First system build- Just going to use ota hd

[capriceutah]

I'm not going to have cable or satellite- just going to be recording local over the air HD.


I have an old compaq
Win xp pro
System specs
2.5 celeron

512 2100 ddr

3 pci ports- no agp/or pci express(Thinking about going to a different setup for this reason-something with onboard hdmi )
2-80 gig ide drives

The compaq is something I have just lying around , I willing to use something better if it won't work

What would be the best tuner/capture card for the money for what I'm doing with gbpvr?
I would like fm radio if at all possible

[stustunz]

so where is sl-ut

[capriceutah]

salt lake city, utah

[zed]

It'll probably record OK but I think you'll have issues with playback. I don't think any PCI video card will handle HD very well. And you might also want a bigger disk drive...HD files get big fast. A couple 1600 cards or the dual version (I forget the number...2200?...not sure it's PCI, tho) might be a good choice for capture but I don't know if they do FM. A Popcorn Hour would probably work for playback and be cheaper than building a system that could play HD, less hassle, too. Recording HD is not a big deal...it's the playback that's a killer. What will you be playing it back on? HDTV? Monitor?

[pBS]

so where is sl-ut

lol

[capriceutah]

It'll probably record OK but I think you'll have issues with playback. I don't think any PCI video card will handle HD very well. And you might also want a bigger disk drive...HD files get big fast. A couple 1600 cards or the dual version (I forget the number...2200?...not sure it's PCI, tho) might be a good choice for capture but I don't know if they do FM. A Popcorn Hour would probably work for playback and be cheaper than building a system that could play HD, less hassle, too. Recording HD is not a big deal...it's the playback that's a killer. What will you be playing it back on? HDTV? Monitor?

HDTV.

I'm not set on using compaq for this. I will try newer hardware if that is what is needed.

If the compaq wasn't going to be good enough(Which it sounds like it isn't)I was thinking of using a foxconn board with onboard hdmi out with a dual core amd. 2 gb or 4 gb ram.

Can the Popcorn Hour record ota content?

[stustunz]

the popcorn hour has no tuner
but it does a great job at playing the recordings
for the money its the cheapest way to watch HD stuff without having to tweak and find the right decoders etc which you have to if using a PC
plus you can use a crap pc for recording hvr1600tuners


but if you upgrade
i think in usa the hvr2250 is the tuner you want (pci-e only i think)

as for a idea pc the possibilities are endless
the main things i think that are important are minimum dual core
video card 8500nvidia and above or ati3xxx and above

[zed]

To elaborate a bit on stustunz's reply, the Popcorn Hour (PCH) box is connected to your network and your TV and can play captured video from a server (i.e. a GB-PVR system) and play it on your TV. Here's their web site: http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/. The nice thing about it is that it pretty much just works...it's basically plug & play. If you go for a PC solution for playback you'll likely spend lots of $ and time and frustration getting it to smoothly play back your HD files. One of the coolest things about the PCH is that it can run the GB-PVR UI so all the cool stuff in GB-PVR is available with it. For many of us the PCH is a great solution to playback...minimum hassle and cost effective.

You could probably use your existing box to capture OTA HD if you added one or more capture cards, like the Hauppauge HVR-1600: http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/d...r1600.html. All you'd need would be the 1600's and the PCH (and perhaps a bigger disk). I believe Twinhan also makes PCI HD capture cards but the Hauppauge cards are known to work well with GB-PVR. Capture takes very little compute power, it's the playback that's a killer.

You could probably get a PCH and a couple 1600's for about $200...you could easily spend that on a video card that will play back HD, let alone the rest of the upgrades you'd have to make.

Anyway, having been there and done that, my advice would be to at least try the PCH approach. You can always upgrade if that doesn't work out and sell the PCH here or on eBay.