PVR?

Ok, so I'm turning in the Time Warner DVR here pretty soon. I'm paying quite a bit a month to use it and there has got to be a better alternative. One alternative is Tivo, but it looks like you have to pay $300 once or $12-$13 a month for the program guide. Hmm... That, and I can't record one show while watching another. Nor can I record 2 shows at once and watch a 3rd recorded show. Which is key, because the few TV shows I do watch, tend to over lap.
What am I gonna do? The geeky thing, of course!
I downloaded the ISO yesterday and I'm installing it on a test system right now. If all goes well, I plan to buy another desktop and move it to the back. The desktop will act as a backend and actually record the shows and house media. I'll then use a laptop as a frontend and hook it up to the TV. That will display the recorded shows. I don't really watch much TV aside from the WWE, CSI (The original), Survivor, and Without a Trace. The only other shows being NFL or Arena Football. We'll see how things go on the test system:
Optiplex GX150
256 MB Ram
10 GB HDD
No video capture card
No TV out (Not needed at this point)
Built In Intel 810 Audio (Just a guess)
We'll see how it goes. If all looks good, I'll install in the laptop and go from there. I know, I should install the desktop first, but I don't have one yet. The only desktop I have at home is my Old School Toshiba which runs at a blazing 333mhz. Oh yea!