Plextor ConvertX PX-TV402U Use With BT & Firefly?

[berndu]

I am just starting out in building a PC based PVR. I am just in the planning stages at this time. I would like a good video capture card for converting analog video to digital in the process of building my system. The "new" Plextor ConvertX PX-TV402U seems like a versatile video capture / PVR unit.

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience yet in using a ConvertX unit with SnapStream Firefly and Beyond TV? Would the Firefly require any custom programing to get it to operate properly with the ConvertX unit and associated Intervideo WinDVR software? How much programming is required (if any)? Or is this just not possible? Do I just read through the forum posts to figure this out? Or is there any particular posts that give basic tutorials on how to do this?

Any information that can be passed along would be appreciated.

[Brett]

The ConvertX PX-TV402U is not yet supported by BTV, but will be in the "near" future.

No programming is needed for FireFly to work with WinDVR.

However, since BTV does not yet support the Plextor, and I wouldn't use WinDVR if my life depended on it, I would actually suggest checking out the PVR500: http://store.snapstream.com/btvandpvr500.html

Assuming you have standard cable, and not a dish, this is a hot ticket item right now.

-Brett

[nanook105]

I have a ConvertX - PX-M402U, and I have used it to record MPEG2 with BTV (even though it is not "officially supported").

[Brett]

Originally Posted by nanook105

I have a ConvertX - PX-M402U, and I have used it to record MPEG2 with BTV (even though it is not "officially supported").

Goodie a beta tester, if anyone else has these devices, can you send me a quick PM. No beta testing is going on now, but we need to create a list for when it does happen.

-Brett

[berndu]

I am not familar with Hauppauge products. Are Hauppauge tuner / video capture devices regarded as high quality products? My original intent was to look for an analog video caputre device. The Canopus ADVC-100/110 caught my eye. From all the reviews that I read the ADVC-100/110 was given much praise as a very high quality product. Does Hauppague enjoy the same status? In other words, what kind of reputation does Hauppauge tuners / analog devices have compared to other high quality brands?

Originally Posted by Brett

I would actually suggest checking out the PVR500: http://store.snapstream.com/btvandpvr500.html

Assuming you have standard cable, and not a dish, this is a hot ticket item right now.

-Brett

Yes, I do use a satellite dish and not cable. I am guessing that the advantage with cable is that one can feed directly into the tuner (s) to give the ability to watch one channel and record another. Corrrect? Otherwise a second receiver would be needed to do this with a satellite dish.

Would it make more sense to purchase a PVR150 since I won't be using the 2nd tuner in the near future. Or are there other (extra) features with the PVR500 that justify the added expense? What are the specs on the PVR500. It appears to be an industry standard that video capture cards have a resolution of 720 x 480 (NTSC) @ 29.97 fps. I am guessing that the PVR500 has comparable specs. I could not find any specs on their website.

Does the PVR500 come with or support an IR Blaster? By the way, what does an IR Blaster plug into? USB port? I suppose that I could add a low speed data cable to do control my Hughes satellite receiver since it has a DB9 low speed data port.

I want good quality video for the PVR functions. But most important is that the device gives excellent video when converting from analog to digital when capturing home video. I don't want to comprimise in that area. Am I better off purchasing a stand alone device like the Canopus ADVC-100/110 if I am that picky? Or do you feel the Hauppauge device can yield excellent results? Do you know of any reviews of Hauppauge PVR / video capture products?

Thanks for any info that you can pass along.

[lectro]

Assuming you have standard cable, and not a dish, this is a hot ticket item right now.

I'm assuming this means digital cable is not an option?

Is it possible for btv use different channel lineups for each of the tuners so that one tuner can use the line-in with the cable box changing channels via a serial cable or ir blaster (for the digital channels) and the other tuner can use the coax for the lower, standard cable channels?