Thanks guys! It doesn't say anywhere on HP's website what the difference is except on the images they have of the product boxes. So helpful! And our office supplies vendor has the worst website I've ever seen, with no product descriptions at ALL. (Seriously, it's like the Time Cube guy decided to start selling paper clips.)

After copying everything last night, my DVR now has 2 TB of storage for recordings. That's in addition to it's 1.2 TB of storage for other media. The old drive is going to the NAS box. It's amazing how quickly 2TB drives have dropped to two digit prices.

My cable bill is skyrocketing. Going up 30%. Apparently I was in a 6 month welcome package. I rather hate Charter. I'm seriously considering a MacMini as a DVR option. I already have an EyeTV tuner USB stick. I was curious, can EyeTV (or some other software) have two of them connected, and act as a dual tuner to record two shows at once? I haven't played with the DVR software that came with the EyeTV in about 2 years, so no clue how robust it is. Or if there is another option. I suppose I could get a TiVo. But I was thinking it would be nice to stream shows from websites if the DVR forgot to record it (or I forgot to program it). I don't care about "TiVo thinks you might like this" feature, so that is of little importance to me.

So? Thoughts? Opinions?

EyeTV can handle multiple feeds, yes. I've had an old EyeTV 250 (I think, some number or other) and an HDHomerun (which is dual tuner to start with) hooked up to my mini for a few years with no problems (until the HD Homerun gave up the ghost a few days ago, alas. Strangely the older device still works fine). The software has gotten more stable and more user friendly in the past couple of years, too.

omnis,

do you have competition in your area? You might be able to extend your deal.

First call Charter and see what current packages you are eligible for. I call them every six months and they pretty much always find a new package to put me on.

Yeah, I don't know about EyeTV, but you should be able to negotiate a new deal, especially if you're willing to walk.

Typo, I don`t know that webcams will get you what you need. I haven`t recorded Skype so I can`t help you specifically there. But I would recommend Flip HD cameras. They`re super small and portable, they`re high quality, unintimidating, and easy to use. All you have to do is hit the red button, literally. And then you flip out the flip, which is a USB connector, and plug it in to your computer to transfer. If you`re doing all remotes, you could ship one ahead of time to your interviewee, still do the interview over Skype, and set up the Flip near the webcam to record while you`re talking.
 
The other thing I`d recommend is good lighting.

Please tell me someone knows how to shut off google instant preview. I imagine this is good for targeting search results or making better webpages or WHATEVER but I hate unexpected popups so much.

Is there a "Settings" or "Search Settings" link in the upper right corner of the page? Try clicking that, then scrolling down to Google Instant and select "Do not use Google Instant."

eta: Less drastic solution -- when I click the X in the upper right corner of the current pop-up window, it does seem to stop the pop-up behavior.