PVR card question

[ram4x4nut]

Hi all,

I currently have a PVR-150 (non-MCE) card and i want to add another tuner (or two). I've read somewhere that there is a card that DOES NOT have the hardware encoding and that it relies on the system CPU to do all the work. Which card is that so I can avoid it? I was thinking about another 150 or 500 but if I find a good deal on any of the other PVR cards I might grab one of them. Was it the 350 card that does not have the H/W encoding?

Thanks in advance,

T

[stefan]

There are many cards out there that do not have h/w encoding. Not true for the 150/250/350/500, though. They all do. I would avoid the 350 for other reasons, though (it has a hardware DEcoder that is... well... in my opinion crap). If you stick to the cards listed on http://www.gbpvr.com (the supported cards, I mean) you would generally be safe, though.

[ram4x4nut]

Thanks!

I was guessing that I have no need for the 350 since i have a MediaMVP.

I've also read in these forums that the 500 tuners don't seem to have as good of quality as the 150. Can you confirm or deny that?

Also in another PC I have a pvr-250 but I don't plan on moving it. I know the 150 and 250 are basically the same, but I can for sure see a difference. The 150 has a much better picture in live tv and in recordings.

So I guess it's a coin toss bewteen the 150 and the 500 since there is only about 50 bucks difference.

One other question, would I care if I got a 150MCE since I use a MediaMVP and I have no STB's? .. I'm thinking right now I don't care but if I got to dish tv or digital cable I will need the ir blaster on both cards. I'd appreciate your opinion on this.

Thanks,

T

[stefan]

Thanks!

I was guessing that I have no need for the 350 since i have a MediaMVP.

That would be true.

I've also read in these forums that the 500 tuners don't seem to have as good of quality as the 150. Can you confirm or deny that?

Hm... no, I can't =) I was under the impression that the 500 is actually two 150 cranked onto one board.

So I guess it's a coin toss bewteen the 150 and the 500 since there is only about 50 bucks difference.

The 500 has two tuners, so that might be a better option if you have the money. The 500 only comes in MCE, so it will not have a remote, but you already have one, so you would be ready to go, I guess.

One other question, would I care if I got a 150MCE since I use a MediaMVP and I have no STB's? .. I'm thinking right now I don't care but if I got to dish tv or digital cable I will need the ir blaster on both cards. I'd appreciate your opinion on this.

I don't know how GBPVR does this, but I think it works with only one ir-blaster, even though you have several cards, so that gbpvr uses the one existing ir blaster even when you record off another card. Someone might be able to confirm this.

[ram4x4nut]

Thanks a bunch! I think I will ask the ir blaster question in another post.