new bundle: Hauppauge PVR250-BTV

[rakeshagrawal]

We have a new bundle on our web store, Beyond TV with the Hauppauge PVR250-BTV card... priced at $139.99, $40 less than the bundle with the retail version of the PVR250.

If anyone has any questions about this bundle, ask them here!

http://store.snapstream.com/btvand250btv.html

http://www.snapstream.com/images/store/PVR-250BTV_naked_small.jpg

^-- That's a small image of the card

[Eric3a]

Cool deal.

Great price.
Should convince anybody out there considering BTV!
Eric

[rakeshagrawal]

Will the 250BTV card be available without the btv sw?

Not as a free-standing TV tuner card to anyone in the store, but we're considering making it available in a standalone fashion to registered owners of Beyond TV (especially once dual tuner support is publicly released).

I notice that it's NTSC only. Are you thinking of doing a PAL only sku as well? (not that I need it - just curious).
No plans as of yet.

Interesting that you include fm radio on it too. Sign of things to come ?
We're considering the addition of FM radio support but I don't believe the feature has gone much beyond the 'consideration' phase.

[opilion]

There are many BTV users still using software encoding. Offering this card to licensed BTV users would be great! Otherwise, we'll be kicking ourselves for having purchased BTV already.

op

[Brett]

Originally posted by opilion
There are many BTV users still using software encoding. Offering this card to licensed BTV users would be great! Otherwise, we'll be kicking ourselves for having purchased BTV already.I went ahead and sent them a few additional marketing suggestions just a minute ago on the subject.

-Brett

[attisb]

Isn't that the MCE version?

[mcowger]

Originally posted by rakeshagrawal


Not as a free-standing TV tuner card to anyone in the store, but we're considering making it available in a standalone fashion to registered owners of Beyond TV (especially once dual tuner support is publicly released).


Yes! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. I want to be off software encoding!

[Zogg]

Is this the Rosalyn version of the PVR-250 that some folks are having problems with?

Also, I have made several attempts to contact someone to see if they can change my order. I purchased the download license over the past weekend, right before the bundle came out. Rather than go through the whole return/wipe clean/affidavit of destruction process and reorder I'd rather just pay the difference. I'd appreciate someone returning an email.

Thanks,
Z

[Cris]

I have the same issue but I have ordered the new package anyway and am just about to request a refund on my recently purchased software download. Should be interesting.

[rander]

We're considering the addition of FM radio support but I don't believe the feature has gone much beyond the 'consideration' phase.
Let me get this straight: BTV is considering supporting the FM capabilities of the PVR 250BTV card but they won't consider supporting the Closed Captioning capabilities of the same card due to "technical difficulties"? Sounds inconsistent to me.

[rakeshagrawal]

I don't think we have ever said 'no' to closed captioning support, in fact I think it's probably higher up on the list than support for FM radio.

[rander]

I don't think we have ever said 'no' to closed captioning support, in fact I think it's probably higher up on the list than support for FM radio.
You are correct but from everything I've read about CC on the forum BTV has always held the position that CC is card specific and to do it correctly for all cards requires a lot of work, etc. Isn't that true for FM as well? Not all cards have that functionality so to even consider it for the PVR250BTV indicates a willingness to ignore the "same functionailty for all cards" for that feature but not for CC. That is all I am questioning. I know you are "considering" CC but the reasons I see for not supporting it aren't strong enough.

Bottom line: I'd rather see support for some features on some cards than no support for a feature on all cards. Just like the consideration for FM on the PVR 250BTV.:)

[richt]

How about supporting the ATI eHome Wonder or SOME PCI, half height hardware encoder card? I have been looking, asking, and waiting for anything in this area from SnapStream. I would tend to think that if ATI can get the driver straightened out, it would be an excellent alternative package for Snapstream because of the low profile card!

[wuduhel]

Originally posted by Zogg
Is this the Rosalyn version of the PVR-250 that some folks are having problems with?
Z

according to this (http://htpcnews.com/main.php?id=pvr_card_id_guide_2) article at HTPCNews and the detailed picture in the snapstream store this is indeed a "Rosalyn" card. check out the HTPCNews article for more details.

