[mythtv-users] Hauppauge 401 or PVR 250?

[Ryan A. Carris]

On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 18:48:24 -0500, Scott Apple <scraple at softhome.net> wrote:
>  
> Hello 
>   
> I'm getting ready to setup a Mythtv box but I'm stuck as to what card would
> be best to go with. Some people say that 401 is much easier to setup while
> the 250 can sometimes have issues. I'm relatively new when it comes to Linux
> (ie: I'm not going to be editing source code anytime soon etc). So basically
> I wanted to know which card is better. I'm not going to be trying to do
> anything too fancy with this box, just watch live tv pause it and record
> shows every so often. 
>  
> The box I'll be running it on is a 1.7ghz p4 with 768rdram and a
> soundblaster live. 
>   
> The 401 card seems to be about 50$ cheaper then the 250 but if the 250 is
> what I need to get the job done right then I'll go for that. 
>   
> Thanks in advance for any advice. 

All Linux distros will recongize the 401, install the drivers, and
"just work" for you.  You will have to install the drivers for the
PVR-250, which usually isn't a big deal.

I have both in my box.  The 401 uses more CPU than the PVR250, but the
file size will be smaller for the same quality.  I think the picture
quality is slightly better on the 250.