What Works???

[mdwhite]

Hello. Let me begin by apologizing for the length of this post.

I am ready to build my first htpc and I have chosen Sage for my system. I have not bought any parts yet so can't give those details. I am leaning toward an Asus m/b and an Intel low wattage cpu. I want to use Xp or Xp pro 32.

As the subject of this post says I am wanting to know what works. I have just a few HD clear qam channels that I want to be able to record. The rest are SD or analog. All are through Comast cable in Pueblo, Co. I am not interested in using OTA.

I want to be able to watch and/or record up to 4 channels. I want to be able to record analog or digital or any combination. I want to be able to select a show to record and, for example, if it is on NBC I want my htpc to tune to the clear qam HD channel instead of the analog channel. My system will be on 24/7.

I know there are dozens if not hundreds little details that can effect how things work. I am only interested in info about tuner cards at this moment. I know Sage has listed cards that work but I want to know from actual builders and users. What are y'alls opinion on what cards would work best for what I want to do? Are hybrid cards the way to go? Dual tuners? The research I have done so far has not been very encouraging. Either the drivers for the cards aren't up to speed or the guide and viewing clients can't tell what the card is supposed to do or something else or something else etc.

Very frustrating. And since I have yet to win the lottery I can't afford to buy parts over and over until I find what works.

Any input and advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Darren.

[mistergq]

At this point, I am HD oriented. What caused that was buying a Samsung HD TV, the HD 100, and Hauppauge's HD PVR.

For network, I am a big fan of HDHomerun. This network tuner can get clear QAM channels that your cable company sends through or you can hook it up to an antenna for OTA. I have it hooked up to an antenna and the quality is unbelievable. Setup is very easy and I cannot speak highly enough about it.

For STB (set top boxes), I am using two HD PVRs to get HD channels from Verizon FIOS. I am very happy with that as well.

Before I switched to HD, I was getting analog from one Hauppauge 250, and two 150. The quality was fine for a regular CRT tv, but once i switched to the HD PVR, it was noticeably horrible on the HD tv.

The problem with analog cards are they are a dying technology. There is no guarantee how long cable companies will continue to provide analog streams as the cable companies want to get rid of analog streams to have more bandwidth for HD, digital, and internet.

Hope that helps.

[mdwhite]

Sorry for mis-posting. I agree about analog being on its way out but for now it is how I get the majority of my channels. I only have basic cable. I am getting the channels for extended basic at this time.

I recently bought a Sony Bravia and even though I only get 5 channels in HD(the 4 networks and pbs) I am spoiled and want to watch my shows and football in HD.

Anyway, I have checked out the HRHD but I would like to keep eveything in the pc case as much as possible. Plus I would need 2 for what I would like to do and then would still need something for analog.

I keep reading Hauppauge doesn't keep up with their driver updates very well. Them coming out with the 2250 is what prompted me to finally but my system but now I'm not sure 2 of those will do what I want.

Picture quality aside, how well did the 250 and 150 perform and get along with Sage?

And it does help, thank you. Darren