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Rob4077Flag for Australia

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Remote control for TV and internet recording

I am looking for a hardware/software solution to satisfy an unusual need.

My 90 year old mother needs ongoing help to enable her to watch video recordings. Sadly she struggles to master modern technology so most of her video watching is done on an old standard definition Topfield PVR that is now 10 years old. Since she is unable to manage the recording process herself, I set the recorder for her when I go to visit. Of course that means that I need to visit every time she spots something she wants to record and that's not always practical. Plus there are some videos I would like to download from the internet for her but that's not practical with her present setup and skill set

However it occurs to me that it may be possible to set up a piece of hardware that will enable me to record TV and even download Videos from the internet for her remotely - say using something like TeamViewer or a Remote Desktop connection on a PC. That way all she needs to master is the ability to select and view the recorded shows.

Is there any software/hardware mix that may enable me to use a PC as a quasi PVR that can download videos from the internet and TV. I have a newer HUMAX PVR that I could potentially network with a PC so I could record the shows onto the PVR's HDD instead of the PC and that way all she needs to do is learn to use the HUMAX to play videos?
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Ganesh Anand
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Thanks for the suggestions.
<<1) watching videos   - buy a latop with Teamviewer license.>>
That's relatively easy - I already have a Teamviewer license and for personal use I don't need a license anyway

<<2) Store videos  : DVR or any NAS storage>>
Also easy as I already have a HUMAX DVR

<<3) Video recording, lot of devices android based works perfectly and stores data into NAS. You can play anytime you want.>>
The DVR will record programs but I can't control it remotely - Teamviewer won't work with the DVR
Please tell me more about Android based recording devices. She already has an Android tablet which she uses to listen to mp3 files.
What I need is something that will enable me to remotely tell a recording device to record a TV transmission and save it to her DVR. That way she doesn't need to learn to do anything new - just select what she wants to watch from her DVR

<<4) When she wants or needs to watch, somebody should assist her playing those videos. Based on simple gestures can be done through PLC or embedded microcontrollers like clap switch which power off the lights, fans and turn it on.>>
She doesn't need that level of assistance. She lives alone and manages quite well. Her problem is that operating modern High Tech equipment is a challenge. A DVR to watch recorded programs, a DVD player to watch DVDs, the Android tablet to listen to mp3's is about as technical as she can handle.

I need to be able to remotely set TV recordings for her and remotely download videos for her from YouTube etc that she can watch on TV, through her DVR. I was wondering if it is possible to get a USB TV tuner and some software that would work on a PC so that I could teamviewer into the PC, set it to record a TV program, or download a video, and save it to her DVR. Then all she needs to do is select the recording she wants to watch on her DVR.
You should try for the https://www.youview.com/ which you can control the DVR from anywhere in the world.
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Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into it and work out what is best for her.