Feeling a little dumb, asking for assitance

[rtwhbw]

Board,

I have Sage V2. I use a Dell desktop and flat screen 19 inch monitor. I have directv sat service. I used an USB-IRT blaster and zapstream remote. I have a wintv 150 capture card, also have 80 gig harddrive. I am away from my computer right now and not sure of the video card that came with the dell.

I would like to clear up some things before I go drop $1,400 on a LCD HDTV.

Will I need to upgrade to new release of Sage? Have version 2

Can I record HD on my current set up or will I need an upgrade?

I want to purchase a Samsung LN-S3251D LCD 32" from Best buy, and I am worried regarding how my windows desktop will look on the 32"? I use the computer for both tv viewing and computer work. Will it be distorted?

Was told that Directv will be adding 150 or so HD channels in March 07. Would like to be able to record them so the above info will help me decide what I need to do to get going.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

THanks Rusty

[GKusnick]

SageTV V2 does not do HDTV. Neither does your PVR150 capture card. With your current setup you can hook your satellite box to the S-Video input of your capture card, but you won't be recording HD; you'll be downgrading it to SD quality for recording purposes.

To record true HD content, you'll need a newer version of Sage and an HD capture device. Strictly speaking you don't need the newest version (V6) of Sage; V5 will do it. But if you're going to spend big bucks on an HD display, you may as well shell out $30 for the SageTV V6 upgrade as well.

For HD capture devices, you have a couple of choices. For over-the-air broadcast HD, there are several good inexpensive HD capture cards. For satellite HD, you'll need to spend upwards of $500 on a modifed satellite box; search the forum for R5000.

[rtwhbw]

Greg,

Thanks for the info. That helps me understand which way I will be going. Currently directv only offers HD on a couple channels.

So HD may not be an issue for me right now. I have seen a set up of a SD vs HD at Best Buy. Is that what I can expect with my current setup with Sage V2?

Any idea how my desktop and surfing experience be on a 32" LCD? Do any of you use your sage setup for computing and TV?

From what you are saying, I am going to have to shell out much more $ to get an HD setup.... After spending several more hours looking at what I will have to do and spend for HD recording, I am thinking I will have to wait on HD.

This is starting to make me wonder if I should go with the Westinghouse monitor rather than the Samsung? Why would you need a tuner if you are using a sat box? And when HD comes for me, as long as I have a HD box from Directv, I will not need this R5000? All I am doing is using SD now, which means the detail I see on my monitor now is what I will see on my LCD. Am I correct on that?

tanks rusty

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by rtwhbw

Board,

Got your PM, not sure how much I can help

I have Sage V2. I use a Dell desktop and flat screen 19 inch monitor. I have directv sat service. I used an USB-IRT blaster and zapstream remote. I have a wintv 150 capture card, also have 80 gig harddrive. I am away from my computer right now and not sure of the video card that came with the dell.

I would like to clear up some things before I go drop $1,400 on a LCD HDTV.

Will I need to upgrade to new release of Sage? Have version 2

Can I record HD on my current set up or will I need an upgrade?

I think Greg handled most of this, as far as the Sage side goes. One thing I will add, you'll probably want to check your specs to see if your PC is up to playing HD. There's a good chance a V2 era PC isn't.

I'd personally recommend a 3GHz PC with a good video card (6600GT or better), but if you've got something 2GHz class, throw a 6600GT (or better) in and you should be fine. I ran on a 2.4GHz P4 with a 6800 for a while.

I want to purchase a Samsung LN-S3251D LCD 32" from Best buy, and I am worried regarding how my windows desktop will look on the 32"? I use the computer for both tv viewing and computer work. Will it be distorted?

Should look great on that. LCDs don't suffer from the issues associated with rear projection CRTs. Hook it up with HDMI, DVI, or VGA and it should be as clear as your monitor, just a little lower resolution.

Was told that Directv will be adding 150 or so HD channels in March 07.

Wow, that seems like a lot, they've got less than 20 now right? Probably a bunch of HD locals if I had to guess, so you'll probably get maybe 10-15.

Oh, I see, they're stating that they'll have capability/bandwidth for 150 HD channels, not that they'll be broadcasting that many. Probably a combination of their switch to MPEG-4 compression, and maybe launching a new bird (I see there were plans for three new birds before 2007).

Anyway, to your question, as far as I know all the new HD going up on sat (DirecTV or Dish) is MPEG-4. Unfortunately there's limited recording options for HD satellite, those being the R5000 mod from Nextcomwireless, and that only works with a few DirecTV recievers.

Would like to be able to record them so the above info will help me decide what I need to do to get going.

You'll be able to record them in SD like Greg mentioned, for HD, you'll have to check with the Nextcomwireless R5000 compatibility if you can get a reciever or not.

FWIW, Dish's latest recievers (the ViP 211) is modable.