Newbie Help: Tuners in the US (1 Viewer)

Underfunded

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December 7, 2005
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Hello,
I am very new to the HTPC field and am planning on building my first system pretty soon. I am thinking of getting the Hauppauge 500 for it's dual tuner capabilities but I am see'ing a lot of people using dual 150's. What is the reason for this?

Also, I only have basic, non-box cable right now so I understand that the system will work fine, what happens if I upgrade to digital cable. Do I need different hardware to watch tv through my HTPC? Is it just different software?

Thank you all for your help.
Ian.
 

Khris

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July 2, 2005
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I've got the 500 and love it! I have been meaning to buy another one but the funds aren't quite available right now.

As for the dual 150's, perhaps people buy one thinking that's all they'll need, and then later decide to buy another one. *shrug* Could be personal preference, or the $$ to buy the 500 wasn't there either.
 

gxtracker

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  • July 25, 2005
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    The reason some people get 2 PVR150's over a PVR500 is because you can get 2 PVR150MCE's for less than a single PVR500. Of course, you get the exact same functionality out of both options, but for those that can spare an extra PCI slot, the two 150's are the better bargan.

    Then again, you also have to split the coax to go to both cards. :wink:

    Going to digital cable simply means that you will have to feed your digital cable box into the TV tuner card. you will leave the TV card software on one of the video inputs, and simply use the set top box to change channels. it's very similar to just plugging in your cable box to your TV, instead you're using your HTPC.
     

    mcbinder

    New Member
    November 30, 2005
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    But how does controlling the STB work?

    I looked at the TV section and it was not clear how you set up to change channels.

    I have a TIRA2 Rx/Tx IR box, so I need to make it send "Go to channel 602" before I start recording from the S-Video input port.

    I have not got a video capture cart, but that's on the list.

    Is there a place / document that describes the STB connection process?

    MCB
     

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