[mythtv-users] WinTV PVR-250 vs 350

David Schmidt david.schmidt.in.dallas at gmail.com
Tue Aug 15 19:55:16 UTC 2006


The 350 has hardware MPEG2 decoding, meaning that it will place *very*
little strain on your main CPU.  Also, most consider it the best
looking of the standard-def TV outs available.  As a data point, my
prototype combined frontend/backend with a puny P3/450 but a PVR-350
can record while playing back (but not commercial flagging, of course)
with only about 10% CPU usage.

That said, although I love my 350 dearly, I wouldn't recommend it in
any of the following cases:

- You plan on going HD output (the 350 just can't do it).
- You plan on doing any "modern" (3d accelerated) gaming on the box.
-  You've got CPU to burn anyway and aren't a "perfect video" snob.


There's absolutely no reason to choose the higher priced 250 over the
150, unless you can pick up a 250 cheaper used or on clearance.

Hope that helped.

On 8/15/06, Joseph Kezar <joseph.kezar at gmail.com> wrote:
> For someone new to building a MythTV box, what would compell me to buy the
> more expensive 350 vs a 150/250.  Which hauppage model is the least buggy
> and easy to work with that uses the ivtv driver?
>
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