The options of which PVR to buy is narrowed by your criteria. IceTV Interactive models have become less available since I first subscribed to the service 7 years ago. I started with a Topfield TF7100HD+, served me well for many years until I finally had to ditch it last year. It was a firmware problem, not the hardware that failed, although I did replace the hard-drive once.
Shortly before I bought that Toppy I bought my first Mac, a late 2006 Mac Mini and subsequently bought an EyeTV Diversity USB Sick from IceTV.
I have never had a problem with EyeTV and now use that exclusively.
I now run a later model Mini (mid 2010 ) with 2 Diversity sticks connected giving me 4 tuners capable of recording 4 different channels simultaneously. I also run a third Diversity stick on my iMac to handle any conflicting schedules, which are rare as the EyeTV software has excellent padding and scheduling management.
The EyeTV comes with Windows software too , but I have never run it on that platform, so can't attest to the reliability there.
My set up is:
Mac Mini to HDTV via HDMI; each of the 2 Diversity USB sticks connected to a different Bus ( I use USB Ports 1 and 3 ); one installation of the EyeTV software,with the archive on a 1Tb external drive.
The recordings are easily edited, can be exported(converted) to any format andare flawless.
With a third Diversity stick on the iMac I can record more, simply edit and copy the recording to the Minis EyeTV archive to play back on the HDTV. Be sure to quit and restart the EyeTV app on the receiving Mac for the recording to be registered.
I am also still running the Mini on Snow Leopard. Simply because it is in my opinion the most stable of all OSX and while not having the most up to date security features it has one feature that subsequent systems lack, FrontRow.
The Mini is ideal as a HTPC and FrontRow is ideal to play all media files. Add a plug-in called PyeTV and FrontRow will access your EyeTv archive too, allowing you to delete recordings, watch live broadcasts and more.
Sorry for the long winded rant. I think that the EyeTV option could work out cheaper for some people and offer superior perfomance than some stand alone PVR's, and I have read that the EyeTv software works seamlessly with the much cheaper Hauppage tuner sticks,...again I have not tested this.
To sum up, an old lap top with a fairly cheap TV USB Stick and some good (if rather a bit more expensive) software (EyeTV 3) makes a better PVR than anything out there. With the added benefit of adding media serververs such as Plex, xbmc or any other DLNA capable servers you can stream direct to most Smart TV's.
Ellie, have fun exploring the possibilities of that laptop, but remember I have not verified the compatibility of EyeTV with Windows nor Hauppage with EyeTV.