Pinnacle PCTV analog PRO PCI card ?????

[silver217]

Is there anybody who has experience with this card ?

Can it be used without the PVR-software (only the drivers) ?

I have been told that an unlock code is required to make the card
fully operational, and that the software (crappy, many 100megabytes)
is needed plus that you have to pay for it.

Also their EPG has a monthly fee.

should we avoid Pinnacle ?

[sub]

should we avoid Pinnacle ?

They are certainly not a common choice for hardware used in PVR software, so I'd probably recommend avoiding them. There are a lot of benefits that go with using devices that common, and well supported (like Hauppauge or ATI cards).

[silver217]

Anybody else here in this forum, who is using the card ?
please let me know your experiences.

[pBS]

now that one i have...lol [another thread..]
PCTV Pro...also known as Rave card...
works great with the software WDM recorder plugin..[doesn't have mpeg2 encoder chip] along with the ATI avivo encoders..[come with ati card drivers,or as seperate download]
i get actually better quality on some stuff than my pvr150..[has qualitty tuner on it] with very low cpu usage...[about 15% during recording]

setup the WDM plugin from wiki, and choose ati mpeg2 encoders..
i have antenna and sat. connections and it works flawlessly..
a bit slow on the live tv stuff but that's the WDM plugin lag...

oh and for drivers get the latest Rave card drivers at pinnacle..[i think ver 550] just the drivers are free..
and the pay/'Pro' stuff is just a realtime software encoder program,and not worth anything at all..very buggy...!
[i also got the remote working with it too..lol]

[normandy]

I have I think a very similar card, the 300i, with the Phillips chipset, SAA71xx.

It seems easy enough to setup with the DVB-T option, but I have in-house cable analog. I was using ChrisTV, but it started crashing repeatedly and not giving me any picture.

You mention setting up the WDM plugin (for cards with no hardware MPEG2). I read the directions in the wiki, and they sort of don't exist "... then setup the plugin" - Yes? But HOW? to setup the plugin. I downloaded the plugin and put the contents in my gbpvr folder, and went to the plugin tab, but since the directions in the wiki end there, what are the next steps?

Since you seem to have accomplished getting it working, would you please divulge the secret steps?

[flyswatta]

IIRC - (haven't used the WDM plugin in a about a year), but I think all you do is install the plugin (copy the files) restart GBPVR. Go into the config app, then under "Capture Sources" click Add, then in the Recording Source drop down box, select WDM Recorder (or called something like that). From there, it's like setting up any other capture source.