PVR-150 vs. PVR-250

[gomjabar]

I got a 150 because it was about 50 buck cheaper than the 250, that and I couldnt find the difference between them? Both have a hardware encoder? So...what is the difference?

[sub]

The PVR150 is just their newer model. If combines a couple of chips into one, so is slightly cheaper for them to manufactures. Its pretty much the same as the PVR250. The PVR250 is no longer manufactured and is being phased out.

[gomjabar]

cool thx

[Jere_Jones]

One major difference is that the CC are available on the 250 but not the 150.

Of course, if you're not in the US, then it is no big deal. If you are, CC are useful for many things, not just pretty words at the bottom of the screen.

Jere

[reven]

one major things to conside, i have a 150 and 350 and poor tv reception, the 150 gives me far far far better quality recordings than my 350 (which is basically a 250 + decoder chip), so the 150 does have better quality.

[BobLafleur]

One major difference is that the CC are available on the 250 but not the 150.

Thanks for the info. If the PVR-150 (and hance, PVR-500, I assume) don't support closed captions then they're not an option for me. My wife needs closed captions to watch TV so no CC is a Bad Thing in this house.

- Bob

[GeekGod]

One major difference is that the CC are available on the 250 but not the 150.

Of course, if you're not in the US, then it is no big deal. If you are, CC are useful for many things, not just pretty words at the bottom of the screen.

Jere

Are you sure about this? Can you point me to some documentation?

I have been researching this 150 vs 250 question on several forums and everyone has a different answer.

Some say they are identical in function (the diff being only the hardware chips used and the 150 uses fewer, more modern, less expensive chips).

Some say they the 150 has a better tuner, but is otherwise the same.

Some say the 250 supports CC but the 150 doesn't. This interests me because I want CC support - but the FAQ on Hauppauge's site says the 250 & 350 can't view CC.

I have a 250 now and I would like to view (and record) CC, but I see no CC support in the Hauppauge software. Do I need 3rd party software like GBPVR to get CC support w/my 250?

Thanks.

PS: Hello everyone. I'm new here. I'm going to be upgrading my PVR computer soon and will be giving GBPVR a try.

[peabody]

i've researched the closed captioning issue w.r.t. the PVR-150 and 250 since it was a major feature issue for me. this is my understanding, and reflects more than a few e-mails to hauppauge and scrounging up info:

the encoding hardware in both the pvr-250/350 chipset and 150/500 chipset is capable of recording the CC data. there is unofficial support in the 250 winXP driver. there is official support for the 150 under winMCE. there is NO provision of any kind, unoffical or otherwise, for the 150 under winXP.

i waited 8 months for CC support to materialize for the 150, but it never did. so I got a 250, and it can record CC. sort of. it doesn't embed the CC after a reboot-- you have to make a dummy recording. then it seems to work correctly the 2nd time and on. this is a major pain since the machine is rebooted fairly often. i have not figured out how to do this in a script yet.

we've been discussing this over in a support thread. (maybe it is more appropriate here...)

http://forum.gbpvr.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2882

[jorm]

I have a hauppauge 150 and a 250. The other big factor that is different about them is the 150 has an IR blaster and the 250 does not. So at some point I am going to have to sell or trade my 250 for a 150, to someone whom reallly wants CC. Probably would be cheaper than buying a usbuirt. Anyone want to trade?

[BobLafleur]

Peabody,

Thanks for your research on the CC issue. From the information you posted here and in the support forum, I was able to get CC to record as you have (2nd recording on). I am not able to get CC in live TV unless I use the buffered mode, but I think you mentioned the same issue.

I think we should start a petition to Hauppauge that they need to implement official CC support in all of their products. It bothers me that the 150/500 chips support CC but they didn't bother to implement it in their drivers, and that the CC support in the 250 is "unofficial". I have harder feelings against the company that they didn't implement CC in their MVP product.

Close captions aren't just pretty words on the screen to help you when the kids are noisy or when your partner is sleeping. Some people NEED them to watch and enjoy television. I'd like to show Hauppauge that there are more people who rely on CC than they realize.

- Bob