Hauppuage HD PVR versus R5000-HD Mod.

[Fluffdaddy]

I own and use both, so here's my My Amateurish Comparison.

R5000-HD Pro's

1) Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio

2)No encoding, capturing ,processing, or digital to analog conversion stuff going on ..............just the raw data the STB gets.

3) Slightly better PQ. (My eyeballs opinion only.....no test equipment)


Con's

1) Higher Cost

2) Does not work with DirectTV's new IRD's

3) The dance you have to go through to have a Cable Box Modification done is exhausting.

4) Want to use more then one R5000 Mod box with Sagetv? Then Nextcom hits you up for another 100 bucks



Hauppuage HD PVR

Pro's
1) Cost Cost Cost............. $249 done finish.

2) Works great with Cable Dishnet and Directv ird's

3) I understand you can use it with Blu-Ray some how. But my Comparison if for Sagetv use only

Con's
1) No Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio. I really miss not having Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio with my recordings

2) Fear "by some" that the analog "Component" loophole will be closed by big bad Hollywood

3) Some of the early units had a overheating problem......But that problem has been fixed.



The R5000-HD/Nextcom people has a really nice sale going on for their Modification right now. But the $99 software fee for using 2 or more R5000HD units with Sagetv is a big showstopper for me. So if I wanted to get a 3rd HD box for my SageTV system I would have to go with another Hauppuage HD PVR.

But for peeps that want the best and have deep pockets or for those that just need one HD ird for sagetv, The R5000HD Mod is still King of the hill, and wins on both PQ and AQ..........IMO

Any other Pro's, Con's or opinions about something I left out....... please post

[peternm22]

I don't have either yet since I am still trying to decide.

But I've come up with a other few pros/cons in my quest.


R5000 Pro's

1) Less cabling needed. No IR blaster, no component cables, no audio cables, no need for another electrical outlet. Power cable and USB is all you need.

R5000 Con's

1) I'm Canadian, and I'm not entirely conformable shipping my receivers across the border (although I haven't heard of any issues, perhaps I am just paranoid)


HD-PVR Pro's

1) If I ever switch satellite/cable providers I can just plug the new receiver into the HD-PVR. I don't need to get a chip removed from my old receiver to be put in my new receiver.

HD-PVR Con's

1) No commercial skipping solution yet. Showanalyzer will be coming out with support for h.264, but the processor requirements Jere posted are a bit daunting. He was using a quad core with all 4 cores at 90%. I can hear my single core A64 3000+ crying.

2) New fan in HD-PVR to prevent overheating may be loud, I haven't heard it first hand though so I can't say.

[HawgGuy]

Originally Posted by Fluffdaddy

But for peeps that want the best and have deep pockets or for those that just need one HD ird for sagetv, The R5000HD Mod is still King of the hill, and wins on both PQ and AQ..........IMO

Any other Pro's, Con's or opinions about something I left out....... please post

Well said - I agree. For me, PQ is better with r5000-hd, wife & crumb crunchers don't notice.

[Berg]

I think that's a good overall comparison.

In my opinion, there are two cons to the R5000:

- Obviously, higher cost, including the extra cost software
- It's not "portable" - if I switch provider, I have to have the mod re-installed at a cost, if the new provider's receiver are compatible

That said, the PQ is amazing and there is no processing of the signal from the provider, so no load on the server or an external device, or digital to analog to digital processing. It's as good as I receive from the provider.

As Peter pointed out, it's as clean as it gets. One USB connection from the receiver to the computer, period.

I had two receivers modified and have two other receivers that I will be considering getting the modification applied to.

IMHO, it's an awesome product !

[peternm22]

The biggest thing stopping me from going for the R5000 is cost.

(2 x HD-PVR) = $500

(2 x R5000) + (R5000 multi-instance software)= $980 (this is the current sale price)

I don't know if I can justify spending double on the R5000. Simplified setup, slightly better PQ, and easier commercial skipping - not sure if that's worth an extra $480


-Peter

[Berg]

I know exactly what you mean. I agonized over that decision for a couple of months, but at the end of the day,, I bit the bullet because I figured I had spent a fair chunk of money on my home theater, and the extra cost for the R5000 was worth it for the quality and knowing that 6 months, one year, or maybe never, the analog hole will not be blocked completely or degraded for some of the content I want to record.

So I bit the bullet, but clearly it's not everyone's call or pain threshold. I decided to spend the extra money and I have had the system up for a few days now I don't regret it one bit !

[mikejaner]

Originally Posted by Wayneb

Analog loophole opener back upper, price is getting cheaper also.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/se...fury&x=29&y=12

WOW!!!! According to it's spec's, this thing even converts DVI with HDCP signals to VGA!!!! If this is true, you are right, this is a (Re-Opener).

