Cheap PVR card that works?

[cjolley]

So USA Network is moving all the shows we watch on Friday evening out into the week.
We do not have digital cable. I'm going to turn our headless "file server" into a pvr to time shift them.

It just sits there most of the time anyway.
It's semperon 2600 with 512mg of ram. Plenty of hd space. ATI Radeon 9000 pro agp graphics.
XP.

I had a G450eTV sitting around but couldn't get it to record. Press record and it just sits there doing nothing.
The tuner works though, I can watch tv, just not record it.

Anyway, I figured it might be best to just get a more modern tuner/capture card.
Preferably really cheap.
Preferably actually usable.

I was thinking about the ATI TV Wonder HD 600 PCI. It's $59 at new egg.
Or the hauppauge wintv-pvr-250 pci.
Any hardware thoughts?
Software thoughts? (how about gbpvr?)

I have absolutely NO experience with any of this.

PS Would it be possible to leave the server in our office and just stream the shows to our laptop over wireless? (it has tv out)
That would save me having to fish cat6 across the house to the basement where our tv is.
I don't even know what kind of files these things produce.

[VJ]

MediaPortal allows the streaming bit, with a server and client software. I tried it some time ago, but can't comment on the current status.
VideoLAN should also allow streaming (VideoLan manager is an additional interface IIRC), but I never got round to testing it...
LinuxMCE is a full blown linux distribution aimed at home automation (including media streaming), but I have no experience with it.

I have a ComproUSA card (ef900), and it while it gives good image quality and is good at receiving signals, I had to had it replaced as one of the two tuners stopped working.

But maybe your choice might depend on the software you intend to use?

[cjolley]

Well I was thinking of sticking with XP because I still need to share files from the computer.
Maybe using GB-PVR for the video bit.

Mythbuntu would be an option, though sharing permissions using samba shares are a bit of a pain. We really only have three users, so I guess I could cope with that.

[VJ]

In that case, I'd give MediaPortal and VirtualLAN a try: they run on Windows...

It is something I also like to configure, and may try to set up within a few weeks. But my tuner will be connected to my htpc box, which I like to have Windows 7 running. So I also will need to figure out if/how I can stream live channels to another computer. But it is not necessary (more of a gimmick I'd like to try )

[cjolley]

VLC (VirtualLan) looks tempting.
It's my media player of choice for Linux, but I've never used the more advanced features like network streaming.

[VJ]

Me neither...
I do think that MediaPortal will support channel switching from the streaming client, not sure if VideoLAN is capable...

[cjolley]

Still leaves me with the question of hardware though...

[degrub]

Have a look at Sage

They also have a good list of tuner cards.

Are you on Analog cable ?

[cjolley]

Yup. Plain ol' cable with a few, very few, unencrypted hd digital channels thrown in.
We never watch them though.
So, yes, analog only.

[degrub]

Have a look at this one - Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 TV Tuner

http://www.cyberestore.com/hdtv-tv-tuner-cards/hauppauge-wintv-hvr-2250-tv-tuner-.html

There are others at that site that may meet your need as well. i have ordered several Technistat cards from them over the years.


Here is a little cross reference table for software

http://www.tv-cards.com/allapps.php

If you end up with linux have a look at this card -

http://www.pchdtv.com/hd_5500.html

AVS Forum is one of the best places to get questions answered - they have a good HTPC section.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/index.php

[cjolley]

The system is PCI/AGP so the 2250 won't work.
But the site has some good info.
I don't think a card that only works with linux would be a good idea.

I connected our laptop to the TV in the basement and streamed a netflix movie and a USA network tv show just fine.
So the wireless connection is OK down there.

[wkulecz]

I don't think a card that only works with linux would be a good idea.

I think its a better idea than one that only works with Windows as at least it won't be orphaned when windows 8 comes out.

One that works with both would be best if you can find it.

I've Ubuntu Linux setup as a samba file server and it no trouble at all to share to Windows2000, XP and Windows7 systems

Just add a Linux account for each of your windows login IDs with the same password and you are pretty much there.

--wally.

[VJ]

I agree that a linux-only card is not a good idea. My suggestion is to get a good, well known brand (hauppauge, compro, avermedia, ...): the cards supported by linux are usually the most common cards (that will have good windows support by default).

Finding a PCI card shouldn't be too difficult, but beware of hybrid cards. IIRC, xp and vista mediacenter require you to choose as what type of tuner you want to use it, and you can't easily switch. I don't know if this is due to a driver limitation, or merely a media center limitation. It has been fixed in Windows 7: my Compro e900f shows up as 4 tuners (dual hybrid), but some are disabled if others are in use.

[cjolley]

I think its a better idea than one that only works with Windows as at least it won't be orphaned when windows 8 comes out.

One that works with both would be best if you can find it.

I've Ubuntu Linux setup as a samba file server and it no trouble at all to share to Windows2000, XP and Windows7 systems

Just add a Linux account for each of your windows login IDs with the same password and you are pretty much there.

--wally.

I agree with all of that.
OS independence is one of my criteria.

The Samba thing really only applies if you have a lot of users.
Then it's just WAY too much trouble.
It doesn't seem to pick that stuff up from a windows domain controller correctly.

I agree that a linux-only card is not a good idea. My suggestion is to get a good, well known brand (hauppauge, compro, avermedia, ...): the cards supported by linux are usually the most common cards (that will have good windows support by default).

Finding a PCI card shouldn't be too difficult, but beware of hybrid cards. IIRC, xp and vista mediacenter require you to choose as what type of tuner you want to use it, and you can't easily switch. I don't know if this is due to a driver limitation, or merely a media center limitation. It has been fixed in Windows 7: my Compro e900f shows up as 4 tuners (dual hybrid), but some are disabled if others are in use.

The hauppauge pvr-250 pci is sounding better and better.