at one point I was thinking the same thing you are -- it would be cool to be able to have a tv card in my computer, and be able to transfer video files back and forth, etc.
but I ended up getting Tivo and have never looked back. The professional user interface and remote control are key. It's so much nicer than a hokey setup using my own computer.
I got my tivo for about $125 at walmart when they were going out of style on the old version/low capacity kind. But I hacked it using the easy tools and friendly help at tivocommunity.com, and it works great!
look on ebay for hacked units, or get a small capacity model and do it yourself. If you just want to use it like a super vcr, you don't have to pay subscription fees (I don't). Or you can get the full subscription and have tivo start guessing what you like. I hear it's spooky.
