CableCARD ready Home Theater PC's are finally here.

[Fluffdaddy]

Five different CableCARD ready HTPC models are now available, and they come with a SageTV 6.0 software option. The Big/Huge question is, will the Cable companies authorize them?

If I did not already have a Vip 211 R5000-HD mod I would be all over these units

http://www.okoromedia.com/newsdet.asp?articleno=21

[stanger89]

Available Home Theater PC Software
Beyond TV with Beyond Media
SageTV 6.0
Windows Vista Media Center

Gut reaction is that CableCard is only available on the Vista version.

[Fluffdaddy]

So close yet so far

[stanger89]

Would be cool if that were not the case (ie if Sage really did support CableCard on such a system), but even if it did, I still think I'd rather have a DRM-free R5000 vs a DRM-riddled CableCard.

[bhyman1]

They charge $300 for an HDHomeRun.

[Fluffdaddy]

Hey, you got to make a profit somewhere

[Khristopher]

The whole concept of CableCard right now is ridiculous. It's a farce how the Cable companies think that this is what consumers want.

They need to stop jingling their coin purses long enough to LISTEN to consumers and realize that DRM is not anywhere on our lists! Right now it's Cable TV the way the Cable companies want to provide it to you.....not the way you want it.

[sleonard]

From the online support:

OMS Support: Welcome. How can I help you today?
Scott Leonard: If I choose SageTV will these units still support CableCard?
OMS Support: No. Cable Card Units are DRMed to Windows Vista

Scott

[Fluffdaddy]

Well That's.....................THAT.

Guess I made the right move by going with R5000-HD

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Khristopher

The whole concept of CableCard right now is ridiculous. It's a farce how the Cable companies think that this is what consumers want.

FWIW, it's not something the cable companies think customers want, it was something that was forced on them by the FCC, who said they needed to come up with a way to allow users to get cable without renting boxes.

They need to stop jingling their coin purses long enough to LISTEN to consumers and realize that DRM is not anywhere on our lists! Right now it's Cable TV the way the Cable companies want to provide it to you.....not the way you want it.

Agreed.

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by stanger89

FWIW, it's not something the cable companies think customers want, it was something that was forced on them by the FCC, who said they needed to come up with a way to allow users to get cable without renting boxes.



Agreed.

It wasn't forced on them by the FCC. The FCC forced them to do cablecard, but all the restrictions on cablecard host devices came from the cable industry, not the FCC.

All this DRM crap came about because of these limits imposed by cablelabs.

thx
mike