Can SS with the right hardware rival Tivo?!?

[Rich A]

Just wanted to report a new finding that moves the Snapstream / TIVO / ReplayTV compatibility down a notch.

Don't know about TIVO but I do own a few ReplayTVs. ReplayTV keeps something like a week or more of guide information local on it's hard drive. It calls the server every 24 hours and updates it so you always have the latest 12 days or so.

The Snapstream also has a several day guide capability. However it's not stored locally on the Snapstream user's computer. To use it you must have a live Internet connection.

This means that with the Snapstream software, if you loose your INet connection, you no longer can browse the Guide or schedule any new recordings based on the guide data. Of course there is still the manual record, and any previously scheduled shows will also be recorded as normal.

I noticed this as for the first time in years, I actually lost my high speed internet connection and it was out for almost three days. When I sat down to browse the guide during that time it was not available at all. Which meant I had to use that "paper" TV Guide to see what was going on. Ugh.

I'm new to the SnapStream software, and may have something not set correctly, so I wonder if anyone here can confirm that you do need a live Internet connection to use the guide at all?

- Rich

[subq]

Tivo has at least a week worth of guide and show info and will start warning you via messages when it has not connected in a while and/or running low on guide info.

New to SS.

[rkuo]

It sounds like you're using the web admin interface to look through the guide. The Full Screen and Windowed modes use a local database that contains up to two weeks of program guide data.

[Rich A]

Originally posted by rkuo
It sounds like you're using the web admin interface to look through the guide. The Full Screen and Windowed modes use a local database that contains up to two weeks of program guide data.

Yup, I stand corrected. I was using the web interface as I wanted to do some searching etc. I just checked my log and noticed the lines denoting a failure to connect with the Snapstream server so I guess it was doing unattended updates. Or at least trying to.

When I went back to my "full screen" mode to do my normal TV watching there was all my guide information. So I'd have to say it certainly works well. And does store two weeks worth of guide information Thanks for the help and pointing me in the right direction.

[overheated]

Rick? how was the quailty difference bewteen the 250 and 350?

Curious to know

[Rich A]

Originally posted by overheated
Rick? how was the quailty difference bewteen the 250 and 350?

Curious to know

None that I can see. Looks identical. Haven't checked the heat thing yet but the PVR-350 has been running 24/7 about 3 weeks now without a hitch. CPU use is about the same (3 to 5 percent) during High-Q D1 DVD recording.

[mcowger]

Originally posted by Rich A


Actually it's a Shuttle OEM box re-badged by someone else. I'll check when I get home. I do have the latest SIS video drivers. But this was a Windows 2000 system.

As I recall it was an SK something (Athlon based) I'll give another look at it. I've already replaced it with the new high end Shuttle box that has the NVidia video. (works great) Thanks for the tip. I'll check it again.

You are thinking of the SK41G. Its what I have too...i never got it workingeither, under XP. I just slapped in my ATI Radeon VE, and that works fine.

[Rich A]

Originally posted by mcowger


You are thinking of the SK41G. Its what I have too...i never got it workingeither, under XP. I just slapped in my ATI Radeon VE, and that works fine.

Yeah, I put in another video card and it worked fine. It's the SIS on board video that the SnapStream full screen mode doesn't like.

I've since got myself a couple of the SN45G2 boxes. The TV out on them is fine. I'm using that without any other cards other than the PVR-350. I've installed the ATI remote there also (even though I don't have an ATI card in the box) It works fine, and I like it better than the Hauppauge remote. But the doggone buttons sure are tiny. <grin>

[flipper9]

I got the SnapStream Full Screen to work perfectly with with the onboard SIS video with my Shuttle SS40G (FS40), but not with the drivers from shuttle.com. I used the latest reference drivers directly from SIS...
http://download.sis.com/

I am using the SiS740 integrated chipset with Windows XP Pro. I do mirrored output to my television using the S-Video output of the Shuttle. Been trying to get dual-monitor to work with the full screen interface of SS(it works, just difficult to get SS to display in the secondary adapter/TV), but have been satisfied with the mirrored output for now.

[Rich A]

Originally posted by flipper9
I got the SnapStream Full Screen to work perfectly with with the onboard SIS video with my Shuttle SS40G (FS40), but not with the drivers from shuttle.com. I used the latest reference drivers directly from SIS...
http://download.sis.com/

I am using the SiS740 integrated chipset with Windows XP Pro. I do mirrored output to my television using the S-Video output of the Shuttle. Been trying to get dual-monitor to work with the full screen interface of SS, but have been satisfied with the mirrored output for now.

Thanks for the tip. I tried the SIS drivers myself but still couldn't get the TV out to run under SS's full screen. This was a few months ago. Maybe I had an older driver? I'll check that site again. Note, the x-box in question in my case was not an actual Shuttle box. It was a re-badged unit with the brand name "CisNet". That might mean something. I'll try again with the latest SIS drivers. Thanks.