Hauppauge 1600 vs 1800 for XP Pro

[johnnyspo]

Greetings all.

I am looking at both the 1600 and 1800 primarily for its clear QAM support in XP Pro. I have heard rumors that clear QAM might be a problem on non-Vista computers. Any support for this claim? Refute?

BTW, I am leaning toward the 1600 MC version vs the 1800 because, I believe, the only difference is PCI vs PCIx1. Is this correct? If so, I'd rather use my PCI slot than my only x1 slot.

--John

[Ender]

I currently have two HVR 1600's in my system, the non MC versions. I receive QAM channels just fine under XP. Vista gives me headaches, but that is an ATI driver issue.


Just be careful which 1600 you get, early versions were not QAM capable. Unless you want the FM tuner, I do not see a point for the MC editions, for I do not plan on using Media Center. Sage works well enough for my needs.

[Djc208]

Look at the Hauppage support page for the 1600/1800, the support for clear QAM isn't an early/late issue it's a hardware version issue. The retail versions supported clear QAM but the OEM versions for MC computers did not.

Note: Product codes 74021 and 74041 support QAM, while product codes 74031 and 74551 do not. The product code can be found on the tuner label on WinTV-HVR-1600.

I have a retail 1600 in my Sage machine which is running XP Pro, it's been there for almost a year and it supported clear QAM with a simple driver update, no problems.

[gmcomber]

Running an 1800 here on XP, was a bit tricky at first to get the QAM scan to complete with success, but there's plenty of info in the forum here on what settings to use. You could get both!!

[johnnyspo]

Circuit City has the 1600 on sale this week for $80. It's not the MC version, but for that price, I don't really need the FM tuner and I can use a "Y" connector to connect audio L/R to the card's audio line input.

Has anyone used the A/V header on any of these cards? Seems like a easy way to get an additional input to your system. PCALCHEMY has a cable for $13.95.

--John