HD-PVR Success!!

[L8rSk8r]

I figure that most of the time people come to the forums to find solutions to problems they are experiencing. This might cause casual visitors or those who are shopping to develop a more negative perception of how things are working in the real world, so I thought I’d add a positive experience to the mix…

I’ve spent the last several months scouring this forum for HD-PVR experiences to inform my decision to upgrade my system to do HD. SD has been fine on my 32” Sony plasma, but I’ve had the Sony seven years now and I’m really feeling the pressure to keep up with the Jones’s. I started earlier this summer by upgrading my old P4 Sage box (see my profile) to handle HD and then took the plunge and ordered an HD-PVR from Newegg.com. To be honest, I was pretty much scared S#/^-less after all of the horror stories I’ve read here and elsewhere. It really seemed like getting an HD-PVR to work was a crap-shoot requiring untold hours of fiddling and fussing. Luckily, I’m a glutton for such things.

The day before the HD-PVR was to arrive, I got everything set up. I have my Sage box in my unfinished basement on a shelf hanging from the underside of the floor joists. I installed another shelf next to the Sage box for my Comcast cable box and added a cable splitter for the new cable connection. When the UPS guy made the delivery, I dropped what I was doing and immediately unboxed the HD-PVR. The required component cables were included for both video and 2ch sound. I hooked them up and ran the included USB cable to my Sage box. I plugged in the power cord and turned on the HD-PVR and excitedly ran upstairs to check it out. I had to install the HD-PVR drivers and ArcSoft software. I then re-installed Sage and then went to the 'configure new video source' in Sage, all of which took ten minutes and then BOOM!!! I was watching HD! I started wondering, “What was all the fuss about? That was the easiest install ever!”

About that time I realized that as I was moving through the channel selection/preview section of the ‘add new video source’, the channel was remaining the same. I knew (in theory) that I was going to have to configure some method for channel changing, but I hadn’t formulated a specific plan. I know that I should just throw down for a USB-UIRT, but I happened to already have an ActiSYS serial IR emitter from a previous Sage configuration, so I went that route. Getting the ActiSYS to function was a chore, but that was not the fault of the HD-PVR or Sage, so I won’t go into those details in this “Success” thread.

I figured that I should push my luck and get the Optical-SPDIF sound working, so ran to Radio Shack and forked over the $30 for a 1M optical cable. I got back home, switched out the L/R RCA cables for the SPDIF, went upstairs and reconfigured the video source to “Component+SPDIF”, and that was it. What a difference! The stadium announcer and crowd noise during football and baseball games comes from all over while the commentators are in front. The synthesizer from the CSI Intro (right before, “We won’t get fooled again”) bounces all around the room and when the characters are in the morgue, it sounds like you’re in a morgue! Better picture and sound than a DVD, definitely. Sweet!!

I’ve had the new system up and running 24/7 for a bit over a week. I’ve recorded and watched half a dozen baseball games (Go Rockies!), a football game, and a bunch of major network prime time stuff. The WAF has remained very high, although I did have to actually point out to her how much better everything looked and sounded (Unbelievable!). I didn’t have to modify any settings other than the ones in the initial ‘add new video source’ wizard. I haven’t had to touch the system or the HD-PVR once, NOT ONCE! If you already have a USB-UIRT and optical cable, the whole installation process should take less than a half-hour. My only problem now is that I want everything in HD, so I really am going to have to buy another HD-PVR soon.

[btrcp2000]

Glad you got it working! My wife also was apparently born without the rods and cones in her eyes that allow a human being to see the difference between sd and hd. Quite tragic, maybe we should start a foundation?

Just as a friendly suggestion, there are plenty of places where you can get any kind of cables a lot cheaper, like monoprice.com

[L8rSk8r]

Just as a friendly suggestion, there are plenty of places where you can get any kind of cables a lot cheaper, like monoprice.com

I know... I know. It's just that I suffer from the "I gotta have it now, I don't care what it costs" syndrome.