[eggman51]

I bought the BTV & PVR 250 bundle about 3 months ago.

I am really looking forward to multi tuner and would really appreciate being able to buy one of these PVR250BTV cards standalone.

I would also like to know that the combination of the PVR250 card I purchased bundled with Snapstream will work 100% realiably with a PVR250BTV card.

Hoping you offer registered users a deal on these cards once 3.5 goes Open Beta. It's a *great* deal for someone just getting going with BTV, Thanks for putting it together.

Eamonn

[Cris]

So what are the reported problems with the "Roslyn" card?

And how does the "Roslyn" card compare to the PVR-250MCE card? Both appear to offer the same features - is there a measureable difference?

Why did SS choose the "Roslyn" over the PVR-250MCE?

[rakeshagrawal]

Yes, the Hauppauge PVR250-BTV is the "Roslyn" card (that's Hauppauge's internal code name for this board). There are absolutely no problems between the PVR250-BTV and Beyond TV 3.4.4...

Matt's article on htpcnews is simply inaccurate in that it lists 3.4.4's support for Blackbird cards as "preliminary".

This is the PVR250 board from Hauppauge that has been shipping in most MCE systems since about September of last year.

[Cris]

Sounds good - thanks.

[aTc]

What is different between this card and the regular PVR-250? I see the addition of the FM tuner and the missing remote, but is it identical otherwise? Features/quality/etc...?

[attisb]

Originally posted by aTc
What is different between this card and the regular PVR-250? I see the addition of the FM tuner and the missing remote, but is it identical otherwise? Features/quality/etc...?

Check out hauppauge's website for details:

250
http://www.hauppauge.com/Pages/products/data_250.html

BTV(Note: MCE is same as BTV version)
http://www.hauppauge.com/Pages/products/data_250mce.html

[rakeshagrawal]

attisb, actually, I'm pretty sure that the PVR250-MCE is a different card.

I believe the PVR250-BTV and the PVR250 are functionally identical in terms of the quality that they deliver and the resolutions/bit rates that one can capture at with each card... I've asked pbmax or -dashwrx to post a little more detail.

[Zack]

At a high level, the cards are almost identical. They both use the same Encoder Chipset and both output at the same Max Resolution and Bitrate (720x480 and 12mbps).
At a lower level, they differ in the design of the board and drivers. The PVR-250 uses a proprietary design, while the PVR-250BTV (Aka the Roslyn) uses a more standard "Blackbird" design.
The drivers are different for each card as well.

As already noted, the 250BTV does not include a remote, but does have an (unsupported) FM tuner.

[aTc]

Thanks for the info! I think you generally answered my question... Just to be clear, let me pose it a slightly different way (to both the Snapstream folk and to the general community):

Is there any reason someone would buy the 250 kit over the 250BTV kit? The absence of a remote can easily be made up for with a <$40 remote (the difference in cost between the two kits is $40). And a $40 remote is likely to give you the choice of any number of great remotes (like the Firefly coming soon?), unlike the one included with the 250 (according to other reviews, it's not that great). The difference in price concerns me there is some hidden reason the BTV is so much cheaper.

Thanks again for the feedback.

[Zack]

Much of the difference in the price is related to the fact that the PVR-250 is sold in a full Retail Box, while the PVR-250BTV is sold as an OEM Card (not in full retail packaging). Just like at compusa where you can buy a hard drive for much cheaper when it isn't in retail packaging, the Roslyn is cheaper in the same way.

As an end user, the Retail PVR-250 is currently supported by more applications.... but in terms of BTV only, they will produce very similar results.

And yes, the PVR-250 remote leaves something to be desired, while a firefly would be a much better choice (of course, I'm slightly biased there).

