[mythtv-users] First Stab at a Shopping List

R. G. Newbury newbury at mandamus.org
Fri Apr 13 20:53:05 UTC 2007


Andrew Close wrote:
> 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...


There is no effective difference between the single tuner on a 150 and 
the 2 tuners in a 500, so in one sense getting the 500 doubles the tuner 
count for only one slot.

But in building a new box, other considerations can come into play. You 
really have to know how the content is being delivered.
Cable providers are not *required* to change from analog delivery when 
the broadcast world goes digital. But I suspect that most cablecos will 
NOT invest in the hardware to transcode  digital to analog when they can 
just push the digital stream down the cable... and charge most customers 
for the digital_analog "Set Top Box" which will allow the use of old tvs.
If however, the content is being grabbed OTA, then 'all-digital' will be 
a lot sooner/stronger...and 2 digital tuners, which will NOT be 
obsoleted, is a better choice.

I have a PV R500, an HD3000 and an HDHomeRun... for 5 tuners...but I 
don't think the HD3000 has been reached at all since the HDHR pair went 
on-line. And I get Rogers Cable in Ontario, so I have NO idea what will 
happen to channels here...I do notice that lots of digital channels have 
exactly the same xlmtvid as their analog counterparts, although at 
present I can get only the analog versions, the others being encrypted 
at present...I suspect that that will change.


Geoff




-- 
              R. Geoffrey Newbury			
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