Confused newbie

[restorick]

Hello all,

Apologies in advance if this topic has been covered elsewhere, but right now my head is spinning and I just want it to stop!

Yesterday, I walked into a neighborhood computer shop to take a look at some of the HTPC stuff they have. The "dood" kept telling me that he can record HD from a DirectTV box to his HTPC. My experience tells me that he was perhaps a little over enthusiastic and really didn't mean what he was saying, so I asked him to explain how the HTPC handled the encrypted HD channels.

His response - "It just does", and so my next directive was "Show me". He tried and tried, and finally he just admitted that they just got DirectTV in house and it wasn't hooked up yet. In the immortal words of Carl Spackler, "I had to laugh..."

But that exchange got me to thinking that perhaps I'm assuming too much with my first HTPC. So, please bear with me as I ask a couple of very basic questions:

1. Even if I get a HD receiver from Dish/DirectTV, I can still use the HTPC to record non-HD programming through the HD receiver?

2. If the answer to #1 is no, then what alternatives do I have? I specifically want to get ESPN and DiscoveryHD, but I don't care about spending $200 for a receiver that I'll never own, plus the additional $60+ per year for the privilege of using their DVR.

3. Any other potential "gotchas" here? I need my HD, want the PVR, and most of all, make it easy for my bride to handle.

I know that this is not a hardware forum, but this community has collectively been the most well informed I've seen. Thanks in advance for any feedback!

Resto Rick, dazed and

[Jesse]

Hi,

The guy at the computer shop is most likely full of it. The only way to get HD off of a Sat receiver box and onto a pc is by modding the sat receiver. Look here for info on the R5000 mod and how it intergrates with sagetv: http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16615 Also note that it is not cheap.

If you go this route I would look at Dish first. The R5000 folks can mod the new mpeg4 capable Dish receivers, but not the mpeg4 Directv receivers. I would not pay the kind of money they want for one of these things if it cannot do mpeg4.

As for getting SD via a sat receiver that is no problem. You would capture it with one of the many sage supported capture cards via svid.

In short:

#1: Yes, no problem.
#2: ESPN and Discovery HD via sat will require the R5000 mod. See above.
#3: HD can be tricky, both capture and playback. Read the entire R5000 thread. Dont skimp on hardware. Get SD working reliably first.

HTH

Jesse

[restorick]

Originally Posted by Jesse

Hi,

The guy at the computer shop is most likely full of it.

Thanks Jesse. I thought maybe my gray hair was beginning to grow inward and tickle my brain...

Originally Posted by Jesse

If you go this route I would look at Dish first. The R5000 folks can mod the new mpeg4 capable Dish receivers, but not the mpeg4 Directv receivers. I would not pay the kind of money they want for one of these things if it cannot do mpeg4.

Agreed. I would only PVR HD if it were MPEG-4.

Originally Posted by Jesse

As for getting SD via a sat receiver that is no problem. You would capture it with one of the many sage supported capture cards via svid.

In short:

#1: Yes, no problem.
#2: ESPN and Discovery HD via sat will require the R5000 mod. See above.
#3: HD can be tricky, both capture and playback. Read the entire R5000 thread. Dont skimp on hardware. Get SD working reliably first.

HTH

Jesse

Yes, very much help thank you. I really have no immediate plans to record HD from Dish, but I might decide to do OTA recording. I am more than satisfied with normal PVR recording of standard TV, at least from the standpoint of allowing my bride to pause Oprah while she refills her cocktail (did I say that out loud? )

Thanks for your feedback - I'll do a little more research on Sage hardware requirements, and build my HTPC with mid-range power to start. But it will definitely be upgradeable should Sage 8 require it!

Thanks,
Rick