HTPC to replace all functionality of Sky Plus/Free view box

[roccles]

I am about to cancel Sky and have been looking at a Humax 1 TB box with dual HD tuners and built in YouView (Humax DTR-T1010/1TB) which is priced around the £250 mark.

The box has good reviews and I am sure it would be a good replacement for my Sky Plus box. But it has got me thinking could you build a HTPC with all the functionally of this for a similar price? As this would give me what I need plus lots of of other benefits (music/web browsing etc.)

My biggest concerns are the EPG, the need to be "always on & ready" to take care of all my recordings and reliability (i.e missed recordings)

Have any of you guys had any experience with doing something similar.

Cheers

 

[roccles]

Excellent thank you for your responses and the idea of using the satellite is a good idea.

I will spec this out but I feel this is not going to be quick to get everything running properly so I may give Sky a few extra months while I build this.

 

[roccles]

Humax are just a lot less hassle and just work.

After looking further into the software to run XMBC/Media portal etc. I think you may be right, hassle free and reliable is what I want. Although I may still build a HTPC in the future for everything else but as for a "do everything" system I think I will hold fire.