I've been a satellite and cable TV subscriber before, but was never happy with the level of content control or quality of service I was getting for the money. When I recently priced out a digital satellite TV package, including a couple of HD-capable DVRs, the fees added up to over $800 per year -- and that's without any show archiving, compression, streaming video or commercial detection capabilities. No control over down-the-wire "upgrades" or the inevitable DRM or broadcast flag enhancements, either.

So I began exploring other options for capturing digital programming, and over-the-air digital (ATSC) broadcasts caught my attention. After evaluating all the players in the market, I'm now using SnapStream Media's Beyond TV software to record broadcast digital television on a PC, streaming it on-demand to any TV in my house.