[aTc]

As an end user, the Retail PVR-250 is currently supported by more applications....
Maybe this is what I was concerned about... I'm not expecting a card that is called a 250BTV to be guaranteed to work with any random <I>other</I> app, but would it be generally expected to? I guess I'm looking at it as being similar to the 250, with nearly identical capabilities, made by the same manufacturer, so it would seem that another app could use it just fine... Of course there are exceptions, but this would seem like a reasonable assumption, right?

Don't get me wrong... From my research, and fiddling around with your demo, I believe BeyondTV looks great, and I will be buying BeyondTV as my primary PVR app, but if I'm going to buy a new TV-tuner, I'd like to be able to test out various other apps too. Should I stick with the plain ol' 250 or should the newer, cheaper 250BTV probably allow me to test out other apps as well?

[Zack]

Originally posted by aTc

......I'd like to be able to test out various other apps too. Should I stick with the plain ol' 250 or should the newer, cheaper 250BTV probably allow me to test out other apps as well?

A regular PVR-250 will suit you better if you are looking to try out other applications. In the future, I totally suspect that other manufacturers will support the Roslyn as well.... but at the moment, we are the only vendor that does.

While similar in name, the cards are not driver compatible with each other.

[Zack]

On a personal note: I'd personally buy a Rosyln because it's cheaper... and I don't use other apps :)

[MarkTO]

I remember reading somewhere that only one Rosyln card can be installed in your computer. If this is currently true is it possible for future drivers to support more then one card (are there any plans for Hauppauge to do this)?

Thanks,
Mark

[eggman51]

Having bought the BTV + PVR250 bundle, and wanting to add a second tuner when 3.5 is available...

... will I have any problems installing an OEM PVR250BTV with a retail PVR250?

... will I have any problems installing 2 or more PVR350BTV cards with one or more retail PVR250s?

Looking forward to an offer targeted at registered BTV users for the PVR250BTV.

Any help much appreciated.

[Zack]

As it stands, only one Rosyln Card may be installed at a time. We have no indication that this will change at the current time.

A machine can have 1 Rosyln and 1 or More Retail PVR-250's installed at the same time.

Targeted offers will be announced when the software that supports mutli-tuner is available.

Think i covered everything :)

[eggman51]

Originally posted by -dashwrx
As it stands, only one Rosyln Card may be installed at a time. We have no indication that this will change at the current time.

A machine can have 1 Rosyln and 1 or More Retail PVR-250's installed at the same time.

Targeted offers will be announced when the software that supports mutli-tuner is available.

Think i covered everything :)

Yes, I think you did cover everything :)

Thanks!

I don't think I will have a need for more than 2 tuners, but am really finding single tuner very limiting.

Am curious about the drivers .. do I need to install / maintain 2 different Hauppauge driver sets for the 2 different cards?

OR

Does a single driver work across both the Roslyn and retail cards?

Looking forward to the registered user offers! Thanks again for the response.

Eamonn

[wuduhel]

why did snapstream decide to bundle the "roslyn" card instead of the standard MCE card? i presume because they got a deal on it and to keep customers from using it with MythTV and other PVR software.

[Zack]

Originally posted by wuduhel
why did snapstream decide to bundle the "roslyn" card instead of the standard MCE card? i presume because they got a deal on it and to keep customers from using it with MythTV and other PVR software.

Wow! Now that's what i call a conspiracy theory! :D

I can assure you that limiting access to other people's software was not a reason that we went with the roslyn.

The reasons that we chose it were:
1. Good Picture (on the order of the pvr-250)
2. Stable Drivers (as stable as the pvr-250)
3. Price. We are able to provide the rosyln to our users at a signifcantly lower price than the pvr-250 retail card.

The drivers for the retail pvr-250 are used for all pvr-250 cards in a system. For 2 cards, you will use the same drivers, but it will show up twice in device manager.

The drivers for the Rosyln are different than those for the pvr-250.

[wuduhel]

Originally posted by -dashwrx


Wow! Now that's what i call a conspiracy theory! :D

I can assure you that limiting access to other people's software was not a reason that we went with the roslyn.

