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Best Hauppage WinTV PCI Card?

  • 01-07-2006 5:22pm
    #1
    monomaniac
    Closed Accounts Posts: 396 ✭✭


    Hi - I'm a bit confused about the differences between a lot of the Hauppage WinTV cards.

    I'm looking for a recommendation (not USB) and I'm thinking about either the WinTV-HVR 1300 or the Hauppauge WinTV PVR 500 (I know this has dual tuners - I'm more interested in finding out about the other features).

    Firstly what's the difference between HVR and PVR? I'm going to be moving to Belfast so I initially will have Freeview and then will be upgrading to Sky Digital.

    Does the 500 come with an IR blaster?

    Also I read the 1300 has tv out which is very sharp but you there's no OSD and you can't play any avi files or DVDs through it.

    Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated cheers!


Comments

  • #2
    8T8
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,757 ✭✭✭8T8


    The difference between HVR and PVR is PVR stands for personal video recorder and HVR stands for hybrid video recorder, essentially a HVR is a digital [DVB-T] & analog tuner.

    Their is conflicting information about the WinTV 500 one part of Hauppage's site says no remote/IR blaster is bundled and another says it is, reviews on the other hand say no remote/IR blaster so who knows what you'll get.


    That is probably true about the WinTV 1300 if it has a TV out as it is not the computers desktop that is being displayed but the output from the tuner card.

    Not really familiar with DVB-T as there is no broadcaster in Ireland unfortuantely but there are plenty of hybrid tuners out there I would suggest reading a few more reviews to get some bearings on which hybrid works best.

    If your plan is to go with Sky+MCE after freeview & want something on the cheap then all you need is an MCE compatible DVB-T card which has composite/s-video inputs for the Sky STB like this Leadtek DTV1000 Tuner. [available here]

    However the review does say the picture quality isn't too hot with the composite input and if recording from Sky then you really want a very good analog tuner, but you can acquire special adaptors for use with the Scart RGB off the Sky box for use with the s-video port which would improve things.


  • #3
    hshortt
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,587 ✭✭✭hshortt


    Why not USB? The Hauppauge USB2 MCE Tuner is very good and it's on the Vista compatibility list.

    Cheerio
    Howard


  • #4
    monomaniac
    Closed Accounts Posts: 396 ✭✭monomaniac


    Thanks 8T8 for the excellent reply - I decided to go for the WinTV 500 in the end - I'm a sucker for the big brand names and decided that the dual tuners on the one board was the real selling point for me.
    Hopefully I'll get a blaster with it - does anyone know where you can buy them online?

    hshorrt - been having some USB probs since upgrading to MCE. Unfortunately at the same time I upgraded I also added a 3rd HD (2xIDE and 1xSATA) and I also upgraded the firmware on my Zen Touch (which is causing me the most problems).
    So I'm not too sure what to blame for the USB probs - intermittently doesn't recognise devices and has bother reading data on the Zen and external HDs.

    I tried a USB patch for MCE from microsoft but this didn't make much difference.

    I know I'm going OT here but if anyone happens to be reading this and might have an idea what's going on please let me know.


  • #5
    8T8
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,757 ✭✭✭8T8


    Komplett sell the MCE remote and IR blaster tucked away under the software section.

    I cant think of why you might be having USB problems as MCE is running on top of XP SP2, have you installed the update roll-up 2 for your MCE on your machine ?

    You could try getting a third party USB controller ?

    Also did the Creative Zen install any software which might be running in the background and messing with the USB like the Creative Media Detector.


  • #6
    monomaniac
    Closed Accounts Posts: 396 ✭✭monomaniac


    8T8 wrote:
    I cant think of why you might be having USB problems as MCE is running on top of XP SP2, have you installed the update roll-up 2 for your MCE on your machine ?

    Yeah, had it installed from the start. In fact the patch I referred to has not been released officially yet (it's due in XP SP3). There's a knowledge base page for it (which I can't seem to find right now) and if you want the patch you have top contact Microsoft Support.

    The Zen works fine on my work PC. Could it be a power (lack of) issue? Could a powered usb hub make a difference?


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