New to All, need help

[Spoonman]

Hi,
Im new to all this and im considering downloading this but I want to know how easy this, if it is at all.

I have a p4 3.2ghz HT
2 HDDs 120 160
gfx 5600 ultra (256ram on board)
1gb dual chan mem

Also considering buying the HAUPPAUGE WINTV HVR-1600 INPUT ADAPTER


I have xp but I dont think I have the .net 2.o on it nor wmp11

What all do I need to make this work or make it an easy install and play, sort of speak?

[psycik]

Some people find it hard, some easy, it depends on your level of comfort with figuring things out and asking for help. Your biggest issues will be video/audio codecs. And for that people can give you advice, but it's all dependent on your hardware/drivers installed.

That said you don't need WMP11 but do need .net2.0 (and the Microsoft runtimes).

Give it a go, the forums are really helpful...good luck

[gEd]

it's not quite a "click and go" application but if you do a bit of research, you should be ok.
Read the quickstart guide on the wiki (link top right on homepage), the survival guide in the support forum and search for the 1600 card for more details.

As Psycik said, you will need to install your own mpeg decoder. The HAUPPAUGE WINTV HVR-1600 probably comes with one which will get you started.

I'm not sure if your graphics card is good enough for ATSC programs. Again, search the forums and see what others are using to play back ATSC content.

good luck (and welcome)

[Spoonman]

so this can be hooked up to display on my tv right I dont need to use a monitor once I have it up and running...?

I have digital cable and I want to hook it up to that and have it display on my tv screen.

[gEd]

yep that's right, just use the tv out on the graphics card.

[kayak4ever]

If you want to record the digital stations through your cable box, you will need to get both the irblaster and ir receiver working. At present, I can only record the non-digital stations as my cable is hooked up directly to the computer and the computer is hooked up to the TV.

For some reason I don't fully understand, the digital cable that I pay for is analog once it comes out of the cable box. I have an HVR1600 but I cannot tune in the qam stations (digital cable) likely because I have the cable split too many ways

[Spoonman]

i dont believe my gfx card has a tv out, it has svideo and so does the haup 1600 can i use that?

[psycik]

the haup svideo, is probably an input, not output plug. For taking video from a setp top box or something like that.

[Deusxmachina]

i dont believe my gfx card has a tv out, it has svideo and so does the haup 1600 can i use that?

You should be able to use s-video from the graphics card. I do on my Nvidia 7600GT to use the TV as a monitor. And if you can't, you'll need a different card anyway no matter what DVR/media program you use. Can always mess with it using your monitor in the mean time if the s-video doesn't work.

Install can be a bit rough at first, but after you get the audio/video codecs and the TV Guide setup, those are the basics and after that anything extra is gravy. And there can be a lot of gravy.

There are easier to setup programs out there, but either they cost a good bit, aren't customizable, or both. Many people here have Windows Media Center and don't even use it if that tells you anything.

[Spoonman]

what do you mean audio/video codecs, i need to download some or...