Recommendation needed: DVB-C (High Definition)

[ShiningDragon]

Hello com

I need a recommendation. First to say, since i tried in the year 2005 DVB-C i was NOT a fan of DVB-C. But last week, i was visiting a friend, i could see that DVB-C seems now working fairly good.

So i would need a good recommendation for a reliable (and nPVR supported) DVB-C card, which is HD capable for germany (to be more precise: the provider is Kabel Deutschland, where i will use an offer from Sky).

I am not sure, but i think USB Cards are not those, i should choose for this task. Or is my suspection wrong? Help me please.

[nia]

I have very good results with HD HomeRun. One advantage is, that it does not need to take up a slot in your PVR-server - it simply connects to your network. FloppyDTV is also working for me, but I'm concerned about driver support in the future.

[tmrt]

I am using a pair of USB TT-connect CT-3650 CI. They are reliable, have common interface. The downside is that they are rather bulky, need external power and get quite warm.

I have also tried Cinergy HTC USB XS HD, but had bad reception with it and I can not recommend it.

[daneo]

Hi SD,

pls check out my post in this forum on the new cards from Digital Devices -- they are not on the market just yet, and I'm sure Sub will need to shoehorn in the CI/MTD support, but the specs are amazing.

Dane

[sub]

Other DVB-C devices that have been used successfully with NPVR include, Hauppauge HVR-5500, Technotrend C-1501, Twinhan Mantis-C.

[ShiningDragon]

Mhm, yes here are a few nice recommendations. Thank you all for this!

@nia
Although the HD HomeRunner seems to be a fanzy piece of technic (really, very impressive!) i am not interested to put another routerlike device in the house. The server has enough slots free. ^.^ What do you mean at future driversupport at FloppyDTV?

@tmrt
Could you already tryout the hd capabilities with this usb device? What do you think? Is it reliable, stable and could be used a few hours without stocking? All i could found tihin germany was a 2-side feeling: one kind of people say "oh yes great product, wonderful!" other people say "oh god, no reception on many pc's, blocky pictures etc". ^.^

@daneo
Thank you, i will do this.

@sub
I can't find anywhere a Hauppauge! HVR-5500 within germany.

@all
How about a TechniSat CableStar HD 2? This one i cold buy for a reliable pricing. Somehow there are not really much DVB-C cards available within germany:
http://gh.de/?cat=vid&sort=p&bpmax=&asuc...=801_DVB-C

[tmrt]

@tmrt
Could you already tryout the hd capabilities with this usb device? What do you think? Is it reliable, stable and could be used a few hours without stocking? All i could found tihin germany was a 2-side feeling: one kind of people say "oh yes great product, wonderful!" other people say "oh god, no reception on many pc's, blocky pictures etc". ^.^

[/url]

I tried HD capabilities only briefly with GBPVR during one month promotional unlocked emission of some HD channels. I did not see any obvious problems with the device, but these were only short recordings so I do not have any idea about the long term stability with HD.

What I found at that time is that a lot of the problems that people report are quite likely due to incompatible decoders and graphic cards, especially on an older hardware.

[sub]

@sub
I can't find anywhere a Hauppauge! HVR-5500 within germany.

Its very new, so not widely available yet.

@all
How about a TechniSat CableStar HD 2? This one i cold buy for a reliable pricing. Somehow there are not really much DVB-C cards available within germany:
http://gh.de/?cat=vid&sort=p&bpmax=&asuc...=801_DVB-C

Sorry, I dont know anything about this device. The CI module on this device will not work though.

[newyankee]

If I am not mistaken, the TS Cablestar HD2 is a rebranded Twinhan mantis C. Should work with nPVR.

There is nothing on the hardware side to worry about regarding HD with DVB-C: At the moment, the same modulation standard is used for HD and SD as opposed to DVB-S, where most HD channels (but not all) are broadcast using DVB-S2. So after the device has been properly installed (drivers and bda.ini) it's all about the proper decoders.

I am out of pure lazyness using a Hauppauge 930c with Kabeldeutschland. But it hasn't proven very reliable nor senstive...

[Reddwarf]

I'v had very good results with Technotrend C1500, you can get it both with and without CI, I'm using the dvb-c version with cardserver/softcam/smartcardreader and the dvb-t version with CI/CAM and smartcard. Take a look here: http://www.dvbshop24.net or http://www.dvbshop.net