The reasons that we chose it were:
1. Good Picture (on the order of the pvr-250)
2. Stable Drivers (as stable as the pvr-250)
3. Price. We are able to provide the rosyln to our users at a signifcantly lower price than the pvr-250 retail card.



basically i'm trying to find reasons not to purchase the bundle. $140 is a lot of money to me (student) and i'm trying to find an excuse not to.

but at this price i really can't if it indeed is as good as or better than the MCE and supported as well. basically i don't want to purchase something that will limit me to beyondTV software if i want to play around with something else. i did just learn that the roslyn is compatible with the GotTV plugin for myHTPC, which is a good thing.

[Zack]

Originally posted by wuduhel

....basically i don't want to purchase something that will limit me to beyondTV software if i want to play around with something else.

Like I've said before... there is no reason that other companies won't start supporting that card. I just can't promise that it will happen because I don't work for them :)

[wuduhel]

just learned sageTV v2 is compatible.

but hey, i loved the beyondTV trial and now i can't find any reason not to buy the bundle.

thanks for allowing me to play devil's advocate :D

[eggman51]

Originally posted by -dashwrx

The drivers for the retail pvr-250 are used for all pvr-250 cards in a system. For 2 cards, you will use the same drivers, but it will show up twice in device manager.

The drivers for the Rosyln are different than those for the pvr-250.

So what you are saying is that a system with a retail PVR250 mixed with an OEM PVR250BTV WILL require 2 different driver sets?

While I have had no problems with a single instance of the retail PVR250 drivers, the thought of mixing & maintaining 2 different driver sets strikes me as though I'd consider paying an extra $75 or whatever to avoid those hassles (and have the flexbility of using a non BTV application in the future).

Thanks again for the clarification.

Eamonn

[tecgeek]

Hi,

Newbie here.

I have read thru this thread and I am still unclear on the difference of the PVR250B and PVR250 BTV store deals with regards to the 2 different PVR card variants.

From what I have read the PVR250B is kind of like a OEM version of the PVR250 without a remote but with FM and is cheaper.

When it is said that it has no remote does this mean that there is no way to get a remote to work with it at all or just that it does not come with one, ie. you could buy a remote on your own and it would work with the PVR250B?

I have also noticed that the images of the PVR250B and PVR250 on the BTV store web pages look different than the image of the PVR250 I found at newegg.

Could someone explain what the connectors on the card are from left to right for the following newegg image:
newegg image (http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?image=15-116-602-05.JPG/15-116-602-06.JPG/15-116-602-08.JPG/15-116-602-07.JPG)

as I am trying to compare it to the BTV PVR250 image:
BTV PVR250 image (http://www.snapstream.com/images/store/wintvpvr250_naked_large.jpg)

In particular what is the difference of the red/white connectors in the BTV image versus the different looking connectors at the same part of the card in the newegg image?

I guess what I am trying to decide is do I buy the newegg PVR250 for $143 and try to use it with something like myhtppc or spend $37 dollars more and get BTV software as well?

I have yet to figure out how I will work it but my setup will be as follows:
1. Computer upstairs with PVR card
2. TV to watch recorded shows downstairs and will either hard wire thru floor and walls connection to TV or see if there is some way to use wireless to send TV/audio to TV from computer.
3. I have a wireless laptop that I use downstairs and often use VNC to control the computer upstairs and wonder if it would suffice instead of a remote for programming recordings, etc?

My main intent is to use the PVR for doing programmed recordings instead of using a VCR for this and I suppose sometimes would like to timeslip view something that is currently being recorded. But for something that I am watching live I would probably just watch it straight from the TV without bothering with the PVR.

Thanks for any help,
Tom

[wuduhel]

Originally posted by tecgeek

When it is said that it has no remote does this mean that there is no way to get a remote to work with it at all or just that it does not come with one, ie. you could buy a remote on your own and it would work with the PVR250B?

I have also noticed that the images of the PVR250B and PVR250 on the BTV store web pages look different than the image of the PVR250 I found at newegg.

