[mythtv-users] First Stab at a Shopping List

Andrew Close aclose at gmail.com
Fri Apr 13 17:41:11 UTC 2007


On 4/13/07, R. G. Newbury <newbury at mandamus.org> wrote:
> David Frascone wrote:
> >
> > Rod Smith wrote:
> >>
> >>>> 3) I've got a pair of pcHDTV HD3000s, and my opinion of them is very low.
> >>>>    Their QAM reception (needed for recording unencrypted digital cable)
> >>>> is very poor for me;
> >>>>
> >>> Well -- Since this is a PoC, I think I'm going to stick with the HD-5500
> >>> for now.  I want to at least scan my cable again, and confirm the
> >>> channels I'm getting.
> >>>
> >> The problem I see is that you said you want to prove to you wife that this is
> >> the way to go. If you have problems tuning QAM stations, that won't exactly
> >> help your case. If cost is an issue, consider this: You quoted a price of
> >> $129 for the pcHDTV 5500, and that seems about right, though I've not
> >> verified it. The AVerMedia AVerTVHD A180 is $76 at Amazon and the Hauppauage
> >> PVR-150 is $56-$80, depending on which package version you get (with or
> >> without remote, etc.). That makes the total cost of the two-card combination
> >> $132-$156, or as little as $3 more than a pcHDTV 5500 alone. That gives you
> >> more flexibility, since you'll be able to record two things simultaneously,
> >> and when you record NTSC you won't be chewing up ~1GHz of your CPU speed.
> >> Even aside from my questions about the pcHDTV's QAM reception ability, IMHO
> >> the two-card configuration is superior, assuming you've got the slots to
> >> handle two cards.
> >>
> > Sold.
> >
> > -Dave
>
> Better yet, grab  the Hauppauge card and an HDHomeRun, giving you 3
> tuners, 2 of which are digital, since digital only is coming soon in the
>   USA,,,and slowly, thereafter, to Canada. Only one slot needed, but
> slightly more expensive.
>

actually, look at the Hauppauge PVR-500.  you get two analog tuners on
one card for just a bit more expense.  and the HDHomerun would be
added bonus. ;)
i don't think there is a lot of difference between the PVR-150 and 250
(the 500 is basically two 150's on the same card), but you will want
to look through the archives because the actual chip on these cards
varies, and i thought there was some discussion about one chip versus
the other...


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