hauppauge hd-pvr

[stefan]

A few years back I was told the only way to record/view HD material from an HD box (in gbpvr/nextpvr) was hauppauge hd-pvr. Is that still the recommended device or is there something newer out there I should go for?

<background info>
I was originally planning on getting some dvb-s2 card to put in the computer, but the rumors here are that the two satellite distributors here have or are about to user card pairing, which means I might not get it to work in my computer. So to save some nerves, I thought the best course of action might be to use the box they provide me with and then the USB-UIRT blaster as a channel changer (or does the hauppauge hd-pvr have a built in blaster, maybe?) Today I use the USB-UIRT as a remote receiver only.
</background info>

[stefan]

Followup question: the provider I'm interested in seems to ship only a box without composite out (only hdmi out). Am I screwed then?

[stefan]

Hm. Found the colossus now. Is that what I want? Seems to have hdmi input. Does that work, I wonder? Then I only need to check if my motherboard has pci express... I'm so off on computer hardware nowadays... the motherboard is completely new, is it likely to have pci express then?

[InVermont]

If I understand it correctly, the Colossus HDMI input will only work on un-encrypted content. I will assume that is stuff not protected by HDCP.
I can't imagine your cable provider putting content out in the clear.

[stefan]

If that's true, then it's certainly good to know. This is a satellite provider but i assume it's the same for them. Thanks. Can anyone confirm?

[tonyimp]

I own an HD-PVR. Up until recently, it was failry unreliable. I would ve to reboot it every week or so. I upgraded to their recent software, maybe a month ago, and it has been much better.
I have been using Happauge products for years. HD-PVR seems to be a one-off. I never got the feeling that this product was as annointed as the 150/250 or even the 1600 (which was also dicey for me, but it seemed to have more support from Hauppauge).

I have the analog out version. The pic quality is very good and the pass through over components is also pretty good. I get a warm fuzzy working with analog. I feel a bit mopre future proof. I would avoid the HDMI becasue provider rumors have a way of turning into cost, inconveniece and instability for us.

I was not able to get it to work with NPVR reliably (although the drivers were awful, so I cannot say that ANY of the blame lies with NPVR). I got it to work with MCR, but the content was copy protected. I am currently using the included TME (TOtal Media Extreme) and WIn Schedulr solution.
As far as bells and whitles, the switch from clear QAM to lightly encrypted dgital signals set my rig back by about five years. I feel like a cave man, using blasters, duck tape and an analog signa. That being said, it does what it says it will, most of hte time.

I will probably take one more crack at NPVR + HDPVR, as I have been so happy with GBPVR over the years. That being said, digital cable all but killed the HTPC concept for me. I would look elsewhere then the HD-PVR. I think there is better technology (cable card kind of stuff) out there. I would not reccomend this product, as it is sort of a brute force approach that seems a bit unstable. But 80% of the time, it does what it says it will.

[mvallevand]

@tonyimp what O/S are you using? I am using Vista and for 1.5 years my HD-PVR has been rock solid. In fact I've had more troubles with my internal HVR 1600 and ATI 650 drivers not being identified after sleep than with the HD PVR.

I did have to set my STB to output a fixed format because channel changing caused some problems. I asked sub several times if he could tune twice to avoid the problem but he doesn't seem to be interested in this solution. I use SPDIF component and older drivers if that makes a difference.

Martin

[wtg]

I've have pretty good results with my HD-PVR too. I've had problems with it failing but have also found that resetting it about once a week solves those problems - mostly. I've had 1 failure in the last 4 or 5 months.

Unless you can use a cablecard tuner and are willing to use Windows Media Center, I think the HD-PVR and/or Colossus are the only game in town. There's no legitimate option for recording encrypted content via HDMI. Supposedly the HDFury2 used to be an option, but it seems to have been pulled from the market due to legal threats. Wish I'd have bought one when I could have.

[smajor]

Don't forget, the early revs had serious overheating/locking problems.

Just recently, I consolidated my two Time Warner Set Top Boxes and two HD-PVRs to a single NPVR server that 4 PC clients connect to.

It's worked out pretty well so far. I too have had occasional problems - live TV just... stopping or recordings failing. My gut tells me two things: 1) they are a little less stable with NPVR than GB-PVR. 2) I'm not convinced it's their drivers, I think the Arcsoft codecs as shipped with them are crap.

Going with assumption #2, I'm considering trying some different codecs with the HD-PVR.

Since we're on the HD-PVR topic here, has anyone found decent substitutes for the Arcsoft codes for use with it?

[mvallevand]

Since we're on the HD-PVR topic here, has anyone found decent substitutes for the Arcsoft codes for use with it?

In a recent post you wrote "As such, I'm not interested in devices like Popcorn Hour, or other media jukeboxes." but be aware I have enjoyed thousands of flawless hours of playback on the NMT since NPVR first came out.

Martin