We imagine it'll only be a matter of time before someone comes up with a hack to allow saving YouTube downloads onto the Tivo.
YouTube free on Seven's Tivo [The Australian]

With the recent launch of the Foxtel IQ2, the imminent (and much-delayed) appearance of Tivo in Australia next month, and Sony promising its own PlayTV personal video recorder (PVR) option before the year is out, there are more big-name PVR choices for Aussies than ever before. Getting your favourite TV programs automatically recorded for playback at a time that suits you is an obviously appealing concept, but despite the arrival of these new entrants, you still have two basic choices: a fairly pricey system that works well but is hard to customise, or a much cheaper and more flexible option that may not deliver on the simplicity and reliability front.

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If, like me, you've been waiting for a plug and play PVR then our pals at Gizmodo have a lot of interesting news to share. First up, Seven has confirmed that TiVo is definitely launching here, but not until August.
(I was turned down for the TiVo beta - first beta I've ever been knocked back for! sob!)
And if you're PlayStation inclined, Sony have announced we'll get its PVR addon for PS3, PlayTV sometime in the 4th quarter.
I've never been a huge fan of pay TV, but I've been enjoying the Foxtel IQ lately.
My question to you is, have you found a PC-based PVR that "just works"? I've heard good things about MythTV but never tried it. I've only used Microsoft's Media Center to play music. Yes, I'm pretty much a noob.

More devices in your living room have Ethernet ports than ever before, but you can't plug them into the network if your router's in the other room. When your Wi-Fi access point is in the home office but your TiVo, Xbox, and media centre are screaming for network love under your TV in the living room, you want a wireless bridge (also known as an Ethernet converter). A wireless bridge catches your home network's Wi-Fi signal and provides ports where you can plug in wired devices near it. Let's take a look at how to wire up your living room using a wireless bridge.

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Whether you've got an original Series1 TiVo or a brand new Series3 model, if you're a die-hard TV lover you may regularly be bumping up against your storage limits. If so, web site NewReleaseVideo's in-depth guide to upgrading your TiVo's hard drive might be just what you're looking for. The process from start to finish isn't for the faint of heart, requiring a few special tools and some work in a Linux live CD environment, but if you're serious about increasing your TiVo's storage capabilities, the guide is also extremely detailed and beginner-friendly (though unfortunately photo-less). If you've ever upgraded your TiVo's drive, tell us how the process went for you in the comments. If hardware hacking isn't your thing, check out how to stream any video from your computer to your TiVo or your fellow readers' favourite TiVo tricks.

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Your TiVo can play more than just television it's recorded —it can also play video that you've downloaded to your computer from the internets, and it can do it without the pay-for TiVo Desktop Plus upgrade. If you're a BitTorrent'ing, usenet'ing, podcatching, downloading fool, filling up your hard drive with movies, television episodes, and video clips you want to watch from the couch instead of the computer chair, you can do just that if you've got a TiVo sitting under your flat screen in the living room. Using the free Videora TiVo Converter for Windows, here's how to watch your video downloads from the comfort of your couch without forking over extra cash.

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Calling all TiVo users! An (ahem) "friend" of mine just entered the 21st century and got herself a new Series 3 TiVo, and is wondering what all it can do besides, well, all that it does. What are your favorite TiVo tricks and helper applications? You a fan of TiVoToGo? TiVo.net? TiVo2DVD? You streaming your music and photo library to the old TV with TiVo? Tell us about your TiVo setup in the comments.

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