Since I now have some clear QAM channels (the locals), I think I'm ready to get a QAM card.
- Is there a significant advantage to the MCE remote over the Hauppauge remote? (My existing Hauppauge remote works fine and I use it for several other apps as well as GBPVR.) I believe the MCE remote can wake up the HTPC from hibernate so that would be an advantage if possible.
- Will the PVR-150 remote and IR receiver and blaster work with the non-MCE 1600? (I'm shopping on ebay and many seem to have these missing.)
- Do I have to get a 1600 that is labeled QAM on the tuner module, or can any 1600 tune QAM with the latest drivers?
- Is the tuner on the 1600 so inferior that I should get a 2250 instead? (Not a great solution since I don't have a free PCIe slot.
-> new MB or get 780G graphics to work - gave up on that once already.)
- Or just get a HDHomerun? Is there a significant network load recording two channels? I have the classic WRT54GL router, if that makes a difference.
Thanks for the advice.
I'll stick to your last bullet point. The 1600 is older and it looks as though Hauppauge may have given up on keeping the drivers updated (that's just my feeling) while they've kept pretty regular with the 2250 as it's a newer card.
For me, the analog on the 2250 is markedly better than analog with the 2250 but I record very little analog so that matters not to me. And, of course, the 2250 gives up twice the number of tuners. However, if you're current hardware won't support it, the question is moot.
As I don't tune QAM, and have neither card, I will limit my tuner comment to this:
I've read dozens and dozens of posts concerning the HVR-1600, and based on what I've read I wouldn't even consider buying an HVR-1600 with the intention of tuning QAM channels. I'd take an HVR-2250 any day (indeed I wish I had ponied up the extra for it vs. the single tuner HVR-1250 I bought). If QAM is your goal, and PCIe is not an option, then I'd consider the HVR-950Q (USB)... my HVR-850 is the non-QAM version of it, and it works quite well.
As to the graphics on your 780G, you might consider upgrading to Windows 7. I never got truly satisfactory video playback with Windows XP, no matter what I tried (different cards, different drivers, different codecs). Windows 7, ATI's latest Win7 driver, and the Microsoft DTV-DVD Decoder were the secret sauce for me (the ATI MPEG-2 Decoder works just about as well, but shows MPEG-2 artifacts when changing channels).
FWIW, I am QAM tuning with an HVR-1600 on Windows7 64 bit without issues.
Marc
FWIW, it's a crap shoot depending on your local signal quality. I have a 1600 and a 2250 in my system - I use the 1600 for analog only and do QAM only with the 2250. During a scan, the 1600 doesn't find all my channels - what's more, the 1600 doesn't reliably tune the channels it does find. The 2250 finds everything and just works. Since I put in the 2250, I've quit trying to get the 1600 to work with digital. YMMV.
Thanks folks. Upon further inspection (and introspection) it turns out I do have an available PCIe slot. (I thought the video card was blocking it.) Sounds like the 2250 is the way to go and dual tuners would be nice, so I'm off in search of a good deal.
I would vote for the 2250, if only because it may have a more sensitive QAM tuner.
FWIW - I am running a 1600 and the ATSC side is great. I get all the local ATSC channels and sub-channels (a total of 12 or so). My house is about 15 miles away from the 1200' tall hill where most of the TV transmitter towers are located. I'm using an Artec flat-panel indoor antenna.
On the local cable system, the 1600 works fine with analog, but it's never been very reliable tuning the 12 or so clear QAM channels. Plus the local cable company is constantly moving them around!
I'm thinking about getting a digital only PCI-E x 1 tuner, if I can find one cheap, in the hopes that it has better QAM support. But I am not in a rush to buy one. It only will be AFTER I get a Popcorn Hour A-100 or something similar. Then I'll wory about QAM.
If I had OTA available, I wouldn't worry about QAM either. But, I live on the east side of the Cascades, 150 miles from Seattle and 160 miles from Spokane. No OTA here! So far, Charter has not moved the clear QAM Seattle locals in the 2 months or so they have been available.
I use the Moto STB diagnostics to find the frequency of a channel, look up the "real" channel on a frequency/channel table (available on Wikipedia) and then direct enter that channel on the TV to tune the clear QAM with the TV. Obviously wouldn't work if you don't have a STB, however.