PVR-250MCE on the cheap

[AJ Bertelson]

Saw this on htpcnews
http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_inf...products_id/29

are these compatible with the heatsinkless pvr-250's?

[stanger89]

I think those are the newer "Blackbird" based 250s that don't work with Sage yet. I can't be sure since I can't see which chips are on it, but it says for MCE 2004 which I believe were the ones that don't work.

[stanger89]

Of course, according to this page, it will work with SageTV.

[heffe2001]

I've never seen this supplier before, looks like they only carry a handful of HTPC gear and that's about it, anybody here use 'em before (If it's already been discussed I'll search it out).

Great prices though.

[SHS]

The card above is the same Retail but with FM tuner and W/O IR port but dose come with REAL RCA jacks.
Yes the card above work with all 3rdparty software tools and Windows, OS/2, Linux

[mikbro]

They will work, I have purchased from PCAlchemy before and had no problems.

[gmessner]

I happen to be the technical guru at http://www.pcalchemy.com and can assure you that these cards work great with SageTV and in fact anywhere else a retail WinTV-PVR-250 can be used. The Hauppauge P/N is 32552.

The difference is that this card is an iTVC16 based card (no heatsink!) and has an FM tuner. What is missing, is the I/R port, there are 2 RCA audio connectors in place of that, so the card does not directly support a remote.

I prefer the Streamzap PC Remote over the Hauppauge remote anyway. pcalchemy.com has worked closely with Streamzap to make sure the remote works with SageTV, hence, the latest download of the Streamzap driver has the best support for SageTV.

http://www.pcalchemy.com may be a relatively new company, but we aim to be the one-stop place for all your HTPC needs, not only for purchasing products but in support of those products. We have people that are very knowledgeable in the HTPC area, something the larger online retailers cannot claim. And as you can see, we are also very competitive in our pricing.

[eruji]

Does anyone have one of these with a standard pvr-250? Anyone have any problems mixing the two? I wouldnt mind picking up one to make a 2 tuner system.

[phenixdragon]

I should be mixing these along with some E-Home Wonders in the next week or two.

Along with the previous posts on this, this card is planned to be supported by Sage with the final version of 2.

[Brett]

Originally posted by phenixdragon
I should be mixing these along with some E-Home Wonders in the next week or two.

Along with the previous posts on this, this card is planned to be supported by Sage with the final version of 2.

I don't believe the E-Home Wonder will be supported with the final release of 2?

-Brett

[krutaw]

Originally posted by SHS
The card above is the same Retail but with FM tuner and W/O IR port but dose come with REAL RCA jacks.
Yes the card above work with all 3rdparty software tools and Windows, OS/2, Linux

Do we know if the decoder that is built on this board

quote" dbx-TV stereo decoder (Nicam stereo decoder in Europe) " end quote

will work with v2 to handle the OSD?

[stanger89]

That's the TV decoder not an MPEG decoder, the 350s are the only boards with MPEG decoders and TV outs.

[krutaw]

Originally posted by stanger89
That's the TV decoder not an MPEG decoder, the 350s are the only boards with MPEG decoders and TV outs.

Blah, so much for that then. I was thinking of purchasing one for my client machine if it did the tv out decoding. Oh well. Though, I must say, the tv-out that I'm getting on the cheapo laptop I picked up is better than I ever got with any of the cards that I paid as much for as I paid for the clunker of a laptop. hehe

Interestingly enough, I got dvd's playing fabulously on the client. yay! Just need to figure out a way to change the output to let up on the red hue that it has. Once I figure that out, I"m in the money.

[phenixdragon]

Originally posted by Brett
I don't believe the E-Home Wonder will be supported with the final release of 2?

-Brett

It is possible, as long as the E-Home is built like the 250MCE. But also reading some of the other threads it looks like the only issue is calibrating the card in which someone was able to change the calibration with Sage Recorder, but when rebooting it reverted back. I would imagine it will be very easy to fix it even if the card is not the same as the 250MCE.

[Grasshopper]

Originally posted by eruji
Does anyone have one of these with a standard pvr-250? Anyone have any problems mixing the two? I wouldnt mind picking up one to make a 2 tuner system.

I'd very much like to know the answer to this, as well. Does this unit play well with others?

[stanger89]

Originally posted by eruji
Does anyone have one of these with a standard pvr-250? Anyone have any problems mixing the two? I wouldnt mind picking up one to make a 2 tuner system.

Carlo had one in his then 8 tuner system made of 4 PVR USB2s, an E-Home (with FM), 2 250s, and a 350 I think and he reported no problems.

[kny3twalker]

I keep asking but you can use a 350 and a pvr 250 -15 together, right?
I see he has a 350 and 250 working together
if so is it stable or what?

[carlgar]

Yes, a 350 and type 15 350 works properly together. However, I have no direct knowledge of this. I am going by the posts where no problems were reported until the type 16 250 came out. Also, several people have resolved the type 16 250 issue by trading it for a type 15 250. I don't recall ever a problem posted concerning a type 15 250 with a 350.

Note, some people have reported being able to use a type 16 250 with a 350. This could indicate that all the people with type 15 just happen to have the right hardware that works without problems, except for the ones that have traded 250 cards. Most companies will allow a refund or exchange of hardware within 30 days if it doesn't work. You may want to check the option to be sure before you purchase any new hardware you are not sure about.

[sundansx]

gmessner,
You appear to be out of stock on these cards...do you know when you are getting more?
-ck

[phenixdragon]

PVR-250MCE