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HTPC Build Advice

K

Kastang

n00b
Joined
May 29, 2007
Messages
27
Hey all,

I am working on planning out a HTPC that will mainly be used for DVRing TV shows I miss while at college.

I have the general specs for the computer down with the exception of the TV Tuner card (Or equivalent, not sure if I am using the proper name). I will further refine/post the actual computer specs after I figure out how much this TV Tuner card will cost. I am not looking to spend a lot of money on this build, but I am willing to spend the extra money for a quality tuner card.

We currently have an older 50" HDTV (Available inputs are Coax, SVideo, Composite, Component, and DVI). We will most likely be upgrading to a new TV before the end of the year though.

Here is what I have/looking for:
- I have a Comcast HDTV Box. (It only has a single tuner though, I wouldn't be opposed to getting a dual tuner box or getting another single tuner box for this build if it is necessary).

- I would like to be able to record from HD channels (Syfy and Discovery). But I understand if that isn't possible, or if it would cost a significant amount more.

- The channels that will be recorded the most are: Syfy, Discovery, CBS.

-Internal or External doesn't matter to me, whichever will allow the best quality picture.



Thanks very much.


--

Edit, I forgot to ask: Will a 'Hauppauge HD PVR' essentially do everything I asked above? If so, would a dual tuner (or another single tuner box) Comcast HDTV box be required then?
 
Last edited:
Thank you for the prompt response Danny Bui.

I did research online, if I wish to use the HD-PVR, I will have to get another STB from Comcast (Which will be between 10-15 a month more).

I read online about an ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner which requires a CableCard. Comcast offers CableCards for free, while the ATI TV Digital Cable Tuner is a little more expensive then the HD-PVR, the lack of the additional monthly price would be worth the investment I believe.

It appears the the HD-PVR is more popular, is this because it is better, or because CableCards are not supported everywhere?

Would I be able to accomplish the same thing (same quality/channels/etc) with either the HD-PVR or ATI TV Wonder w/ CableCard?
 
yeah it would if you could find a place to buy it and if MS supported it. ATI stopped making them recently and MS now doesnt even really support them.

you also need an OEM PID number, their is one floating around thegreenbutton and lifehacker.com

its not a simple as it seems. It will be simple mid 2010 when Centon gets its cards out
 
How much are you planning to record at a time? Are you going away for an entire semester and want to watch all these shows when you get back...?
 
@rhouck - I believe I can get away with recording One show at a time. If I need to record two, I assume it would be as simple as picking up another recording unit?

@Adidas4276 - Hmm, On Engadget I read about a company CannonPC selling both internal and external versions. I am partial to internal cards (its also a bit cheaper which is nice), Also, my BIOS is OCUR ready.

Assuming I can get a working OEM PID number, would the ATI DCI card achieve what I need? I suppose what I am trying to ask is, are the ATI cards trash compared to the HD-PVR or vice versa? I believe the ATI card will benefit me overall, just because I will not have to spend the extra 15 a month for an additional STB from Comcast. Though, I will go that route if the ATI cards are not as good.
 
On second thought, it would appear the HD-PVR system is probably the safer way to go in the long run.
 
honestly the "best" way is to wait until the new less restricted Digital Cable Cards come out. should be Q1-Q2 2010

right now the ATI CC is the "best" supported way. the HD-PVR with W7 uses a beta driver and can have some issues. people post that the HD-PVR gets hot and has to be restarted periodically... even after a fan has been installed.
 
Why does he have to wait until next year for a feature that is going to be rolled into Windows 7 upon release? Win 7 will support CC tuners out of the box without any special hacks or anything. All he'd need is a CC tuner.
 
yeah but they still havent added SDV support or reduced copyright flags AFAIK so its still a bit of a pain in the ass, and you may be missing channels depending upon your provider.
 
Adidas4275 said:
and over paying for a single cable card tuner from ATI that is EOL
Click to expand...

:rolleyes: Prices are now sub $200 for a tuner which is far better then the $279-300 that they were commanding before MS's annoucement. The point is is that it's now in the same price bracket as the HD-PVR and once the new firmware hits (when Win7 launches) it'll add in support for SDV. At that point whether or not it's EOLed doesn't exactly matter. We all know that TV tuner technology doesn't exactly explode with innovation. :rolleyes: The last "exciting" tuner release was when QAM tuning was added to ATSC tuners, before that was ATSC tuning added to regular NTSC tuners. Before that was a dual NTSC tuner.

Your point is what again? Mine is that he has another option if he wants to go with it.
 
my hdpvr has been less then fantastic that is for sure. the manual resets are daily, i am 0/2 on scheduled recordings. definitely doesnt like to work coming out of sleep... which is stupid. and why it doesnt just reset itself automatically is beyond me, thats all it needs to do i wouldnt care if i lose the first minute of my show (i start 3min before anyway).

dish network though, so cc wont even help me. oh well, im geeky enough to be able to live with such a mickey-mouse system...
 
krupted said:
my hdpvr has been less then fantastic that is for sure. the manual resets are daily, i am 0/2 on scheduled recordings. definitely doesnt like to work coming out of sleep... which is stupid. and why it doesnt just reset itself automatically is beyond me, thats all it needs to do i wouldnt care if i lose the first minute of my show (i start 3min before anyway).

dish network though, so cc wont even help me. oh well, im geeky enough to be able to live with such a mickey-mouse system...
Click to expand...

I have heard that many of its issues are due to heating. Have you considered installing additional cooling for that thing?
 
doesnt act like a heat problem at all. if you leave it on the same channel it will work forever, its rock solid. the problem lies in changing the channels too much, or exiting and entering media center. and so far, it never works out of sleep until you do the manual reset. the reset procedure is easy, just push the button, and then push it again. you dont need to close mc, but you do need to change the channel once it locks into the tuner again.

its a software/driver issue, most likely inside dvblink. its cool they got it to work, but its clearly not refined yet. why microsoft is cock-blocking all these tuner solutions for media center is unreal. you shouldnt need dvblink at all. its not right, its almost like the mafia has them by their neck.
 
CrimandEvil said:
:rolleyes: Prices are now sub $200 for a tuner which is far better then the $279-300 that they were commanding before MS's annoucement. The point is is that it's now in the same price bracket as the HD-PVR and once the new firmware hits (when Win7 launches) it'll add in support for SDV. At that point whether or not it's EOLed doesn't exactly matter. We all know that TV tuner technology doesn't exactly explode with innovation. :rolleyes: The last "exciting" tuner release was when QAM tuning was added to ATSC tuners, before that was ATSC tuning added to regular NTSC tuners. Before that was a dual NTSC tuner.

Your point is what again? Mine is that he has another option if he wants to go with it.
Click to expand...

okay well ast sub $$ for a single tuner that is okay... not great, but the HD-PVR sucks! i never said buy it. I have said to wait for multi tuners that will come out in the near future.

If he buys the ATI tuner he has to hack it to work now or wait 2 weeks and hope the firmware is released on schedual, which it might or might not.

here is a link to a CEpro article about the firmware but no release date
http://www.cepro.com/article/review_win_7_with_support_for_copy_freely/

besides i am not trying to argue with you, but rather give the OP adivce.

I am waiting for a mutlituner that is hacked together to get premium HD content. For now my HRHR does fine. dont get me wrong I am definately excited to finally get all the HD channels on my HTPC, but a single tuner isnt going to get the job done.
 
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