TV reception of PVR-250 compared to PVR-usb2

[m1ket]

Hi all

I have been using a pvr250 card in my pc which i bought a few years ago,it has the heat sync on it.

My reception of over the air analogue terresterial (uk) channels has never been as good as when the aerial was plugged into my TV i though this was just a problem with the pvr250 not having great tv reception.

so recently i saw a good deal on the PVR-usb2 device from haupatage and bought one.

My question is relating to the superior tv reception i receive through the usb2 device compared to the pvr250. the usb2 is by far better at receiving the over the air analogue terresterial (uk) channels.

does anyone else use both the usb2 and the pvr250 and can they confirm this is the same on their setup or could i maybe have a problem with my PVR250

cheers
mike

[WirelessDJ]

I have the USB 2 device and it works well with the hauppauge software, sage tv. The video is EXCELLENT

However, with snap stream I am told that it can not change the quality of the recordings.

can anyone tell me if this has been addressed?

It is NOT the card. other programs can control the video quality settings.

please add full support for the hauppauge WinTV PVR USB 2

[Brett]

The comment about full support is dated it was fixed back in 3.3 as long as you use the latest drivers from Hauppuage. Personally, I have both a USB2 and 250 in my system and can not tell the difference between the recordings, plus they work well together in the system. Perhaps the coax splitter is messed up did you try swaping the coax cables?

-Brett

[WirelessDJ]

so you are saying that the pvr usb2 works 100% with snapstream? cool

[Brett]

Originally posted by WirelessDJ
so you are saying that the pvr usb2 works 100% with snapstream? cool

yep, infact SS now sells it bundled with their software.

-Brett

[m1ket]

Originally posted by m1ket
Hi all

I have been using a pvr250 card in my pc which i bought a few years ago,it has the heat sync on it.

My reception of over the air analogue terresterial (uk) channels has never been as good as when the aerial was plugged into my TV i though this was just a problem with the pvr250 not having great tv reception.

so recently i saw a good deal on the PVR-usb2 device from haupatage and bought one.

My question is relating to the superior tv reception i receive through the usb2 device compared to the pvr250. the usb2 is by far better at receiving the over the air analogue terresterial (uk) channels.

does anyone else use both the usb2 and the pvr250 and can they confirm this is the same on their setup or could i maybe have a problem with my PVR250

cheers
mike

anyone got any odeas on this?

[MarkTO]

The hardware in the PVR-250 and USB2 is fairly similar. The reason you receive better over the air reception on the USB2 is because the tuner/antennae is farther away from all the interference generated by the electrical components (CPU, hard drive...) inside your computer. You can test this out yourself with a portable radio. You will notice that you get all sorts of static as you move your radio closer to the computer. CRT monitors are another big source of interference.

You may be able to get even better reception if you buy a longer USB extension cable and move the USB2 farther away from other electrical devices.

People using cable usually aren't affected as much since they have a stronger signal and the cable is better shielded.

[m1ket]

im totally happy with the current reception of the usb2 device i will probably get another of these to replace the pvr250 as the reception is not good enough

[Rem]

I've had the same experience with the USB-2 vs WinTV PC Cards. I've had several different versions of the PC card with Ok results, but when I switched to the USB version, my picture is much cleaner (especially CH2 which was always poor to fair even after amplifing).

The only down side is that I sometimes listen to AM Talk radio while working, and the USB-2 (if running) causes lots of hash on the AM Radio, even though I use an outdoor antenna on it and they are pretty far apart...

Another gotcha on the USB-2 is that if you power it down along with your PC on the same powerstrip, it will fail to initialize and start-up upon boot-up. I called Happague and they acknowledged this as a problem. If the USB-2 is always powered, then the PC can be cycled without any issues...