Could someone explain what the connectors on the card are from left to right for the following newegg image:
newegg image (http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?image=15-116-602-05.JPG/15-116-602-06.JPG/15-116-602-08.JPG/15-116-602-07.JPG)

as I am trying to compare it to the BTV PVR250 image:
BTV PVR250 image (http://www.snapstream.com/images/store/wintvpvr250_naked_large.jpg)

In particular what is the difference of the red/white connectors in the BTV image versus the different looking connectors at the same part of the card in the newegg image?

remote: yes, you can get any third party remote and it will work fine. if you're not very comfortable with messing around too much, you should probably get the Firefly remote when it is available. there are cheaper ways, but this is probably the easiest.

the picture from newegg is of a retail box PVR-250. from left to right the connectors are: cable TV input, s-video input, composite video input(or output, but input makes more sense since you need a video card for video out), headphone jack output(or input, but output makes more sense), remote control input.

the picture from snapstream is of a PVR-250MCE OEM card. From left to right the same connectors but instead of a headphone jack you get RCA jacks for audio. basically, you'd need a headphone to RCA converter with the retail box version of the PVR-250 if you were connecting it to an amp. can't tell if this has FM input, but it should.


this (http://www.snapstream.com/images/store/PVR-250BTV_naked.jpg) and this (http://htpcnews.com/images/pvrguide/haup_roslyn.jpg) are pictures of the PVR-250BTV card, aka the "Roslyn." i believe the only difference in connectors is that it has an input for an FM antenna.

i think this is pretty accurate info, but someone correct me if i'm wrong

[tecgeek]

Originally posted by wuduhel


remote: yes, you can get any third party remote and it will work fine. if you're not very comfortable with messing around too much, you should probably get the Firefly remote when it is available. there are cheaper ways, but this is probably the easiest.

the picture from newegg is of a retail box PVR-250. from left to right the connectors are: cable TV input, s-video input, composite video input(or output, but input makes more sense since you need a video card for video out), headphone jack output(or input, but output makes more sense), remote control input.

the picture from snapstream is of a PVR-250MCE OEM card. From left to right the same connectors but instead of a headphone jack you get RCA jacks for audio. basically, you'd need a headphone to RCA converter with the retail box version of the PVR-250 if you were connecting it to an amp. can't tell if this has FM input, but it should.


this (http://www.snapstream.com/images/store/PVR-250BTV_naked.jpg) and this (http://htpcnews.com/images/pvrguide/haup_roslyn.jpg) are pictures of the PVR-250BTV card, aka the "Roslyn." i believe the only difference in connectors is that it has an input for an FM antenna.

i think this is pretty accurate info, but someone correct me if i'm wrong


Thanks for the response.

I should have found this earlier but found this at the hauppauge website:
manual pdf (http://hauppauge.lightpath.net/manuals/qi-pvrpci-250350.pdf)
and on the first page it seems to shed light on some of the connectors.

Regarding what they call the "remote control IO receiver socket", part of what confuses me is I do not see a similar connector on the BTV cards although if this connector is required for a remote to work with it I am assuming it is somewhere.

Comparing the newegg image with the BTV images it looked like the difference iin connectors was that the newegg had the audio input and IR input but in those positions the BTV cards had the red/white connectors. Does anyone know where the IR input is on the BTV cards?


I am probably exposing my newbieness but I am at a loss for all the different connectors. I figure when I buy my card I will hook up the cable TV connection to the "TV input" and probably the IR input for a remote. Is this the minimum I would need?

Are the other connectors there in case someone does not have the cable input or maybe it connects to some other device and then the svideo and audio outputs of that device are input to the card? Is this right?

Thanks,
Tom

[wuduhel]

when you buy a third party remote it will come with either a USB or serial receiver adapter so there is no need to have a remote input on the tuner card itself.

you're right, the s-video and composite video inputs are for connecting a VCR or camcorder or some other device to digitize the tapes.

[Brett]

Originally posted by wuduhel
you're right, the s-video and composite video inputs are for connecting a VCR or camcorder or some other device to digitize the tapes. S-video input is used for satellites or cable boxes.

