questions about Hauppauge MediaMVP

[bone]

I haven't purchased a Hauppauge MediaMVP yet, but I am leaning more and more towards it. I just want to see any downfalls compared to actually having a computer in the livingroom.
I would mostly like to be able to watch downloaded divx clips and I'd like to be able to put a DVD or load a DVD image and be able to play it. I'll have a 1.2ghz with 256megs of ram PC running winxp pro in the backroom. I keep reading more and more about gbpvr and love the plugins that I'm reading.
I also was considering installing Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 MCE PCI Interface 1042 Tuner Card on my maching that's in the backend. I will mostly record dishnetwork and I do have analog cable, but I don't mind mannually plugging in the cable and skipping the dishnetwork box as it's on a switch.

I just don't want to spend 160 dollars and be dispointed. I'm already using sunrocket's VOIP for the phone and hoping the bandwitch can handle everything. I know I could put it on a seperate network, but then I wouldn't get the EPG or weather.

I'm also looking for an disadvantages I would have compared to having a seperate box by my television running mythtv or MCE. It just seems that the network would kill the bandwidth, since all television needs to be passed through the connection. With a machine next to my television the only using of the internet would be for downloading listing/epg it seems, which is minimal.
Thanks in advance.

[sub]

I would mostly like to be able to watch downloaded divx clips and I'd like to be able to put a DVD or load a DVD image and be able to play it. I'll have a 1.2ghz with 256megs of ram PC running winxp pro in the backroom. I keep reading more and more about gbpvr and love the plugins that I'm reading.

The MVP doesnt really sound like the right device for you. It cant natively play divx files, and it cant play DVDs at all. It can only natively play MPEG1/MPEG2 content. If you try to play a divx file, it needs to on-the-fly transcode the file to MPEG2, but this requires a significant amount of CPU. More than your PC has available.

Your PC is also a little on the slow side for an MVP server. You'd probably find keypresses are a bit sluggish.

[bone]

My system is actually 1.8ghz as I just checked not 1.2.
I saw the Xdvd that says it can play DVDs
http://gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Plugin/XDvd

it says it translates on the fly, but with my system would that mean that really "real time" or would there be a waiting process. The truth is that I don't mind converting anything as long as say it's an hour or two, then I have no problem. I really would rather find another solution if any converting takes close to 24 hours.

Also my system is an asus A7NX (if my memory is right), which has two ethernet ports. I'm wondering if having a cat5 connection from the MVP straight to the backend computer would help bandwith. I mean connecting straight from the MVP to the computer and then bridging to the internet. My thinking is that for transfering videos and certain things it would work better than every single thing being on the same network.

Also is it that gbpvr doesn't support divx yet? The reason I'm asking is hauppauge's new software seems to support it. I was reading that only the beta version play divx without converting, but I only know what I've been reading.

Thank you so much for the quick reply also and all the infomation on helping me make a decision.

http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products/...iamvp.html

[sub]

My system is actually 1.8ghz as I just checked not 1.2.

1.8GHz is better, but still very borderline. I dont think you'll know for sure until you try. I usually recommend a 2.4GHz minimum for transcoding.

I saw the Xdvd that says it can play DVDs
http://gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Plugin/XDvd

it says it translates on the fly, but with my system would that mean that really "real time" or would there be a waiting process

Yes, to be fair, that plugin will let you watch DVDs. There will be no menus though, and you'll have to watch the DVD from the beginning every time though, so no jumping directly to chapter xx.

Also is it that gbpvr doesn't support divx yet? The reason I'm asking is hauppauge's new software seems to support it. I was reading that only the beta version play divx without converting, but I only know what I've been reading.

GB-PVR supports divx in pretty much the same way as Hauppauge MVP software. Both use transcoding. The MVP is not powerful enough to play divx files natively. It can only play MPEG1/2 files due to the on board MPEG2 decoder hardware.

You should also be aware of some limitations when trying to use divx files on the MVP:

- your system needs to be able to transcode in at least real time or faster for it to work
- you need to watch shows from the beginning. You have no ability to start watching (for example) 50 minutes into a file.
- no fast forwarding or skipping past the current transcode point is possible.
- you wont be able to do two transcodes at the same time, so future plans to add a second MVP could mean problems
- its picky about resolutions, so you may find you have widescreen divx pushed to the top of the screen

[bone]

Thank you so much for all your help.
Looks like I'll probably be better off just putting together a PVR, but sorry for my stupid question, but can I run both windows MCE and GBPVR on the same machine?

[zed]

Yes...but why bother? Once you've tried GB-PVR you won't want to fool with MCE any more...


Been there, done that...

[fhmanas]

one thing you should consider is the noise. An MVP, albeit it's limitations with divx and other formats, is quiet since it does not have any moving parts as opposed to a full-blown PC with all the fans blowing about.

When I started with this project, I also considered not wanting all that noise beside my TV, and since i do my recording with my PVR500 which records in MPEG anyway, I opted for an MVP for GBPVR use. This leaves my PC open for other uses other than GBPVR. The few divx files I have, I just convert to MPEG. Aside from the fact that my wife would not allow me to have a PC beside the TV.

[bone]

Thank you all for the replies.
I have a nice looking black case that I really don't think would look bad in the livingroom. Also I'd hate to get something and have it not work as I wanted it to work. I am reading some problems people are having and it just seems that if I had the PC next to the television that it would eliminate most of my problems. I am hoping though I can find quiet parts, but even my computer I put together in my office is very quiet and especially if the television is on, I don't think I would hear it.

One concept I'm not actually getting was that I thought windows MCE was just like windows XP, except it has interfaces for PVR. When I start to look at the screens it seems that the entire operating system is changed and you do not have the functionality that you normally do with windows or am I mistaken?
My main objective is to have a PVR, but it would be nice to have a windows system in my livingroom that I could use to check email, browser websites and do all the things I normally do in a normal PC. Such as if I receive an email with a zip file I'm able to extract the content and what have you. It seems that I'll have more capabiltiy and possibly even better quality and features with a standalone PVR in my livingroom. Am I mistaken?

I keep reading about mythtv versus GB-PVR versus windows MCE versus SageTv, but personally I'd prefer to have in my livingroom all the functions that windows has. Such as I put in a DVD create an ISO and mount the image and then use my DVD playing software and I'm able to watch the DVD. It would seem I'm best off with having windows XP with GB-PVR?
I loaded GB-PVR on my computer that doesn't have a card and was able to have it full screen on windows xp and when I hit the windows key I could shut it down. Anything wrong with my plans as every time I discover something else I seem to change my orignal thoughts.