HD-PVR is it worth the hassle?

[spaceghost]

My title says it all. I am about to switch from Time-Warner cable to DirectTV. I haven't decided whether to go with the dtv hd pvr or the HD-PVR. I currently use one HDHR and an HVR-1600 & 1800. They work painlessly. Many of the HD-PVR postings make it sound like it is too much hassle. Yes I know it is not 100% supported.

[ZetaVu]

If you don't care about the interface and want convenience, aren't concerned with recording space being too small and don't want to archive or have portable options, then the directv pvr will work. If you want to use btv, archive, view anywhere, etc etc in HD the HD PVR is your only option. The devices are fickle, some units work better than others but there is a two year warranty and RMA's are quick and painless. Signal source seems to be a big factor, I use Directv HD and it works great with my E1.

Main things I suggest, setup a clean installation (xp preferred, at least from my experience) use the 1.053 driver (there's a new beta, mixed reviews) Install TME just to get the arcsoft decoder, note there are some issues with Arcsoft not showing up in btv with some versions of TME, there are fixes in the forums) You can use the included BTV H264 decoder but it currently doesn't support hardware acceleration on enabled cards. Make sure you install btv 4.9 or 4.9.1 (beta) to get full support (to date). There is a sticky about HD PVR and a Tech note that talks about tweaks you can do to the settings.xml file depending on how the HD PVR behaves on your system. For example, if you want to showsqueeze to divx you might need to set showsqueeze to intelligent quality selector and change UseArcsoftfor HDPVR to 0 in settings.xml (depends on your system). Lastly, I recommend defragmented hard drives, no antivirus or software firewall (Us a router firewall), and dedicate the computer to pvr. Others recommend formatting the storage drive with 64kb clusters (I've never done that, no one has shown me actual improvements)

That's the info as I see it. I set my HD PVR to record at the snapstream default quality settings. I record sdpif 5.1 audio (Have to set your Directv HD receiver to dolby on) and have my Directv HD receiver set to output everything 1080i rather than native. Make sure you have good signal quality from your dish, that wil affect recordings. I also use overlay for display. Hope this helps. It is definitely more expensive in the short term, but you decide, flexibility and freedom vs convenience and cost.

[Asmordean]

I would say yes if you don't mind babying it and possibly modding your new purchase (I had to install a fan in mine which took it from crashing in 3 hours to rock solid).

I've yet to see a cable/satellite PVR UI that didn't look like it was being driven by a SNES. People might complain that Beyond TV is light on features in some areas but it beats the crap out of what cable companies give you. Search by title? Web based control? Export to DVD/DIVX/etc? 30 second skip? The Skip alone is reason enough to use BTV, though it is funky with TS files it's still beats the heck out of only getting 2x speed or 4x speed.

[geoffstewart]

Yes it's worth it.

I haven't modded mine, but I set my STB to only output 1080i and that seemed to take it from it's once a week crash to very stable.

Geoff

[TomXP411]

Like geoff, I locked my cable box at 1080i. The only time I have any problems is when it records the third show in a row on the same channel.

Aside from that, I love this box. It makes even SDTV programs look beautiful, and when I drop in to a channel showing 1080i, it's just plain gorgeous!

It also happens to be the only solution for getting high definition in to your PC from satellite and for non-local cable channels.

My only complaint is the restart bug, and now that I know when to expect it to happen (3rd show in a row), I can mostly mitigate it by watching out for back to back recordings.

[Bigbird999]

You get either a dt receiver or dt hdpvr (receiver with a HDD and dual tuners) when you sign up. What is the price difference? For my cableco it is $5 per month. So from an economic POV it is definitely not worth it. From an ease of set up, it takes about 5 min to be watching live or recorded HD programming and navigating through the cableco's clunky EPG vs the hours of tinkering with an HTPC, BTV, Hauppauge HDPVR, firefly, etc. So the DVR wins there. For that, all important, WAF, there is no contest. The main thing is that it is never my fault when a recording is missed (it is that damned cableco), she can control what is recorded, watch a recording while 2 others are recording etc. Vs. lockups, software upgrades, tinkering to make it better and borking the system and all of the normal Windoze BS that "comes with the territory". So again, a cableco dvr wins hands down. Then there is the need for 3 boxes (HTPC, HD PVR and cableco STB) vs one (cableco DVR STB).

From the above, I would say that it is clear that, an HD PVR is definitely not worth the effort. Having said that, I need some guidance on how to convince my spouse that I absolutely have to have one of these boxes to add to my collection of electronics in "the manhole" (basement where my HTPC setup lives).

You know, something along the lines of:
"Honey, I was thinking that I would get this amazing piece of hardware that will let me record HD TV on my computer"
and a retort for the inevitable response:
"Why don't you just pay $5 more and get one of those recording thingys like we have in the family room?"

Help!

BB

[TomXP411]

Here's my rationale:

I could certianly go out and get another TiVo HD or a cable DVR. Here, the box rental is about $8 a month, and the DVR service is $10/mo for each unit. So $18 a month gives you a box that saves TV shows.

I'm all about the right tool for the job: If all you do is watch recorded TV and then erase it, that is what you should get.

So how does that compare to a PVR? Well, I've put about $1400 in to my current HTPC rig (this doesn't count parts I've pulled out):
MB, CPU, RAM: $300
Hard drives: $200
Case: $100
Remote/Keyboard combo: $150
HD-PVR: $250
HVR 2250: $120
BTV: $100
Windows: $150 (estimated. I've got 10 licenses.)

At $120 a year, it would take 10 years for me to make up for not renting a DVR. Even a TiVo XL is cheaper, at $1000.

(In reality, most of us won't purpose-build a home PVR system. We'll usually use cast-off parts, which is what I was doing until recently. This drops the actual cost of the system down to $200-400. Taking that in to account, you're back in to the 2-3 year payoff category.)

But Where BTV and the HD-PVR cableco dvr's all up and down the bitstream is the fact that you're using a computer!

ShowSqueeze
Place shifting
iPod/iPhone integration
Video Games (I have 2 wireless x-box controllers hooked up)
Free Voice Chat (wireless headset and Skype)
Hulu (Oh my! I can get most of my weekly shows right here... I could probably cancel my extended and digital cable packages and not miss much)
NetFlix streaming
iTunes (including video rental or purchased shows)
DVD jukebox (keep stuff I watch frequently on tap)
network media hub
DVD burning
Future expansion without manufacturer lock-in. No streaming box or gaming console can say that!

When you add up everything a PC can do (and I do on a regular basis), you'll find that the alternative gets much more costly - if you can do it at all. For example, it's not much fun for me and my kid to play Lego Star Wars on the PC monitor, but we can sit on the couch and swing the sabers like crazy on the big screen.

[RiderFan]

My HD-PVR is an original unit and I have had very little go wrong with it. It works great, very reliable, and looks fantastick. The only issue I have is SPDIF 5.1 not working with my Expressveu receiver, but I can live with that, as SPDIF 2 channel works perfectly.

I highly recommend it.

[doubledose]

At this time I have 2 of them hooked up to dishnetwork recievers and as far as I am concerned they are pretty much rock solid. I think I have seen one or two messed up recordings, but other than that no problems here and no lockups either
Wayne