Enhancing Personal Video Recorders: Hacking For Better Functionality

"Breaking Seal Voids Warranty" - to most people, this little sticker affixed to consumer-electronics hardware might as well be a law of nature. They plug in their gadget and turn it on but would never dream of opening it up. To . . . "Breaking Seal Voids Warranty" - to most people, this little sticker affixed to consumer-electronics hardware might as well be a law of nature. They plug in their gadget and turn it on but would never dream of opening it up. To some, though, that little sticker is a challenge. People with the curiosity and technical expertise often crack open the cases to find out what goes on inside those mysterious gizmos - and sometimes make them work better.

Two products in particular have become popular with hackers lately: the ReplayTV and TiVo "personal video recorders." These VCR-like machines save and play back television programming using hard drives rather than videotape. By adding a larger hard drive to a Replay or TiVo, a hacker can double or even quadruple the number of shows their PVR can record - a $250 drive can boost an older Replay box's capacity from 20 hours to 80. Some hackers go even further with tricks like adding an Ethernet card for networking to a computer or enabling PAL-format video output for use in other countries.

The link for this article located at Washington Post is no longer available.