Is the "Redirect" method still the best way to deal with not being able to change the default recorded TV directory?

I got an ATSC computer tuner and I'm attempting to learn about different software
to use as a TV viewer & Recorder.

The two primary problems I have with WMC is:
1) Unable to change location where recorded TV is stored.
2) Unable to save recorded TV files in anything other than the .WTV format.

Item 2 is a real problem as I have not yet found a device (Network Media Streamer) that will read this format and allow me to watch my video files on my older TV.