New to MCE and PVR's

[Treetop]

The PVr-500 doesn't have TV output.

Another thing about the 500 is that it has an internal splitter and two encoding chips on the card. What this means, is that (as of now) you are limited to using analog cable (for dual-tuning). There is a white header on the card for a breakout panel, but as far as i know, its still not available.

Front Panel:

PCI Bracket:

Choosing which tuner to display is done within the program itself. Though its not as straight up as "display tuner #1". Its more like, I want to watch Live tv instead of the currently recording program... the software manages which tuner is doing what.

 

[Treetop]

For those DIY'ers out there...

Q: My PVR 250/350 come with white header (10pin OEM or 13pin Retail) what is that for?
and how make use of it.
A: It a A/V header was designed to support an A/V panel for the front of a PC chassis
which hauppauge plan to release later this year as an add/on device.
Being some user have MiniATX case this may not be option for you due lack of 5 1/4
bay so hauppauge sent me the info on the pin out so you may build your own custom A/V
panel from gound up.
The onboard header supports audio and video inputs, which can be used as
auxiliary A/V sources. In the standard configuration, this header is a
10-pin, though the connector will also support an optional 13-pin
configuration which adds Infra-red remote control support in positions J9-11
through J9-13.

Sources for a mating connector include the JST model 10NR-E series or the JST model XHP-10.

J9 - 2.5mm locking header
J9 - 10 Audio shield
J9 - 9 Line In 2 Right
J9 - 8 Line In 2 Left
J9 - 7 Audio Shield
J9 - 6 Composite 2
J9 - 5 Composite 2 shield
J9 - 4 Chroma 2
J9 - 3 Chroma 2 shield
J9 - 2 Luma 2 shield
J9 - 1 Luma 2

Taken from: SHSpvr.com

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

The PVr-500 doesn't have TV output.

Hmmm, when I was at Hauppauge's booth at CES I looked at their PVR cards and got the brochure shown HERE.

Note where the Hauppauge rep drew the picture of the TV next to the Hauppauge PVR-500 card (when he was describing the difference between their products).

I can't possibly be wrong TWICE in the same day (or can I)...

 

[electron]

none of these TV outputs are supported in MCE, which is why you need a video card with a DVI/Svideo connection. I recommend 2 seperate tuners, start with 1 unless you have the money for 2. The reason you want 2 is that sometimes TV Network tend to overlap the programming by making the program start a few minutes after the hour (they do this to confuse the DVR's), so having a second tuner should take care of that too (I haven't tested this yet as I need to rebuild my MCE machine first).

Also keep in mind that unless you are willing to pay for extra set top boxes, you are only going to be able to record the regular analog TV channels.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Thanks E. Man, you just can't trust people even in their own booths at CES!!

I will go with the single PVR-150 then, but it will still be some time before I build. I'm just hanging around Fry's and Newegg's site and purchasing stuff as it comes on sale (just got an Antec Sonata case with power supply for $58 !!)

 

[electron]

Try to find the PVR150MCE version, as it is cheaper and offers FM radio.

 

[Treetop]

you just can't trust people even in their own booths at CES!!

Ummm.... I believe this is where Donald Trump looks at the rep and says "You're Fired!"

Just to clarify.. the S-video port is an input. The only tuner to have TV output is the PVR-350, and as E stated, is not supported (except maybe Sage?) The real downside to the TV output (IMO) is that it wont display the desktop as it is a Mpeg decoder only.

And BSR, I use the same case for my HTPC :lol: At the time when I built this machine, there just weren't any really nice HTPC cases available. The only "mod" I had to do, was to mask off a bit of the Blue LEDs, as those suckers were so bright, you could see em glowing from outside.

Tree

 

[JohnWPB]

I just got my 150MCE card and remote from Pcalchermy yesterday. So far, I am very happy with the results! After pluggin' it in and powering up MC walked me through a wizard to set it up. It was a breeze! When it came time to configure it to change the channels, that was also simple. I have DirectTV Sattelite, so I cant use the onboard tuner, other than to leave it on channel 3. I told it I had a sattelite set top box, and it asked me to press "0" on the remote and hold it. That was it! It then was able to control my sat receiver with the included ir blaster, that I stuck to the IR window of sat box. Pressing channel up and down on the MCE remote, the IR is sent from the remote, to the MCE machine, then back out the IR nlaster to the set top box. I am able to change channels about the same speed as when I was changing dirrectly with the boxes remote!.

All in all the 150-MCE is a great product for the price. It comes with the card, the IR blaster, MCE IR USB receiver, and the MCE remote. Treetop pointed me to it originally, and it is available HERE
for $99.

 

[WayneW]

All in all the 150-MCE is a great product for the price. It comes with the card, the IR blaster, MCE IR USB receiver, and the MCE remote. Treetop pointed me to it originally, and it is available HERE
for $99.

Just to clarify, the 150MCE CARD doesn't come with anything but a CD and FM antenna. The pcalchemy BUNDLE includes the remote, the IR blaster and the IR receiver.