VideOh! USB2.0 vs. WinTV-PVR-USB2.0

[UserName]

Hello! I need to get one or more USB tuners for use in a SageTV multi-tuner system (no PCI slots open). I would like to get some thoughts from those who have used the Adaptec VideOh! DVD Media Center Edition USB2.0, the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-USB2.0., or even both.

Here are the features I am looking for, in order from most to least important:
Stability
Compatability (with SageTV and WinXP)
Capture Quality
Features
Support (driver updates)



Thanks in advance for any and all help!

[mlar]

I have a PVR2-USB, and I've had many problems getting it to work with SageTV + WinXP + EPIA. It would constantly freeze up after a a couple of seconds in LiveTV mode and/or a couple of hours in normal recording mode. With help I managed to get it to work if I first initialize it with WinTV2000 and if I set a certain property in the properties file. Other than that, it works great. No difference in quality from PVR-250 and 350 that I can see. I like the fact that the tuner can be moved away from the computer itself to minimize RF interference.

[jmeeks]

What certain property did you have to set? Are you talking about the Sage.properties file?

The issue with first initializing it with WinTV2000 sounds familiar with what people have had to do using the PVR250/350 as well. So that doesn't seem too surprising. I thought I remember someone saying that this initialization was some kind of Hauppauge driver problem, but I can't remember for sure.

[mlar]

The property I had to set is:

mmc/feature_mask_disable=10

It supposedly disables the initialization of the MPEG-2 encoder. The drawback is that I can't change the quality setting.

[jmeeks]

Do you know if this is because of some Hauppauge driver issue and the new USB2-PVR?

How did you know to change this property to 10? Who'd you get the help from?

Pretty interesting.

[mlar]

support@freytechnologies.com :)

I still don't know why it is happening, but upgrading the drivers didnt make any difference in my case.

[frank2056]

I have the Videoh! DVD Creator (not the media center) and it works great with the Sage TV software; video quality is selectable.It looks great on the client as well. I have a digital cable box, so I didn't need the tuner that comes with the Media Center version.

Frank