Ceton\HDHomerun advice needed

[lucasbuck]

Building a new house, and will be switching to HD cable (use Dish now). I've read just about all I can stomach trying to understand the whole DRM thing. Never been an issue with Dish (is that because it's analog, are those not encoded? Is it a standard definition thing? Never figured that one out).

Bear in mind, I've never used cable. My setup is just a single computer, no extenders, and I don't need to move any content from one device to another.

Anyways, I was looking at the Homerun and Ceton, and trying SageDCT. I figure if worst comes to worst, I could use WMC, although I hate to leave Sage. Which seems to be the more popular option between the two nowadays? I really like the idea of the USB Ceton, but sounds like it might have more issues. Anyone using one?

And just so I'm clear, I could avoid all this if I could get lucky, get a Colossus working, and use the component output? I'd just need a cable tuner (which I'd have to pay for)?

Thanks and sorry for all the newbie questions.

[KeithAbbott]

From a prior post, it looks like your cable company was recently purchased by Time Warner. Time Warner typically flags all of its content "copy once", which means the Ceton/HDHomeRun Prime/Hauppauge DCR-2650 solution with SageTV will probably not work for you.

Which leaves you with two options:

1. Use a Ceton/HDHomeRun Prime/Hauppauge DCR-2650 with WMC, or
2. Use a Colossus or HDPVR with SageTV

Both are quite different choices, and I think you will need to decide for yourself which fits better into your lifestyle, based on what is important to you. Option 1 allows you to stick with SageTV, and would give flexibility for future expansion beyond a single computer. However, it can be difficult to get the Colossus/HDPVR working reliably, and expanding the system by adding more STBs can get to be quite a mess layout wise. With option 2, you will get a one or two box solution, with 2-4 available tuners, and no analog->digital conversions. You'll also be limited to a single computer, and will need to move to WMC, which many people are quite satisfied with.

[lucasbuck]

Thanks for the input. When it comes to both options, can anyone recommend the better equipment choice? (Oh, and can someone explain what was meant by the analog\digital conversion?)