Vista, QAM and 1080p

[Dekard]

Hey guys, I used Sage pretty extensively back in the version 4 and version 5 days with a linux server, htpc and hauppage extender. After fighting with a massive amount of stability issues over a one year period I dropped Sage and switched to Vista Home Premium and have had a more better experience.

Of course, its also a significantly simpler setup with fewer features but hey! It works!

Anyway, I'm a little frustrated with the current state of the beta drivers for clear qam for Vista and I'm thinking of switching back to Sage for the Clear QAM support. I'll list the hardware I've got, the hardware I'm thinking of getting and then look for your comments.

Currently owned:
Dell Dimension c521 (half height)
Athlon x2 3800+
2 gigs ram
400g hard drive
nvidia 7300 gs > svideo > sdtv
Vista View Saber 2020
MCE Remote control + receiver

One thing I'll mention, if I switch to Sage it will be on a single box with no extender. No server\client setup, just one pc with a tuner or two.

I'll be buying a 1080p capable HDTV in the very near future. I've seen a lot of talk about about the 780 tuner and I'm leaning towards that since I've got a HALF HEIGHT pc. Is there a better half height (or usb) dual qam tuner? I'll be using the MCE remote and I've reviewed the thread on that, looks pretty simple.

Besides the video card being likely too weak for full 1080p, is there anything else I need to worry about?

[gplasky]

I'm using the HD Homerun. I highly recommend it. It sits on your network and has two tuners. QAM and ATSC or a mixture. (Also works with MCE and VMC)

Gerry

[Dekard]

I've got a HD set top box from Comcast right now. There are a mountain of HD channels available through this box. The tv I'm using has a QAM tuner so I've tried that already and I'm getting only a few channels, perhaps 5 or so compared to the 250+ I can get with the tuner box.

Would the HD Home Run allow the reception of all those channels? Do I need to be looking at integregration of my set top box with Sage or my Vista MCE box?

[gplasky]

You would get the same 5 or so that your TV QAM tuner is getting. No difference there.


Gerry

[Dekard]

Originally Posted by gplasky

You would get the same 5 or so that your TV QAM tuner is getting. No difference there.


Gerry

so, the only way around this situation is cablecard, right?

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by Dekard

so, the only way around this situation is cablecard, right?

no, not the only way.

There are currently 3 ways in Sage to record an HD cable channel in HD. One way is QAM, two other ways are to capture directly from an HD STB, either via firewire (there may be 5C encryption on the firewire port that may prevent you from recording some or most channels) or with a R5000-HD mod (will allow capture of all paid-for channels but runs$400).

Hopefully HD component capture may be soon coming to Sage to add a forth method.

Cable card is supposed to work in Vista Media Center, and on certified hardware, so a Sage solution may not be possible.