Multiple USB Tuners?

bean · 2006-12-08, 08:55

I'm looking at setting up a MediaPortal system for my father - using a Pentium M 1.7GHz laptop. I'm thinking of setting up the following:

250GB Firewire External Hard Disk
Three Plextor PX-M402U External USB Tuners (one on each USB port on the laptop)
Windows XP Pro

Likely use cases:
recording 2 channels while watching a third
recording 3 channels simultaneously

Does anybody know if 3 USB tuners will work with Media Portal? Anyone aware of USB tuners that don't have problems coming out of standby? (I've seen several reports of this in the forums)

Or would he be better off using the three VCRs that he has right now :-)?

Thanks,
Bean

funkstar · 2006-12-13, 20:28

i would guess it depends on how stable the drivers for the devices are.

I have a Hauppauge Nova-T 500 wich is a dual digital tuner. It is actually two USB DVB-T tuners and a USB controller chip on one PCI card. Works pretty well and seems more stable than my previous dual tuner setup. Tempted to get a second card for quad tuners

guytpetj · 2006-12-13, 23:04

I'm running 2 USB tunners in my system (and 3 PCI based tuners). I've tried up to 4 USB tuners on my HTPC and that worked fine. I just ended up at some stage building a second HTPC and moved 2 of the USB tuners to that system.

One problem I can see is the bus speed for the HDD. Your going to have a lot of activity over your Firewire with multiple cards recording and simultaniously watching recorded TV. You might push it a bit to hard, and end up with crappy/faulty recordings.

bean · 2006-12-14, 13:03

Thanks guys. This would be standard definition NTSC analog video -- any recommended, known good USB tuners for that kind of thing?

2006-12-08, 08:55	#1 (permalink)
bean Portal Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Age: 35 Posts: 6 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country:	Multiple USB Tuners? I'm looking at setting up a MediaPortal system for my father - using a Pentium M 1.7GHz laptop. I'm thinking of setting up the following: 250GB Firewire External Hard Disk Three Plextor PX-M402U External USB Tuners (one on each USB port on the laptop) Windows XP Pro Likely use cases: recording 2 channels while watching a third recording 3 channels simultaneously Does anybody know if 3 USB tuners will work with Media Portal? Anyone aware of USB tuners that don't have problems coming out of standby? (I've seen several reports of this in the forums) Or would he be better off using the three VCRs that he has right now :-)? Thanks, Bean

2006-12-13, 23:04	#3 (permalink)
guytpetj MP Donator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Brisbane, Australia Age: 44 Posts: 264 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts Country: My System	I'm running 2 USB tunners in my system (and 3 PCI based tuners). I've tried up to 4 USB tuners on my HTPC and that worked fine. I just ended up at some stage building a second HTPC and moved 2 of the USB tuners to that system. One problem I can see is the bus speed for the HDD. Your going to have a lot of activity over your Firewire with multiple cards recording and simultaniously watching recorded TV. You might push it a bit to hard, and end up with crappy/faulty recordings. __________________ Peter HTCP_1 (Media Server) CM Stacker 830 ; XP-Pro ; PD 3.4 ; 2GB ram ; 2970GB HDD ; 6 Tuners HTCP_2 TT Mozart SX ; XP-Home ; Core2duo ; 2GB ram ; 400GB HDD ; 2 Tuners ; MCE Remote & KB HTCP_3 CM-260 ; XP-Home ; P4 3.0 ; 512MB ram ; 250GB HDD ; MCE Remote [HTPC_4 CM-260 ; XP-Pro ; Core2duo ; 2GB ram ; 330GB HDD ; 1 Tuner ; MCE Remote

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2006-12-13, 20:28	#2 (permalink)
funkstar Portal Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Home Posts: 386 Thanks: 5 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts Country:	i would guess it depends on how stable the drivers for the devices are. I have a Hauppauge Nova-T 500 wich is a dual digital tuner. It is actually two USB DVB-T tuners and a USB controller chip on one PCI card. Works pretty well and seems more stable than my previous dual tuner setup. Tempted to get a second card for quad tuners

2006-12-14, 13:03	#4 (permalink)
bean Portal Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Age: 35 Posts: 6 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country:	Thanks guys. This would be standard definition NTSC analog video -- any recommended, known good USB tuners for that kind of thing?