-Brett

[noodleNT]

So does this mean I can install BTV on my budies MCE PC from Gateway and show him what he is missing?:D

[MonsterHTPC]

Not really noodle :) cause there is some microsoft code that is designed to reject all other programs not of microsoft origin and it will slowly degrade those other programs into non existance.

[Eric3a]

some microsoft code that is designed to reject all other programs
It's called Windows... :p

Eric

[noodleNT]

LOL:D

[V_D_O]

Originally posted by MonsterHTPC
Not really noodle :) cause there is some microsoft code that is designed to reject all other programs not of microsoft origin and it will slowly degrade those other programs into non existance.
And if it misses one... well, you now know the reason behind error reporting and auto-updates.

[MonsterHTPC]

/has turned off autoupdate just in case.

[wuduhel]

bundle on sale now for $129

[Cris]

So my PVR250-BTV bundle arrived yesterday and I removed my PVR250 card and installed the new card in the same slot. It was recognized by the system and new drivers were requested. I re-ran the setup wizard since the card comes up as PVr250 WinTv 88 card.

All looked very good except -

1. I have a green flashing line at the bottom of the TV image - it flashes in thirds and is synchronized to the sound. I tried recording a show and the problem was also recorded. I tried different video playback decoders but that made no difference. I'd like to get rid of the green line - any ideas?

2. After testing for a few more minutes the channel froze and I was unable to move to another channel. My previous PVR250 had never hung.

So for now I've re-inserted my faithful standard PVR250 which again is working perfectly.

I'll experiment some more tonight. The cards are quite different. Apart from the problems above the colors are also different.

Cris

[richt]

Did you uninstall all the previous Hauppauge drivers and applications before swapping cards? They have a utility on their web site that removes all traces of the old software. Hauppague always recommends that this be run before upgrading drivers. I would imagine the same would be true in this case.

[Cris]

I didn't do that since new drivers were installed at boot time and setup wizard picked up the new card. But that is the next thing to try tonight. But I would imagine the new card would not have worked at all had the new drivers not been used.

[MonsterHTPC]

Thanks for the info so far Cris. Keep us updated, I too am curious to hear first hand if the quality is the same in the PVR250BTV card. Would definitially love to pass on the savings to my customers since generally I just end up scraping the included remote since mostly I recomend a USB-UIRT/girder setup and combo with the users home remotes already.

[The Newest Newb]

Any further word on offering just the card and not the software to registered users? Thanks
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[richt]

But I would imagine the new card would not have worked at all had the new drivers not been used. This may be nothing more than a horrible flashback to all the pain and aggravation updating drivers for my old ATI TV Wonder used to cause me. The only way to get things to work right was to get rid of all traces of the old files - manually . Happily enough, Hauppague provides a utility to do just that. I hope it solves your problem.

[Cris]

Thanks, Monster and richt, I'll keep you posted.

[rakeshagrawal]

FYI, to folks looking for more information on the Beyond TV + Hauppauge PVR250-BTV bundle, I've attached a PDF of the documentation that goes out with this bundle.

[mpyles]

Bought the bundle, installed the card and software. Everything worked great!!! Tried to dial out (still using a standard modem) and after some research noticed my modem card was not puched into its PCI slot. Fixed this and now TV card does not work.

IN device manager, Under hardware device properties, I have a yellow conflict arrow at the Hauppauge MPEG+Front Driver.

I've performed the following actions:

1. Uninstall card's drivers using HCWCLEAR from Hauppauge's site. Reinstall drivers. same problem.

2. move cards (tuner and modem) to differnet pci slots. same problem.

3. Try another modem card. Same problem.

4. Disable PNP settings. Enter the cmos and set the plug/n/play settings so that you do NOT have a pnp operating system, this will allow the cmos to provide the card with an irq. Same problem.

5. Called Hauppauge tech support and they said the card is an OEM (for Gateways and some other computer maker only) and is NOT suppose to be sold to the general public. They also indicated that they do not support this card, and I should contact you SnapStream directly.

Any additional suggestions. Help!!

