FireDTV-S/Conax system setup? (1 Viewer)

[Vivid]

Hi all,

I'm sketching on a media center with satelite-TV, Canal Digital. This is my idea for now:

Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, 1536 MB RAM (existing and dedicated only for MP)
FireDTV S/CI with Conax CAM
Gecube Radeon X1300 PRO HDMI 256MB
Panasonic 42PV60
Sound Card (yet to be defined)

Since I'm new to this do I have certain concerns regarding this setup.

Is the graphics card/hardware sufficient?
Does anyone see any problems using an HDMI-connection for this setup?
Any comments on rumours about Canal Digital locking cards to their own boxes and thereby making the FireDTV-S worthless?
Do I need to think of anything special when it comes to the Sound Card?

Regards

Vivid

 

[corvy]

This should be ok if you do not need support for hdtv, for that the x1300 is a little slow. I know Canal Digital have done some pairing of their cards recently, but if you have had the subscription for a while it should work. Maybe give them a call?

 

[mclog]

Hi

I used FloppyDTV-S with Conax CAM for Canal Digital. It was a new card, and was paired. However, it did still work with the FloppyDTV-S.

Channel changing for encrypted channels was terribly slow though. I was able to do some testing with my paired card, and my friend's unpaired card. With the unpaired card I had a Zap speed of about 2 - 4 seconds. With the paired card, closer to 10 seconds, so unusable really.

If I were you, I'd invest in a DragonCAM, it also had my Zap speed around 2 seconds with the paired card.