Hauppauge HD-PVR

[noodleNT]

How well is the HD-PVR working with BTV?

[tmar89]

Depends on who you ask. But to summarize it, it is still in beta support and not guaranteed to work with perfect stability.

[ZetaVu]

I've tried a few surveys, not a lot of responses but the majority are able to run well enough to be happy. Many people have to reboot their HD PVR occasionally, something sets it off and locks it. A few have more complex problems. I've been running the last few months without any errors. A lot has to do with how clean your incoming signal is (signal strength, locked output resolution, spdif or not) and some possibly hardware (overheating HD PVR, usb connection, IR noise aka tape over the HD PVR it port) and some may be installation, drivers, etc. I suspect a lot of the RMA'd HD PVR's are just being tested and sent out to other customers, which leads to repeat issues. Assuming no hardware issues, clean install and latest drivers you're chances are good that you won't have much trouble, but there may be a learning curve. Some claim Sage is better but I've seen the same amount of complaints there as here. Hauppauge is good about RMA's so you shouldn't worry about the hardware, and remaining bugs in BTV hopefully will be addressed in the next beta. Like I said, I'm running the HD PVR as good as any of my other tuners, and don't even give it another thought.

[tmar89]

ZetaVu, do you have luck running it as Live TV or just as a recording device? or both?

[ZetaVu]

I don't run as livetv normally, but last night I watched the comedy central Burned special pretty much real time (I started timeshifted but caught up with the present). No issues. I run at default bitrate settings which probably helps, and I get a very good satellite signal. I suspect most people with problems have worse problems with livetv since it has to capture as well as play back. I use the arcsoft decoder, with hardware acceleration I use about 10% cpu during playback. I also lock my stb output resolution to 1080i and use spdif audio. I've also played back HD PVR recordings while other shows were being recorded by the HD PVr, no issues.

[tmar89]

That's cool. I wish I could lock out my STB output. I got this new crappy Motorola DCX3200 HD tuner from RCN and it doesn't have any settings or display. So it makes it difficult to work with and I can't even set up my USB-UIRT. It has a firewire port but it's disabled. Anyway, not hijacking here. I recently upgraded to the 1.0.5.6 drivers with the latest TME software and with TME, it works very well. Going to experiment with BTV once I get the USB-UIRT going.

[Cal]

Good timing on the the thread.

I'm still reading though that massive thread about them. But I think I'm going to get a couple in the next month or so. I've bought the HD receivers. Now I need to buy the capture cards and the TV to show it on. My 2 HD receivers can lock output and they are putting out what looks like a very clean signal so I think I should be good.

Your summery is pretty much the impression I'm getting from that other big thread. Thanks.

[noodleNT]

Any issues with more than one HD Tuner in use at the same time?

[mits]

I'm running three hd pvrs and three hd directv tuners with USBUIRT zones, and everything works for three to eight weeks at a time. Only thing I have to do sometimes is to power off and back on the hd pvrs when the btv server says it can't find a tuner to record on from a client machine. BTV server just sits in the garage and serves clients throughout the house. HD PVRs are IR taped over, tuners are set to fixed 1080i out only and audio at spdif only.

[noodleNT]

I think the HD-PVR is the way to go. I honestly don't like the HDHomeRun. Setup is a PITA now that comcast has over 100 channels available to setup. It is just not worth the time for the few HD channels I get. Besides, the premium HD is the stuff I watch anyway.

[noodleNT]

No issues with Live HD TV on those?

[koan00]

Originally Posted by noodleNT

I think the HD-PVR is the way to go. I honestly don't like the HDHomeRun. Setup is a PITA now that comcast has over 100 channels available to setup. It is just not worth the time for the few HD channels I get. Besides, the premium HD is the stuff I watch anyway.

I doubt you would say that if you owned a HD-PVR. I would rather pay the penalty of a difficult setup, in order to get something that works reliably. I only ditched my HDHR's because I switched providers to a provider that only gives OTA feeds in clear QAM. I would switch back to the HDHR in a hearbeat if that changed.

As is now with the HD-PVR, success is a crap shoot. We all have a bunch of voodoo methods we think will make the devices more stable. No one can really say if they work or not. Support form snapstream is practically non-existent and they give little to no feedback to the user base regarding progress.

[tscales]

HD PVR works pretty much flawlessly for me. I record a solid 20-24 hours a day (building my movie library). Locks up maybe once every 3-4 weeks.

So, it works well for some.

[koan00]

I guess it comes down to how you define flawlessly. I would not consider regularly predictable locks ups to be "flawless" operation. That would be a major flaw in my book.

It's also a flaw I have never experienced with any other tuning device in BTV, so I would also consider it sub-par.

[ZetaVu]

Well, I haven't had to reset my HD PVR I think all summer, so yes, it is flawless for me. I think it comes down to the intricate details of your setup and your luck with the hardware. I've tried to post my setup to make a sticky and several polls to trace the issue, but limited input from others. Maybe I'll try again, just for the hell of it.

HD PVR install suggestions