PVR-250 vs. PVR-250MCE.. System requirement differences?

[Gemini1706]

I am debating either to get the original PVR-250 or the PVR-250MCE (which I can find cheaper), but in their descriptions, I noted that:

Orignal PVR-250:
System Requirements:
Processor requirements: Pentium® III processor 733MHz or faster for TV pause with full screen playback

BUT for PVR-250MCE it says:
System Requirements:
Processor requirements: Pentium® IV processor 1.2GHz or faster for TV pause with full screen playback


So, my questions are :
1- Why the MCE has higher system requirments than the original PVR-250? Is it just to account for Windows XP MCE requirements? What if I will use it for regular Windows XP and SageTV, will P-III 1GHz be enough?

2- Is the issue concerning the MCE version (Roslyn/Blackbird thingy) drivers resolved? I mean, a few weeks ago people complained that the new card (MCE. blackbird/roslyn) does not work properly in Windows XP ...etc.
Is this resolved? Can I buy the MCE card without fear of any driver conflicts/features not working?


Thanks in advance...


Cheers....

[stanger89]

Originally posted by Gemini1706
I am debating either to get the original PVR-250 or the PVR-250MCE (which I can find cheaper), but in their descriptions, I noted that:

Orignal PVR-250:
System Requirements:
Processor requirements: Pentium® III processor 733MHz or faster for TV pause with full screen playback

BUT for PVR-250MCE it says:
System Requirements:
Processor requirements: Pentium® IV processor 1.2GHz or faster for TV pause with full screen playback


So, my questions are :
1- Why the MCE has higher system requirments than the original PVR-250? Is it just to account for Windows XP MCE requirements? What if I will use it for regular Windows XP and SageTV, will P-III 1GHz be enough?

All I can tell you for sure is thaty they are essentially the same card with different connectors, as far a Sage is concerned they are the same. I will tell you that a 1GHz P3 is at the bottom end of the scale, but with a video card that offers DXVA you should be OK.

I would look at the SageTV system requirements since the requirements for these cards are based entirely on playback (no CPU hit while recording).

[B}Speculation[/B] - the 250's requirements come from Hauppauge, and it's requirements to run WinTV2000, where the MCE requirmenets come from Microsoft, and are related to MCE requirements. Speculation

2- Is the issue concerning the MCE version (Roslyn/Blackbird thingy) drivers resolved? I mean, a few weeks ago people complained that the new card (MCE. blackbird/roslyn) does not work properly in Windows XP ...etc.
Is this resolved? Can I buy the MCE card without fear of any driver conflicts/features not working?

1) 250 MCE and Roslyns are not the same thing, the 250MCE is, as I said above, a 250 w/ different connectors.

2) The only problems I've heard Roslyns having are: a) multituner - which I believe a driver update fixed, b) auto brighness, not sure but talk has died down, c) some install problems with the inital release that were remedied immediately after.

While I agree that the 250/250MCE is more mature than the Roslyn, I don't think the Roslyn is as bad as it may seem from reading the forums (many more people don't say they're happy than say they have problems).

Thanks in advance...


Cheers....

[Gemini1706]

Thanks stanger89..

what is the connector differences between them.

From the photos I saw:
1- They both have S-Video In
2- They both have coax TV in
3- Obviously the MCE has an extra FM Coax In
4- MCE shows two Audio plugs (I assume stereo), while PVR-250 shows one connector (I assume a Line-In stero type of connector, but uses one plug with 2 center lines)?

So, the difference is (aside from the FM thingy): Stereo Audio input jacks are seperates in the MCE version, but single plug in the PVR250 version (but still stereo)? Is this correct?

Thanks a lot for help..

Cheers...

[stanger89]

Yup, the 250 uses a stereo miniplug while the MCE has stereo RCAs, the MCE also lacks the IR port on the 250.

[kny3twalker]

http://www.shspvr.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5586

[Opus4]

kny3twalker: I _knew_ I saw this same question somewhere recently... just couldn't remember where, so I didn't say anything.

- Andy

[pez]

So does that mean the 250 and 250MCE use the same drivers? If not why? And how can the be the same then?

thanks,
pes

BTW,
I'm having no end of problems with my Roslyn setup, can't even get two cards to work. One card run pretty good, but I get 1 or 2 SageTV crashes a week. I've worked with support for almost 2 months and I've been offered a trade to 250MCE and want to make sure I shouldn't ask to pay the difference to the full 250.

[Gemini1706]

I have the MCE, and it runs fine with the regular driver...

[kny3twalker]

the pvr 250 and pvr 250 MCE run the same drivers

[pez]

thanks, I'm going to take them up on their offer to exchange the cards.
-pez