Dual HVR-1600s or go to a single HVR-2250?

[KS4UA]

I've got one HVR-1600 that is working good under Windows 7 (x86) RC.

My trusty, yet crusty, PVR-250 still works fine, but it doesn't look like it's going to make the jump to Win 7 because of the well-known driver problems.

Yet I really would like dual analog tuners (at least) for all the obvious benefits.

My current motherboard has two empty PCI slots and two empty PCI-E x 1 slots.

I am in a quandry deciding between adding a second HVR-1600 or ditching this tuner and switching over to the newer HVR-2250 instead.

Is anyone running dual HVR-1600s under Windows 7 with success?

Anyone who has, or had, the dual HVR-1600s and the HVR-2250 care to comment on which setup they preferred?

Thanks!

[ryanmc]

i have 2 1600's using windows7 and i dont have any trouble as far as i know. im not using the blasters though but i think i did try and one worked just like in xp.

[whurlston]

Why not keep the 1600 and add a 2250 giving you more tuners? The 2250 has a single antenna/cable input so keep in mind that if you want to run an OTA+Cable setup, a single 2250 will not work. Also, with the 2250 you can record two analog, two digital OR 1 analog+1 digital. You cannot record 2 digital + 2 analog simultaneously.

[mulletback]

I have an HVR-2250, an HVR-1600, a PVR-500, and an HD-PVR on the same box. The 2250 does all the clear QAM recording, the 1600 is used only for analog (and, of course the 500). On my cable system (Comcast fiber, digital, HD, analog) the signal is too variable for the 1600 to tune digital reliably. Plus, I don't have enough clear QAM to need 3 digital tuners.

Until I got the 2250 I had no idea how bad the 1600 was. Once Comcast goes all digital I'll toss the 1600 and use the 500 (or my spare 150) for SD S-video feed off the STB.

Edit: still running XP sp3.

[teookie]

I would get another 1600. Install and set up will be a snap since you already have one. All i did was plug the card in and reboot the computer, then add in the new tuners in config.

The only down side I can see is you have to plug in two cables instead of one. You should see all the cables behind my av rack where my HTPC is!!

The IR stuff works just fine w/ 2 1600's.

[KS4UA]

...Until I got the 2250 I had no idea how bad the 1600 was. Once Comcast goes all digital I'll toss the 1600 and use the 500 (or my spare 150) for SD S-video feed off the STB...

Do you think the 2250 a lot better on the analog side, compared to the 1600?

My experience here is that the 1600 recordings are almost identical to what I was getting with my much older PVR-250.

I've heard in other forums that the digital tuner in the 2250 is way better than the digital tuner in 1600...more sensitive to weaker signals, more reliable tuning QAM, etc.

But this is the first time I've had a digital tuner on the GBPVR box, so I am pretty happy to be watching it at all.

[KS4UA]

Why not keep the 1600 and add a 2250 giving you more tuners?....

Well, that's true. I don't have to ditch the 1600. And I probably won't...at least for a while.

After Hauppauge stops maintaining the drivers for it (which is inevitable), it will probably just be a simple casualty of my next big HW/OS upgrade. As the PVR-250 was this time around.

[mulletback]

Do you think the 2250 a lot better on the analog side, compared to the 1600?

My experience here is that the 1600 recordings are almost identical to what I was getting with my much older PVR-250.

I haven't used the analog side of the 2250, but I'd expect it to do analog well - my 1600 recordings are identical to my 500.

I've heard in other forums that the digital tuner in the 2250 is way better than the digital tuner in 1600...more sensitive to weaker signals, more reliable tuning QAM, etc.

But this is the first time I've had a digital tuner on the GBPVR box, so I am pretty happy to be watching it at all.

I've only done clear QAM with my digital tuners, no OTA. My impression is that the 1600 requires a perfect signal - my signal strength and SNR are merely excellent. During a scan, the 1600 doesn't find all my channels - what's more, the 1600 doesn't reliably tune the channels it does find. The 2250 finds everything and just works. Since I put in the 2250, I've quit trying to get the 1600 to work with digital.

You can never have enough tuners...

[KS4UA]

Well, I found out that the PVR-250 actually DOES work under Win 7. Or, it should anyway. It just doesn't work with WinTV7. And it's supposed to work with 7MC...so I imagine it will also work with GBPVR. When I get a chance, I'll install it and see what happens.

So, that leaves me needing a second digital tuner. This one will probably be QAM-only, because the 1600 is doing an adequate job on the ATSC for me.

Cheapest digital tuner card I see on Newegg is about $45. The AVerTVHD Bravo PCTV Tuner. Is it any good? Wonder if will play well with my Hauppauge tuners.

[whurlston]

The Avermedia should be pretty good for ATSC. I don't have any personal experience with them though.