United States of America
I am sure you are all sick of reading posts from these new guys who are trying to build a machine bu need you to hold their hand thorugh it. I hope you can bare another one though. I have been reading posts, but it seems like my questions and my setup are unique enough that you could help better knowing it all.
So, I've decided to take my old Windows PC and make a DVR out of it. My machine is as follows right now:
-Pentium 4
-2.4 gHz processor
-2 gigs of RAM
-NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti
-Sound Blaster Audigy
-150 gig hard drive (for system software)
-250 Gig hard drive (for recordings)
-Windows XP Home Edition
I decided to get two TV Tuner cards, the Hauppauge PVR-150 and the PVR-1600. I was interested in the 1600 for the HDTV feeds, I get a decent HD signal over the cable, but with an antena connected I only get one channel, so I am hoping for the QAM signal.
I've been trying several different softwares, thinking one of the "pay" ones would be best, but actually I enjoyed using Mediaportal the most, even though I haven't really worked out the details yet.
A few questions.
QUALITY
Why is it that the quality on MediaPortal is so much better then the others I tried, like Beyond or Sage? While the quality is good, it isn't perfect, that is that it isn't as good as my stand alone ReplayTV. What could I do to make the quality even better? Is it just the encoders/decoders? Do I jsut have to experiment?
HDTV
Can I make the Media Portal work with my PVR-1600 to pull HD feeds? Can I get it to work with the QAM? Will Media Portal support BOTH of hte cards, effectively giving me 2 SD tuner and 1 HD tuner?
EPG
The missing link for me was the EPG. Couldn't ever get it to work, but as I am reading, I am realizing that I'm supposed to get hte guide myself, right? That is, the EPG is not built-in like Beyond TV is. What is the best way to get the guide? I am in the US, if that matters.
thanks in advance
So, I've decided to take my old Windows PC and make a DVR out of it. My machine is as follows right now:
-Pentium 4
-2.4 gHz processor
-2 gigs of RAM
-NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti
-Sound Blaster Audigy
-150 gig hard drive (for system software)
-250 Gig hard drive (for recordings)
-Windows XP Home Edition
I decided to get two TV Tuner cards, the Hauppauge PVR-150 and the PVR-1600. I was interested in the 1600 for the HDTV feeds, I get a decent HD signal over the cable, but with an antena connected I only get one channel, so I am hoping for the QAM signal.
I've been trying several different softwares, thinking one of the "pay" ones would be best, but actually I enjoyed using Mediaportal the most, even though I haven't really worked out the details yet.
A few questions.
QUALITY
Why is it that the quality on MediaPortal is so much better then the others I tried, like Beyond or Sage? While the quality is good, it isn't perfect, that is that it isn't as good as my stand alone ReplayTV. What could I do to make the quality even better? Is it just the encoders/decoders? Do I jsut have to experiment?
HDTV
Can I make the Media Portal work with my PVR-1600 to pull HD feeds? Can I get it to work with the QAM? Will Media Portal support BOTH of hte cards, effectively giving me 2 SD tuner and 1 HD tuner?
EPG
The missing link for me was the EPG. Couldn't ever get it to work, but as I am reading, I am realizing that I'm supposed to get hte guide myself, right? That is, the EPG is not built-in like Beyond TV is. What is the best way to get the guide? I am in the US, if that matters.
thanks in advance