Which card to purchase for best analog/QAM experience?

[archcommus]

Title says it all. Looking for a card that will let me do both analog and clear QAM (through Comcast in Pittsburgh) easily and reliably. The new HVR-2250 seems nice but I believe support is lacking currently. The HVR-1800? Or some AVerMedia product?

Thanks!

[archcommus]

Also considering the DVICO Fusion HDTV7 Dual Express and just using their software (don't want to give up my beloved Sage but the card looks great), or the HDHomeRun, but I'm not sure how I feel about going the external device route.

[Fuzzy]

The HDHomerun is very good, don't let the external nature of it affect your decision. However, the HDHomerun will not do analog. Digital only (ClearQAM or ATSC). I use an HDHomerun for my OTA ATSC broadcasts, and a Hauppauge PVR-500 for analog from my sat STB's.

[archcommus]

Thank you very much for mentioning that, I didn't know the HDHomeRun didn't do NTSC. I would really prefer an all-in-one solution, even it means using the specific vendor's own software to get clear QAM. Right now I'm debating between the HVR-2250 or the FusionHDTV7. Both seem to be good pieces of hardware. The question is which would play nicer with Sage, and if I do have to use their own software occasionally for clear QAM, which would be better.

[Fuzzy]

I'm not sure it'd be worth it to have to use the manufacturers software, as working it with sage would not work well. The HDHomeRun 'just works' with sage very well, and appears, by the discussions on the forum, to be the best clearqam option for sage. Also, multiple devices are no problem for sage, so there really is no drawback to using the HDHomeRun for digital, and, say, a PVR-500 for analog.

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by archcommus

Thank you very much for mentioning that, I didn't know the HDHomeRun didn't do NTSC. I would really prefer an all-in-one solution, even it means using the specific vendor's own software to get clear QAM. Right now I'm debating between the HVR-2250 or the FusionHDTV7. Both seem to be good pieces of hardware. The question is which would play nicer with Sage, and if I do have to use their own software occasionally for clear QAM, which would be better.

If you really want an all in one, then the Hauppauge 1600 or 1800 are really your only choice. You do not want to use external software with Sage as that basically defeates the purpose of Sage.

[CollinR]

HVR1600 or HVR1800 is basically it.


For the best of both worlds a PVR500 and an HDHomerun.

[archcommus]

Thanks. When I mentioned using the vendor's own software, I didn't mean in conjunction with Sage, like trying to synchronize them or anything like that, I just meant in place of it occasionally, like only when I need to use clear QAM, and use Sage for the analog if it would work.

The PVR-500 is not an option for me because I'm actually getting rid of my current PVR-150 in the first place due to the non-working drivers for 64-bit Vista with 4+ GB of RAM. I believe the PVR-500 uses the same drivers so I'd have the same issue.

I guess the HVR-1600 or 1800 is the way to go then, hopefully their drivers are alright. And both of those would let me do clear QAM reliably in Sage?

[gblinckmann]

Originally Posted by archcommus

I guess the HVR-1600 or 1800 is the way to go then, hopefully their drivers are alright. And both of those would let me do clear QAM reliably in Sage?

Only if the QAM works with your cable system and the Hauppauge drivers. I've never been able to get my HVR-1800 to do QAM either with Sage or with Hauppauge's own software. This really just seems to be a problem with compatibility with my cable system (TWC in Albany, NY). I know someone with an HDHR that works great with the same cable system. My TV works fine with QAM, too.

I switched to ATSC instead of QAM and everything was great. QAM support in Sage is great; with Hauppauge, not so much.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by archcommus

Thanks. When I mentioned using the vendor's own software, I didn't mean in conjunction with Sage, like trying to synchronize them or anything like that, I just meant in place of it occasionally, like only when I need to use clear QAM, and use Sage for the analog if it would work.

