[mythtv-users] PVR 150 v. PVR 500

[Brian Wood]

Jeff Holicky wrote:
>   Hi all, I am looking at building a Myth BE server and want to have 
> initially up to 4 SD tuner cards. Perhaps later moving to a 2SD / 2HD 
> model.
> 
>  From what I understand the Hauppauge PVR 500 has dual tuners based on 
> the PVR 150 (but requrires an additional header for the 2nd source 
> input) plus an FM tuner (no interest to me).
> The PVR 150 has a remote plus IR blaster - this would be, I assume, a 
> retail kit and a bit more money than say the WinTV-PVR-150MCE which is 
> barebones.
> 
> Two questions:
> 1) Reading through the email list there appears to be a point where 
> these cards (one or both) used Samsung v. Philips tuners and there were 
> some troubles - back in the 2005/2006 years.
> Today, are there any issues that affect the cards? Should I be asking 
> for a specific version?
> 
> 2) Idea: 4xPVR 150 v. 2xPVR 500.
> a) Other than perhaps a bit more money (maybe) for the single PVR150, 
> are there any differences between the PVR 150 v. PVR 500 hardware wise 
> (other than the FM tuner/remote/ir blaster)?

The 500 has a "LNA" (Low Noise Amplifier) in it to make up for the 
splitting loss of the internal splitter. This can be either a blessing 
or a curse, as another amp (especially a cheap one) can cause more 
problems than it solves, and "low noise" is a relative term. I'm not 
sure if the current drivers allow for control of the amp or not.

> I figure if one PVR 150 dies, I get another.  If I want to get a single 
> HD, I swap one.  With the 500 I lose two and/or swap out two.  The 2x150 
> seems more flexible over the 1x500.

I agree totally. This assumes you have enough PCI slots for what you 
want to do.

> b) Should there be any problem in a box supporting 4 physical PVR 150's 
> over 2x PVR 500s?

Motherboards sporting 4 or more PCI clots are getting rare. With the 
need for a couple of PCI-Express x16 slots to make the gamers happy and 
at least 1 PCI-Express x1 slot it does not leave much room for standard 
PCI slots. If you have or can find a mobo that supports the 4 150s you 
should have no problem. I ran a Myth box with 4 150s for over a year. 
When I rebuilt I only used 3 of them as I found I really didn't need 4.

> c) If no problems with (b), then would my CPU / power supply 
> requirements change with 4x150 v. 2x500?

I would think the power consumption would be pretty much the same. Two 
150s might consume a tad more power than the 500 due to losses in the 
regulators etc., but I wouldn't think it would be a significant factor.

> d) If I had four IR Blasters with the PVR 150, are all four able to be 
> configured with the myth system?   (Are they as good or better than 
> other 3rd party IR blasters?)

Not sure on this, it would depend on the drivers. Getting the devices 
being controlled to know which one to listen to might be a problem, or 
are you thinking of running them in "parallel"?

> e) I probably could search for this but ... do the remotes offered with 
> the PVR 150 do a good enough job? I would still need an IR receiver at 
> each FE - and the remotes would be with the FE. I could always ditch the 
> remotes and get something else.

I have been satisfied with the Hauppauge remote, others have not been. 
It's pretty much a personal taste matter.

> (depending on d/e - that would probably drive me whether the retail kit 
> is a better deal overall v. a barebones kit)

Depends on whether you want/need a remote control and its interface (the 
MCE lacks the interface as well as the remote).

> 
> 3) Finally, I read the comparison on the Hauppauge site, 
> (http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/compare/compare_pvr.html) and am not 
> seeing much difference between the PVR 150 and PVR 250. I suspect the 
> original PVR 150 was not as good as the now older 250 and that a newer 
> PVR 150 came out.

Kind of academic if you are buying new, I haven't seen a 250 for sale 
recently, but you might pick up a used one. I would expect any future 
development to concentrate on the 150 if it made a difference.

beww