Can I use XP MCE 2005 for GB-PVR ?

[firefox_i]

Hello all,
my configuration is a Win 2k system with a Hauppauge PVR350 capture card and a Matrox G400 for the TV Out.

Now I must switch to digital sat and have a small problem.
The capture card (Hauppauge NOVA-S plus) needs XP

So I must change my OS and now I must decide "XP or XP MCE".

Now I have the following questions :

- can I use GB-PVR on both..XP and XP-MCE ?

- can I setup GB-PVR to use the MCE remote ?

- can I use the MCE remote on a NON MCE installation (just buy it as stand-alone) ?

- I know that MCE cannot play video or DVD on the G400 due to the DirectX9 reasons, but can I use the G400 with GB-PVR also on the XP MCE or are there restrictions ?

Some simple "YES" or "NO" is enough....the questions on the technical details will follow

Maybe the major question is :
Is it worth to install MCE or is GB-PVR much more better and MCE is not worth the higher price (about 45 Euros) ?

Regards
Sven

[the_e]

Hi,
I was running GB-PVR and XP Home Edition on an AMD 2100XP with a G400 and it worked fine. I had slight stuttering issues when the on-screen menus were displayed. I have now installed the latest GB-PVR and XP MCE 2005 (didn't want to mess up the first machine :-)) on another machine -- it works fine. AFAIK MCE doesn't support 2 different tuners (in my case dvb-t and analogue) so I'm sticking with GB-PVR as I like it better anyway.

What about Vista?

Don't know about the remotes.

Regards
the_e

[zed]

I don't know about the G400, but the answer to your other questions is Yes.

And I wouldn't spend the extra for MCE unless you intend to use MCE for your PVR. MCE is just XP with Microsoft's bloated PVR included. If you try to run GB-PVR under MCE, you'll probably need to disable some of the MCE services but it will work.

If you use XP Home, you'll have to get the eHome drivers for the remote control elsewhere since they're not included in Home. They're easy to get...search the wiki for more info.

[elite]

I say xp pro - I'm sure I read somewhere mce has some admin features disabled/hidden - could be wrong though...

[madcat]

- can I setup GB-PVR to use the MCE remote ?

- can I use the MCE remote on a NON MCE installation (just buy it as stand-alone) ?

Yes and Yes.
I run GB-PVR on XP Pro. I bough the MCE Remote and it worked out of the box. Plug the USB, select MCE remote in the Config app. and you're good.

I also have the MCE Keyboard, and that one did need a little fiddleing around to get it to work (some manual driver install).

[MixMan]

I run GBPVR on XP Home with a MCE2005 remote.
Had to install the eHome IRbus drivers to get the remote to work with XP Home and GBPVR.

You have to stop XP MCE recording service if you gonna run GBPVR o XP MCE.

DOS command: net stop ehRecvr