Tuner Choice

[ins-tib-ility]

I've finally decided on GBPVR for my PVR project that I've begun working on. I have the box assembled and need to purchase tuners now. I'm looking to have 2 or 3 tuners when I'm done with the project. However, I need some advice and information as to which tuners are best for use with GBPVR.

So, if you were buying your tuners to start from scratch, what would you recommend I do?

Thanks

[sub]

It depends where you are, and what you want tune. Analog vs digital and all that.

[herbs]

It might actually help if you tell us what your source is i.e cable, satillite or over the air. Also where you are in the world would be useful. Finally you pc spec might help us decide if your system can cope with 2 or 3 tuners at once.

[ins-tib-ility]

I have two boxes available to choose from, both running XP SP2 to use....

BOX 1
=====
P4 3.2GHz
1 GB DDR400

BOX 2
=====
Celeron 2.2 GHz
256 MB DDR333

STORAGE
=======
8 GB Program Drive
1 TB RAID for recording + file storage

Source: Currently analog cable. Potentially switching to Digital in the future.
Location: Downtown Atlanta, GA

Thanks for all the help, I'm rather new to this. Feel free to give me as many questions as needed for clarification, I appreciate it tons.

[herbs]

I say until digital comes look at the hauppauge pvr150 or pvr500. If you use the celeron box you might want to purchase at least another 256MB of ram.

[ins-tib-ility]

I say until digital comes look at the hauppauge pvr150 or pvr500. If you use the celeron box you might want to purchase at least another 256MB of ram.

and once I switch to digital?

Not a problem on the memory upgrade as well.

[herbs]

Look at the dvico range but cable at HDTV will be a problem until cablecards come out.

[JawBone]

I am also in need of assistance on this issue.
I am looking to find the best card(s) for my location. I live in Los Angeles, CA. I have a machine with the following specs, and I am looking to install sat, and hdtv tuners. I have an HDTV ready TV, and I currently have an old STB TV PCI tuner card in my PC that I got working successfully with normanr's help. I currently have 2 dishnetwork dishes. One (Dish 500) has two LNB's, and the other has a single LNB. I believe there are two Dish Network splitters(switches?) on the roof as well. Currently, I also have DishNetwork STBs, but would prefer to not go through the STB to use GBPVR. As far as the sat tuner cards, from what I've read, dvb-s is a European standard, but I am not sure about US standards for satellite reception. I have gotten confused after seeing a number of cards from manufacturers like Vision and Twinhan, and have compared them to some of the FTA STB's such as Pansat, Dreambox, etc. I would like to get the most bang for my buck, but I do not want to have to replace everything too often, and would prefer not using a STB if possible. I also understand that it is better to have a hardware MPEG enc/dedoder. Is there a card that has this onboard. Likewise, are there any dual tuner sat cards out there, or would two cards be required. I assume most cards come with IR remotes from what I've seen.

My machine specs are as follows
***********************************
Albatron PX845PEV Mainboard
P4 2.4
1GB (2x512MB) PC2700 DDR
NVidia GeForce Fx 5700VE 256MB
80GB HD (32.3GB FREE)
40GB HD (27.6GB FREE)
STB TV/Capture PCI (Bt848 As I recall.)
Windows XP Pro w/SP2
***********************************

Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[sub]

I'm fairly sure DishNetwork channels are not transmitted 'free to air', so using a set top box with supported analog capture cards (PVR150, ATI 550 pro etc) is probably your only option.