HD PVR No Longer Available?

[will]

It looks like Newegg has listed the HD PVR as a "Deactivated Item."

I wonder if Newegg ran out of stock and is no longer carrying this model because something better is coming out at CES 2010?

[fidget]

Originally Posted by will

It looks like Newegg has listed the HD PVR as a "Deactivated Item."

I wonder if Newegg ran out of stock and is no longer carrying this model because something better is coming out at CES 2010?

It is out of stock at Amazon as well.

[ChaOConnor]

I KNEW IT!!! Man, I was so close to pulling the trigger on this, had my gift cards all lined up... but told myself "Be patient Cha... something is coming!" Whew... glad I didn't, or I'd be pissed. Could always return it I guess, but regardless, this pretty much confirms I think that CES will have something interesting!!!

[will]

Originally Posted by ChaOConnor

this pretty much confirms I think that CES will have something interesting!!!

Either that or the HD PVR is about to get a lot pricier on eBay.

[ChaOConnor]

Originally Posted by will

Either that or the HD PVR is about to get a lot pricier on eBay.

Let's hope not

[vividweb]

Or something from the FCC is coming to close the analog connections on devices.

All conjecture at this time.

[will]

Originally Posted by vividweb

Or something from the FCC is coming to close the analog connections on devices.

All conjecture at this time.

It is still for sale at http://registration.hauppauge.com/we...product=hd_pvr.

As for Newegg listing the HD-PVR as discontinued I have seen a hard drive I was watching for price drops listed as discontinued (Samsung F1s) and then one week later for sale again.

[stanger89]

Let's hope that means they've got a new one in the pipe for CES, that will be available "immediately" and without the issues.

[reggie14]

It's interesting that this is deactivated on Newegg, and just out of stock on Amazon. Amazon lets you order it, they just don't know when they'll be able to ship it out.

I don't know what this means. I doubt Hauppauge would simply drop the HD-PVR line. There's no alternative, and I suspect they make a decent amount of money on each one.

I'm not really sure how Hauppauge would update the HD-PVR. I'd really think the issues with the HD-PVR would probably be handled with software improvements and a hardware revision. I wouldn't expect Hauppauge to clear out inventory before releasing a new revision.

For it to get a new name, I'd think it would need new features, rather than improved relability. So, if Hauppauge is coming out with something significantly different than the HD-PVR, what would it be I'd still expect it to be an external USB capture device, with component and optical inputs. I'd still expect it to have a single encoder, since Hauppauge probably likes keeping the price of these things high, and I can't imagine a $300-400 capture device like this. I could imagine them moving to a chip that supports 1080p capture, but why bother if no devices will actually output 1080p on component? Maybe they could come out with a new IR blaster that doesn't have the one-per-machine limit.

Or, maybe Hauppauge thinks the HD-PVR has gotten a bad rap, and they'll just do a hardware revision with a different looking box, and call it the HD-PVR 2 for PR purposes.

We heard about the HD-PVR many months before it was actually released. But, I suppose there's little reason to keep a release like that a secret when there aren't any current products like it. If Hauppauge announced many months ago they were updating the HD-PVR, maybe people would stop buying them.

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by reggie14

For it to get a new name, I'd think it would need new features, rather than improved relability.

Not necessarily. When they launched the PVR-150 (Analog PCI card) a few years back, they advertised it as a low cost version of the PVR-250. It had the same features, but a newer chipset that allowed them to manufacture and sell it for less. Of course, now we see that there is at least one difference - the PVR-150 is at least partially supported on Win7 and Vista while the PVR-250 is officially not supported.

Anyway, I could see them doing a hardware re-design to reduce cost or improve reliability.

Other possible ideas would be a different interface (such as Ethernet or eSata, or an internal PCIe module, instead of USB2). I'm not saying any of these would be good or bad ideas, just pointing out that there are a lot of things they could do with a new product without really changing features very much that couldn't be accomplished with just a software update.

[fidget]

I want (OK, lust for) a dual "tuner" version.

[JetreL]

Originally Posted by fidget

I want (OK, lust for) a dual "tuner" version.

I want (OK, lust for) two of them that work reliably...

[Djc208]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Let's hope that means they've got a new one in the pipe for CES, that will be available "immediately" and without the issues.

That's the only problem with a new device. It was quite a while between the CES preview of the current one and availability. And even longer before it was something I wanted to buy.

[stanger89]

It often is, but it doesn't have to be, and isn't always. Some stuff is available shortly after.

[will]

I contacted Hauppauge Sales on Monday and I just received a response:

"The HD-PVR is as popular as ever and we have far more orders than units to ship. We do have some small availability for online orders so if you would like to order, we will be able to ship."

So it sounds like the HD-PVR isn't going anywhere...

[korben_dallas]

It's in stock in the SageTV store. I know because I just bought one, it was delivered to me on Saturday, shipped from Inglewood, CA. by George himself.

[joe123]

Frys electronics and Micro Center both have them.

Best buy may have them as well?

[kingwr]

Maybe Newegg just got tired of dealing with returns on this POS hardware device.

[PGPfan]

Originally Posted by kingwr

Maybe Newegg just got tired of dealing with returns on this POS hardware device.

Or, they just ran out of stock. The out of stock issue has been in my experience the most common reason for Newegg to 'delist' an item.

-PGPfan

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by kingwr

Maybe Newegg just got tired of dealing with returns on this POS hardware device.

You'll have to pry the two I own from my cold, dead hands. My TV watching has never been more enjoyable or reliable. My Tivo, DirecTivo, and DirecTV DVR all broke many more times than my HD-PVRs have. The best part? No DRM and I don't lose my recordings if I have a hardware issue (other than a hard drive failure, of course).