MSI Mega 180 HTPC?

[cfreukes]

Greetings and salutations to all, I'm a long time reader and 1st time poster....

I'm just getting into this hobby and I have a few general noob questions I'm hopping some of you will help me with.

I just built a new box to run gbpvr its a MSI Mega 180 HTPC
http://www.msi.com.tw/html/active/2004/m...apc180.htm

Have any of you built one of these yet? Its a pretty sweet little box. Mine is doing pretty well but I'm having some trouble with the IR features.

I put a Hauppauge PVR250 in it (not mce). It came with a small silver remote and an IR dongle. I can get the hauppauge remote working with the GBPVR interface but I would like to use the remote that came with the system or perhaps one of the original TV remotes. The 180 has a built in IR system to support its remote. Is there any way I can use it instead of the Hauppauge remote?

How do I get the GBPVR to change my Charter/Motorola cable box so I can watch the digital channels?

My other question is about zap2it TV listings. Is zap2it the best service to use? It said its free for a trial. Can somebody tell me what it costs to use or if there is something better?

[Pioneer4x4]

How do I get the GBPVR to change my Charter/Motorola cable box so I can watch the digital channels?

This can be done with Girder and a serial cable if you box supports it. Or you can get 3rd party IR Blasters.

My other question is about zap2it TV listings. Is zap2it the best service to use? It said its free for a trial. Can somebody tell me what it costs to use or if there is something better?

zap2it is free for use with free software. Your subscription expires every 90 days I think. You just go back to their site, and fill out a brief survey, and it extends it another 90 days.

[cfreukes]

thanks for the info!

With Girder controlling the remote will the serial cable go from the pc or do I need an ir blaster in there?

[cfreukes]

mega working great, any other mega user out there?