Best non-WMC TV recorder for Win7?, WMC DRM is too oppressive

[Jeremy]

Title and description say it all. What non-WMC solution works well? This isn't exactly an HTPC. It's a desktop rig with Hauppauge 2250. The issue that we'd like to resolve is that WMC recorded programming cannot be played on any other device unless you use Microsoft's own streaming solution. Recorded shows can't be burned to DVD, for instance, and *.wmc files can't be played back on devices like a PS3 or other media device if copied to a flash drive due to the oppressive DRM MS employs.

Is there anything that works as well as Windows Media Center (or near as well?) that doesn't have such oppressive DRM restrictions on its recorded content? Easy to setup and use are important features.

[SsZERO]

I don't think there are any DRM-free recorders out there, unfortunately...but there used to be a way to strip the DRM from the recorded files using software called DRMDBG and FreeMe2.

The way I used to do it is run DRMDBG to get the key, then FreeMe2 to convert the file into a plain DRM-free WMV.

The latest version of FreeMe2 is here:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/freeme2/

DRMDBG is a bit harder to find, and you would need the latest version...and honestly I'm not sure what that is.

Another option you may find easier is recording HD content with component video, which has no DRM flags. It's only the digital recordings that have these limitations...but you would need a way to run component video from your TV box into your HTPC for that to work. Obviously, the recording would need to be done with a video capture program and not media center, so this wouldn't be the most convenient solution.