Update, it looks to be the real deal. http://www.hdfury.com

Nice

[Sam]

Originally Posted by mikejaner

WOW!!!! According to it's spec's, this thing even converts DVI with HDCP signals to VGA!!!! If this is true, you are right, this is a (Re-Opener).

While I can see how this would help for live output, how would it help SageTV users? The beauty of the HD-PVR is that it can perform real-time compression of the signal to H.264, so your recording sizes are reasonable.

[mikejaner]

Originally Posted by Sam

While I can see how this would help for live output, how would it help SageTV users? The beauty of the HD-PVR is that it can perform real-time compression of the signal to H.264, so your recording sizes are reasonable.

Lets say they do shut down Component outputs on cable boxes in a few years....
If you were to take this device ,and connect it to a VGA to Component converter, you then have the ability to record from the HDMI output on a cable box with your HDPVR.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Fluffdaddy

1) No Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio. I really miss not having Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio with my recordings

Is it really obvious or do you just miss seeing the DD light?

Originally Posted by mikejaner

WOW!!!! According to it's spec's, this thing even converts DVI with HDCP signals to VGA!!!! If this is true, you are right, this is a (Re-Opener).

Update, it looks to be the real deal. http://www.hdfury.com

Nice

Works great

Though you'd probably want the component version for use with the HD PVR.

[mikejaner]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Is it really obvious or do you just miss seeing the DD light?



Works great

Though you'd probably want the component version for use with the HD PVR.

Is there a component version? If so, you got a link?

[computer33]

Originally Posted by Fluffdaddy

Hauppuage HD PVR

Pro's
3) I understand you can use it with Blu-Ray some how. But my Comparison if for Sagetv use only

How would this work? Internal drive or BD player?

[viperdiablo]

Just curious to know how long does it take to change channels using the R5000 mod vs Huappauge HD PVR via the Sage HD Extender?

[jrog]

Originally Posted by computer33

How would this work? Internal drive or BD player?

I was thinking of setting up a blu-ray player to connect with component to the HD-PVR, and then you can archive your blu-rays at a 720p resolution and at whatever bitrate you want, and save yourself the hassle of converting from this to that and getting containers right. I only have 720p TVs, so no matter what the video/audio format, I could convert a movie for use in Sage in real time.

[briands]

The mention of commercial skipping is still an issue with an R5000 for those MPEG-4 streams. Dish is going more in that direction all the time.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by mikejaner

Is there a component version? If so, you got a link?

Woops, I thought one of the three editions was Component, guess not.

[Fluffdaddy]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Is it really obvious or do you just miss seeing the DD light?

I can walk in my media room with my eyes close and within 30 seconds tell the difference between DD 2 channel and Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio.

Dolby Digital 5.1 is today's standard for movies for a reason, not just for consumers to see the little red light on their fancy home theater receivers.

If Hauppuage is never able get 5.1 working with their HD PVR, I would be very disappointed with my purchase.

[thomaszoo]

Originally Posted by Fluffdaddy

I can walk in my media room with my eyes close and within 30 seconds tell the difference between DD 2 channel and Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio.

Dolby Digital 5.1 is today's standard for movies for a reason, not just for consumers to see the little red light on their fancy home theater receivers

I agree. In fact, I can usually tell in about 10 seconds or less. Sometimes someone switches my receiver to Pro-Logic and I really notice that.

Hopefully Hauppauge will fix the digital audio encoding problem on the HD PVR soon.

Wayne

[Slipshod]

Originally Posted by briands

The mention of commercial skipping is still an issue with an R5000 for those MPEG-4 streams. Dish is going more in that direction all the time.

Yes, but that's only an issue with HD material. All of Dish's SD is MPEG2.

An addition to the debate is that Dish Network receivers do not do native passthrough. If you have an HD-PVR hooked up to Dish, everything will be recorded by the HD-PVR at the same resolution. HUGE waste of space for SD content plus issues with comskipping, or more monthly fees for receivers.

I think the HD-PVR is ideal with DirectTV, and the R5000 is ideal with Dish Network. If you have a compelling reason to favor one of the devices over the other you should use the matching provider (and vice-versa). The only real exception is if you're using the HD-only package from Dish - the HD-PVR is acceptable but not ideal in that case.

[Tiki]

What do you do with your R5000 when your STB dies? I know they will remove the mod for you for free before you return a leased box. But, I'm sure you get stuck paying for shipping and paying to re-install the mod in your new box, plus all the wait time while you ship boxes back and forth.

I have had several Motorola STB's from Comcast flake out and need to be replaced over the last couple of years. I have a friend with Dish network and he has had to send back at least 3 boxes to Dish for repair in the last 2 years alone.