[MonsterHTPC]

Just out of curiosity

Has anyone used this package in conjuction with a hardware decoder? like the intervideo one that you would normally get with the Normal PVR250 or download.

Got a friend, makes for a great lab rat :D got this bundle and we are having a hard time getting the intervideo decoders downloaded from hauppauge installed on the system.

error is: Ivac driver not found

and the installer closes.

Can this third party hardware decoder not be used?

He has an ATI 9000 AIW vid card and the BTV package with PVR250BTV . . . He is obviously just using the AIW card for playback obviously.

[Edgarmoon]

Just got my bundle yesterday and tried installing. I had been using the ATI AIW 7500 to capture and for tv out, now just using it for tv out.

I saw the same green lines Chris saw, that was so minor compared to other problems I did not even mention before. I have a service call in, maybe someone here has suggestions.

First problem I solved, the ATI remote wonder got conflicted because BTV3.4.4 (I had 3.4.3) installed an updated driver as an X10 driver in USB, and did not uninstall the old ATI USB driver. Uninstalling this fixed the remote problem.

Three other problems still remain. First, video quality is terrible, not pixels, but brightness, contrast, color level, I've tried every combination and none make it look like the tv or what the ATI card does. I am coming in from Direct tv and have tried coax, S and composite.

Seconds, live tv is choppy sometimes. I had been able to fix this by recording something for a few seconds, then going to live tv, but this doesn't always work and is a pain regardless.

third, sometimes I cannot start live tv. I get a message that the video feed is off or I tried to tune a channel I don't have. Never had this problem with ATI, it would tune even if it was all static.

Right now I am waiting for some answers, but unless these can be fixed the card is going back. Actually, BTv 3.4.4 seems to have helped ATI capture, I need to test that some more, and may end up sticking with that.

System - AMD XP1600, 512MB, 300GB HD (3) ATI AIW 7500, PVR 250, Directv

[Zack]

mpyles,
I pmed you back.

MonsterHTPC,
That decoder is for PVR-250's, not PVR-250BTV's. I would suggest trying the NVDVD decoder. (free download from nvidia).

Edgarmoon,
We're suggesting these capture settings:
Brightness 50
Contrast 20
Hue 56
Saturation 54

Try that out.

For the choppyness,
Do you not see it at all in recordings?
Also, try seeing what happens if you pause your live tv for a few seconds right after you start watching.

For your third issue, do you have a segment of your log file from when this error happens?


To everyone else: The fastest and most efficient way for us to help you with problems is to submit a tech support request at http://www.snapstream.com/Support/ .

Thanks
-zack

[MonsterHTPC]

Thanks Dash will have him give that a shot :)

Good info for me to know also for installs.

[MonsterHTPC]

Grrr had him try the NVDVD one, still no go. course I will blame it on the user :) Might stop by his house this weekend and tinker with it. Will let you all know how it goes.

Anyone got any third party decoders going with this style setup yet?

[bbills]

I know this question has been asked but I could not find an answer. Is the PVR250-BTV going to be available as a stand alone product to existing customers? I have tried to contact Snapstream via phone and e-mail but haven't heard back from them.

Thanks...

[berg]

I posted earlier today (http://forums.snapstream.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14978) asking about the possiblity of a Firefly / PVR250 OEM Bundle, seeing that there was a possibility of an OEM only offer for existing customers.

I hope to hear back from the SnapStream crew soon ....

[Gunn]

Has anyone gotten this bundle to work? I'm about to purchase a 2nd PVR-250 (I have a retail version) for v3.5 multi-tuner capability, and this deal sounds good. But, it seems no one has had acceptable use of it...??

And, as others have asked and there has been no reply, ...will Snapstream be selling just the card to already registered users of BTV? I don't need the software again.

Otherwise, I'll just suck it up and purhase another retail version, ugghh.