The PVR-500 is not an option for me because I'm actually getting rid of my current PVR-150 in the first place due to the non-working drivers for 64-bit Vista with 4+ GB of RAM. I believe the PVR-500 uses the same drivers so I'd have the same issue.

I guess the HVR-1600 or 1800 is the way to go then, hopefully their drivers are alright. And both of those would let me do clear QAM reliably in Sage?

Any particular reason for limiting yourself to 64-bit windows? I'm not really sure how well teh HVR's would work on 64-bit either. I see no real reason why a sage server needs to run on a 64-bit OS.

[null_pointer_us]

Where did archcommus say that he's setting up a Sage server?

I added my ATI 550 to my existing computer (which runs 64-bit OS) along with a second hard drive, and it does recordings just fine in the background while I'm working or gaming. Very nice card, and decent drivers, too. But of course it only does SDTV.

Don't you think it's a little silly for some of Hauppauge's drivers to require OS reformat/reinstallation to 32-bit (or removal of some system memory)?


There's an official post here documenting which products work in 64-bit w/ memory remapping:
http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=14947

[archcommus]

Yeah, I'm not setting up a dedicated Sage server, this is my personal PC, and my reason for 64-bit Windows is to be able to use 4 GB of RAM.

I had a Theater 550 a couple years ago. The drivers at the time sucked and blue screened my system. It also froze after watching TV for awhile. I RMA'd it to Newegg and since they were out of them I got a refund and bought the PVR-150. And, the link you just posted confirms that the PVR-150 has troubles with 64-bit Vista SP1.

I'm not sure if I want to risk QAM support on the HVR-1600/1800. I'm thinking of getting an HVR-2250 or FusionHDTV7 and just waiting around for Sage support.

[Fuzzy]

Well, I'm pretty sure the HDHomerun DOES work on 64-bit systems. So you could probably get it and whatever cheap SD card is supported. Be better than buying the 'newest thing' that is lacking the proper support.

[crasch]

I believe the VistaView 2020 has 64-bit drivers for Vista. They are just not signed.
So you could go with the VistaView 2020 and HDHR for Vista 64.

[mistergq]

what source (cable TV) are you pulling analog from? My word of advice is if its cable, becareful. Verizon FIOS has turned off analog in my area. Comcast has also paritially turned off analog in my area. I have a feeling that Comcast will completely turn off analog in the near future. When I started redesigning my unit at the beginning of the year, I decided I no longer wanted to be dependent on analog working so I went with OTA from antenna and HD PVR for stb.

[CollinR]

Also you can use the PVR500 with cable boxes, so you need not rely on the tuner.

[null_pointer_us]

Originally Posted by mistergq

Comcast has also paritially turned off analog in my area. I have a feeling that Comcast will completely turn off analog in the near future.

Dude! Comcast has you covered.


EDIT:

A more informative DTV video, for those of us who can't parse fuzzy-warm-happy-marketing-speak.

[toricred]

I have a VistaView 2020 and after all the headaches I had getting it working, I would strongly recommend against it. (Although it is a nice picture once it works and for as long as it works).

[archcommus]

Thanks for all the feedback. I guess I'll steer clear of the VistaView. I could go for the HDHR and a supported SD card, but both of those together would run me close to $200. That is disappointing considering the only reason I need a new card at all is because of bad drivers. I won't be using a STB at my computer.

I do have Comcast. As of now we get the regular 70 or so analog channels then the random digital ones scattered throughout 100-500. I understand analog may go away within the next couple years, but it would suck to give up that many channels in the meantime.

So, I went ahead and purchased an AVerMedia AVerTV Combo PCIe. It's supported in Sage and from what I've read you can get clear QAM to work also. Two tuners, analog or digital. And, if clear QAM isn't good, it comes with an antenna too that I can try out OTA with. I'll let you know how it goes.

[archcommus]

For future reference for anybody interested, the card mentioned above (AVerMedia AVerTV Combo PCIe) ended up working very well on Vista 64-bit with SageTV. No driver problems and Clear QAM works fine.