convert my system to HD

[wjohn]

I am interested in converting my system to HD. What do I need or can I even do it with the following system:

2.3G processor
1G memory
2ea Hauppage 250 PVRs
DishNet 322 receiver (I like to stay with two tuners)

Mitsubishi WT-46808 TV

Thank you very much.

[theguru]

What kind of video card do you have?

[mistergq]

is that single core, dual core, or quad core processor?

do you watch tv on your computer?

how much hard drive space do you have?

[wjohn]

Originally Posted by theguru

What kind of video card do you have?

Oh gosh, is there a way to tell without tearing my entire setup appart?

[wjohn]

Originally Posted by mistergq

is that single core, dual core, or quad core processor?

do you watch tv on your computer?

how much hard drive space do you have?

from Device Manager:

1. Celeron CPU 2.3 Ghz
2. Only sometime on the Client
3. 500G hard disk
4. Radeon 9200 Series
Radeon 9200 Series - Secondary

[LWM4P]

First question: Why not move that computer into the closet, buy an HD300, network the two. Use the HD300 to control the TV and the old computer as the Sage Server. It will be quieter, cheaper, smaller, easier, blah, blah... It is cheap and supports HD and a snap to setup.

Otherwise, when I start playing HD directly from a PC, I made sure I had the following (This is with windows, I think other OSs could be less resource intensive):

- At least a 3Ghz processor (I think it was skipping with one slower).
- A good graphics card that supports HD and has at least 128 Mb, probably more.
- Good fast RAM, get the fastest that your mb will take and I would up it to 2G.
- If you are storing a ton of HD, the 500 gig could fill up pretty fast. I think HD is something like a Gig/hr. I use a 500 gig drive, have a mix of HD and non HD and don't have a problem...

[wjohn]

Originally Posted by LWM4P

First question: Why not move that computer into the closet, buy an HD300, network the two. Use the HD300 to control the TV and the old computer as the Sage Server. It will be quieter, cheaper, smaller, easier, blah, blah... It is cheap and supports HD and a snap to setup.

...

Thanks so much for your response, just what I was looking for. Your suggestion really appeals to me and i am going to take a hard look at it. Getting the computer out of the living room is a dream come true.

[wjohn]

Can someone point me to more detailed info on such a setup?

I am assuming that I need to move both the computer and satellite receivers to my office. The current Hauppage PVR-250s would still work until I can purchase the HD PVRs?

How is the computer in the office controlled from the living room? I assume the HD-300 takes care of that?

Thanks again for any help.

[LWM4P]

This is where is does start getting a bit complicated. I am embarking on the last step right now (installing the USB-UIRT).

- So you move the computer to the office with the boxes. The difficulty is now being able to control the channel from the living room. The HD300 does NOT take care of that, but the Sage software does, with a little help from something called a USB-UIRT that you must purchase for about $45. You can get it from the Sage Store.
- You move the computer into the office with the boxes and use the USB-UIRT to control them. Then when you change the channel on the HD300, it sends a signal to the server, the server then uses the USB-UIRT to fire a IR signal to change the channel on the satellite box.

There is sticky with information on how to setup the USB-UIRT.

[wjohn]

Originally Posted by LWM4P

- You move the computer into the office with the boxes and use the USB-UIRT to control them. Then when you change the channel on the HD300, it sends a signal to the server, the server then uses the USB-UIRT to fire a IR signal to change the channel on the satellite box.

There is sticky with information on how to setup the USB-UIRT.

Wow, that would be easy for me. I am currently using the USB-UIRT to control my Dishnetwork receiver 322. I also purchased the UHF to IR converter to control the second receiver of the dual receiver. So nothing would change there. I may be able to give you some pointers with your USB-UIRT configuration. I found the following thread quite helpful:

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47108