PVR-350 with GB-PVR Questions

[aspwebwiz]

I am building my own PVR and after a lot of research have narrowed down my best options to to using the PVR-350/250  + Media-MVP from Hauppauge with GB-PVR Software ( based primarily on a very good byopvr.com website article).  However, I do have a few questions  I am hoping to get answers to here:

(1) Let us say I use just the PVR-350 Card (no Media-MVP) and use its TV Out feature  to playback on a TV.  Would the GB-PVR interface be displayed on the TV or would it only display on the PC monitor ?  
(2) If yes for 1 above and if the  TV and PC are in the same room  can I use the PVR-350 Remote to control the GB-PVR Interface Menu (pointing the remote towards the PC) ?

(3) Would I be able to watch, pause and record Live TV using just the TV (not the PC Monitor ) with just the PVR-350 (tv-out enabled) and the GB-PVR or do I also need to buy the Media-MVP for this to happen ?

I know the Media-MVP does a lot more than just play/record live TV - but I am not interested in its other features ( play MP3s, display Photos etc).  

So basically, I am just interested in doing all my playback/recording using the TV and not the PC monitor and want to know if this is possible using just the PV-350 with GB-PVR and the supplied remote.

The other confusing thing about the Media-MVP is that it has a MPEG decoder - but apparently so does the PVR-350 for the TV-Out.  So if I do use a Media-MVP the PVR-350 would be a waste (other than the FM tuner and radio) so I suppose I should only purchase the less expensive PVR-250 ?


Thanks a lot in advance for any help !

[sub]

1) You'd see the GB-PVR user interface and video on the TV out of the PVR350.

2) Yes, the remote can control GB-PVR.

3) Yes you're "able to watch, pause and record Live TV on your TV". Its worth noting that, while you can use the full range of pause/play/ff/rw/skip on "already recorded" video, live tv only allows for pause & play (no ff/rw/skip) on the MVP or PVR350. This is still basically a work in progress, and I'll have this working sometime in the near future.

Its also worth noting the PVR350 drivers can be very picky and dont work reliably with alot of machines.

[aspwebwiz]

Thanks for the reply - that is very helpful.

The question remains though - can I just use the PVR-350 + GB-PVR to accomplish all this OR
do I need PVR-350 + GB-PVR + Media-MVP as well ?
In other words is the Media-MVP essential to the mix to accomplish all of the above ?


Thanks !

[jquinlan]

You can do all of it without an MVP, the MVP will giver you an aditional interface for another TV if you so desire.

[jquinlan]

Quote[/b] ]The other confusing thing about the Media-MVP is that it has a MPEG decoder - but apparently so does the PVR-350 for the TV-Out.  So if I do use a Media-MVP the PVR-350 would be a waste (other than the FM tuner and radio) so I suppose I should only purchase the less expensive PVR-250 ?

The 250 is always an option if the 350 drivers start to give you problems as Sub mentioned. You can use the MVP with your main TV so you can place the GB-PVR server in another room due to noise and use the 250 as the capture/tuner card. The MVP works as a small PC client for GB-PVR, so you don’t have to build a small PC like the Beyond TV and Sage clients just require for a second or third TV.