Hey,
Is there a way to record TV shows with a computer?
I have a TV near my computer and have a fairly new computer setup.

If you have a video card that supports some form of video capture, then yes.

We'd need more details on your computer in order to help you.

There are two methods, one is to buy a capture card (which might or might not need to have a soundcard compatible with it), the other is to buy a relatively new USB device that allows you to input your antenna cable into the device and covert it to your system through the USB port, which is a better method in some ways.

There are also "Decoders" that will allow you to crack the encryption used by most pay channels on satellite. (You might say they are expensive, in fact they are, but I've heard of someone that likes their porn and it pretty much cost them less to get the decoder than the channels they've got. But it might be an Urban Legend)

You can buy video card with S-video input, but they might have limited functions

I have a (old Rage 128) ATI "All-in-wonder" and they rock for doing this stuff with tv record, live-pause and playback just like a Tivo! These babies even come with remote control! I bought one for my grandfather last year (AIW Radeon 7500) because he want to also watch and record TV on his computer, he loves it!
check it out: http://www.ati.com/products/multimedia.html
buy at www.newegg.com or a computer store. I would recommend a Radeon 7500 Ve (PCI), AIW Radeon 7500 (AGP) or a AIW Radeon 9000 (AGP). First we need to know if your computer has a AGP slot. If not we could try a Radeon 7500 Ve (PCI) or a PCI TV tuner.

You can also buy a TV tuner PCI card; they even have satellite-tuning PCI cards but there pretty expensive.

Configuration:
Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz (x2)
Memory: . . . . . . . . .1024MB
Hard Drives(s): . . . . .120.1GB
Operating System: . .Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
DirectX Version: . . . 9
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 (256MB)
Creative SB Audigy
SAMSUNG CDRW/DVD SM-352B

Need any more info?

Man you got a l33t system there :) Since you probably don't want to replace the Video Card I would have to advice a TV tuner like one of these: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=Tv+tuner

You could try a Radeon 7500 Ve PCI and have two video cards but I can’t guaranty that will work because your primary video card is Nvidia and so there most likely will be driver incompatibilities, you would also need a second monitor.

If you want you could upgrade to a more powerful video card such as a AIW Radeon 9700 or 9800 but that’s going to cost you a pretty penny. By the way does your video card have s-video in? If it does you might not need to get anything!

well the thing is, my brother has an ATI radeon 9800 video card and he plays Counter Strike, but the ATI is not a good card for CS. So he wants to switch w/my card, so i get a 100 dollar upgrade for free :D, isnt that nice. and the one i have has S-video and his does too, but how do i get TV trough that?

Should be able to find help Here (http://www.dvdrhelp.com/capture)

I remember seeing an ariticle in Discover about a Linux kernel that emmulated those boxes you can get from the cable company. A card that let's you interface, and there you go. I think it even had a application to allow you to use a remote control.