Complete Newbie - couple of questions

[dchurch24]

Hi, I have searched the forum but can't find any reference to Windows 2003 apart from in relation to the MVP.

Will GBPVR run on this OS? Or would it be better to have WinXp. The reason I have server software is that whilst not recording tv, the machine would be an access point into my home network and I need to use Remote Desktop to get to it.

My hardware is a Dual Core 2.8mhz P4 with 512meg RAM, GEForce4MX440 Tv-Out.

I haven't yet bought a TV-'in' card, but am looking at the PVR-250.

Also, I assume that I need to plug a 'freeview' box into the PVR-250 and that the PVR-250 is cabable of changing the channel on the box - is this correct, or am I a complete newb?

...or would a Nova-T be a better option?

I'm going to start putting this machine together tonight, so all help, pointers would be appreciated :-)

Thanks in advance.

[KS4UA]

I own a WinTV-PVR-250, but if you are planning on tuning and recording analog TV, you should look at the newer PVR-150 instead. (The PVR-150 is basically an updated verison of PVR-250.)

The full retail version of the PVR-150 (not the MCE version) comes bundled with a remote control and an IR Blaster. That's what it uses to tune external cable boxes, satellite receivers, etc.

Last time I looked, the standard PVR-250 does not offer that capability.

(I live in the USA, so I can't help you with the Nova-T. It's not applicable to us over here.)

[dchurch24]

Thanks for the fast reply.

Do I need a seperate card for receiving the digital input? (The Nova-T is a digital receiver too, I believe).

I have a GEForce MX 4 440 too, will the TV-out be sufficent with this card?

[stefan]

Do you want to receive both analog and digital channels? The pvr-150 can only receive the analog channels. The nova-t can only receive (freeview) digital channels.

However, you can put the output of a digital set top box into one of the inputs on the pvr-150 (s-video or the likes). In this case you will need a channel changer in order for gbpvr to be able to change channels on the STB for you. The pvr-150, like KS4UA said, comes with one of these. It's not guaranteed it will work with your box, though. Somewhere here on the forum there is a link to an official list of supported boxes. If your box is not supported, you can buy an usb-uirt: http://www.usbuirt.com which works with most, if not all, STB.

[nemulate]

Personnlly i reckon a Nova-T pci would be a better bet for you. No need to worry about IR - blaster etc to change channels as it receives all the freeview channels! Works fine on my stystem along with a lot of other people here!

[stefan]

It all depends on where you live, I guess. Here, we only get 4 or 5 freeview channels (depends on how you count, two of them are time shared), and only two of them are of interest. For me, a STB where I can have the scrambled channels is a must... Now, when I can watch the scrambled channels through GBPVR/nova-t, then I would probably change my opinion =)

[dchurch24]

Thank you very much for the quick replies, very much appreciated.

I think the Nova-T is the one for me - we can get all the freeview channels here, thankfully - and I'm not bothered about analog tv.

I'm just a bit confused; With the Nova-T and the MX4 440, do I have enough to get going, and does the Nova-T come with a remote?

Also, will the software (assuming I can get drivers for the MX4 and the Nova-T) run on Windows 2003?

[djtaylor]

Hi, I have searched the forum but can't find any reference to Windows 2003 apart from in relation to the MVP.

Will GBPVR run on this OS? Or would it be better to have WinXp. The reason I have server software is that whilst not recording tv, the machine would be an access point into my home network and I need to use Remote Desktop to get to it.

Windows XP has remote desktop.

Yes the Nova-T comes with a remote.

David.

[dchurch24]

You learn something every day ;-) I didn't know that.

Does it work in exactly the same way, and is it a plug-in?

[nemulate]

Does XP Home have it also? Only have XP Pro which as you say does!