I have been using two Atom-based systems for a while now. One is an N270-based 8.9″ notebook (or a “netbook”). The other is an N230-based Windows Home Server.

Several months ago, nVidia announced ION platform, which is pairing an Intel Atom processor with an nVidia’s mobile GPU for a system that can play back Blu-ray disks.

As for the other component for HD DVR, a dual ATSC tuner, there are already a couple of affordable PCI-e dual ATSC tuner cards (from AVerMedia and Hauppauge). These are supported by Microsoft Windows Media Center (not as much by Linux), so running a DVR software should be relatively easy.

The only required part is for the motherboard to have an extra PCI-e 1x slot. The thing is, I haven’t found an ION motherboard or system that seems to have a free PCI-e slot. I’ve been emailing some vendors about that (and my idea of Atom-based HD DVR), but I don’t know whether it will make an impact soon.

However, I am hopeful for the next 12 months. Toward the end of this year (or early next year), there should be a next version of Intel Atom (“Pineview”) available. And I am hoping that by that time, we would have more ION-like platforms.

I really like the idea of low-power (will be on 24-7, so better be quiet and light on the electricity bill), low-cost HD DVR. I am hoping that I could build one soon.