[The Newest Newb]

FYI, I also have the green line issue and have a support email in.
________
XBR500 (http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Honda_XBR500)

[rakeshagrawal]

Originally posted by mpyles
5. Called Hauppauge tech support and they said the card is an OEM (for Gateways and some other computer maker only) and is NOT suppose to be sold to the general public. They also indicated that they do not support this card, and I should contact you SnapStream directly.

FYI, I spoke to Hauppauge's CEO yesterday and we're getting this taken care of -- ie we're in the process of educating their technical support folks on our PVR250-BTV bundle. Thanks for bringing this to our attention... I'm not sure how else we would have found out about this problem. :)

[Zack]

Originally posted by Gunn

And, as others have asked and there has been no reply, ...will Snapstream be selling just the card to already registered users of BTV? I don't need the software again.


When multi tuner is available, we will allow customers to purchase the card by itself.

[Gunn]

Originally posted by -dashwrx


When multi tuner is available, we will allow customers to purchase the card by itself.

Sweet. I hope this is introduced no later than the time of the future "open" beta.... ;)

[eggman51]

Originally posted by -dashwrx


When multi tuner is available, we will allow customers to purchase the card by itself.

Can I also suggest bundling the card with a BTV network client purchase as well.

Multi Tuner and at least 1 network client are some of the most compelling 3.5 features for me.

Eamonn

[wuduhel]

ok, i'm not very impressed with version 3.4.4 or the PVR-250BTV.

first of all, i was quite a bit surprised to see that DivX showsqueeze has been removed. not pleased about that.

second, the annoying green bar at the bottom of the screen. what's up with that and why isn't there an easy fix?

third, when i go to liveTV i randomly get a flashing image on the screen. sometimes TV works fine, sometimes it flickers and sometimes the audio/picture cut in and out.

why so many bugs? the trial version i had worked great, even with a winTVgo card. i figured updated software and a hardware encoding card would make it even better. i'm about ready to send everything back and go with Sage v2 unless i can get some help with these problems.

at the end of my wits,

john

[Eric3a]

The Divx plugin is available here:
http://forums.snapstream.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14685

The green bar can be hidden with a customsettings.xml with tailored settings. Advise you search threads on that and how to do it.

Eric

[wuduhel]

The Divx plugin is available here:
http://forums.snapstream.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14685

The green bar can be hidden with a customsettings.xml with tailored settings. Advise you search threads on that and how to do it.

Eric


DivX not available for v3.4.4

don't think i should have to manually fix any of these problems. they should have been fixed before v3.4.4 was even released.

needless to say i am perturbed.

also, sometimes liveTV doesn't recognize there's any TV signal and tells me there's no signal. if i restart, the problem is generally gone.

frustration!!

[Eric3a]

DivX not available for v3.4.4
Yes it is if you purchased prior to a certain date. If not, but you have tested it before that date, I advise you to contact Snapstream: They'll take each case on a case by case basis.

don't think i should have to manually fix any of these problems.
True... You asked though! ;)
However I doubt anything is wrong with 3.4.4. Probably a driver issue with the PVR250 BTV, maybe even a motherboard issue it seems,,,

needless to say i am perturbed.
Agitated confusion is never good. :D

Eric

[wuduhel]

Response:

Because of licensing issues between us and the DiVX company we had to
remove divx as a "free" plugin as it was in previous versions. From 3.4
and on divx will only be included as a seperate purchase, currently we
are
working on the retail version of the divx patch for 3.4 and further,
however it may be upto a month before this is released. And in most
cases
I could give you an older version of beyondtv with divx support but
only
version 3.4 supports the pvr250btv device.

-Robert


Problem Description:

Hi,

The trial version of BeyondTV I was using at the end of March had the
ability to Showsqueeze into DivX. Now that I've purchased BeyondTV and
the
PVR-250BTV tuner card I see that DivX recompression is no longer an
option. Upon further investigation I've learned that the present
version
of BeyondTV no longer inlcludes DivX compression. The ability to
compress
programs into DivX was one of the main selling points to me and
recompressing into DivX was something I did with every show. I'm afraid
that, without DivX, I may be forced to return BeyondTV and the
PVR-250BTV.

Thank you for looking into this matter