Firewire VS HD PVR

[Skaught]

What will I potentially gain or lose by using an HDPVR instead of my firewire?

My firewire looks and sounds great. But after 3 different firewire interfaces, 2 different OSes, and 2 different media centres, Sage and Myth; I am still unable to get it to work in a stable fashion. It requires near daily attention and I still get blank recordings.

I suspect I will loose some picture quality by going to the HDPVR. I use a HD projection system, how noticeable is the difference?

Is the HD-PVR stable? Can I go away on holiday and expect to have a HD full of my shows or hours of blank video or a blue screen of death when I get home?

[gatorwes]

The most important thing you will get with the HD-PVR, and the reason for its existence, is the ability to record channels that are 5C copy protected over firewire. For many users, that's most of their digital channels.

I cannot comment on the PQ or stability of the HD-PVR.

[hemicuda]

I just found out last night that most of the HD channels we get are 5C'd; except for the networks and I get them w/ the HDHR anyway. That backs me into a corner where this discussion is concerned. Time to dig up the link to that USB hub to cat5 adapter so I can put an HDPVR in the other room w/ the Comcast DVR.

[Skaught]

I have not yet found a single 5C channel on my entire lineup.

Rumor has it the cableco here uses the firewire port themselves so it is 100% open for all to see.

But the firewire issues mean I only get my low channels once out of every 10 tries.

I am about an hour away from grabbing a mac mini and using it as a network PVR. All accounts seem to indicate that firewire on the mac platform is much more stable. Makes sense since Apple invented Firewire.

[Skaught]

PROGRESS!

I went out today and bought a Mac Mini. I am now grabbing ALL my channels via Firewire (well I am missing 5, but they are mostly stuff like the weather network)

I have about 20 new HD firewire channels that I could not tune in windows or linux!

The Mac is also 50x smaller than the giant 4U server I had in there. I just had to drop a USB HDD on the MAC.

Only 2 problems, my gyration remote is not really working and my old s-video STB no longer works.

I plan to buy another firewire STB soon tho so I can be back to 2 tuners.

I have yet to try my Haupage extender. But it looks positive.

[B-Figgy]

It's nice to hear some folks are still having success with Firewire. My local cable provider started locking down everything last year and it ran my then current setup to a standstill. Hopefully if and when you can't use your port anymore there will be some new options on the market.

[TakeFlight]

I was able to record all channels (except premiums) via firewire on Comcast. I've since switched to FiOS and I get nothing via firewire. That could either be because the port is disabled/not functioning properly or maybe I simply didn't spend enough hours trying to get it to work. So, I moved on to the HD PVR and I can now record anything I want. Sure, it's not as good but it's pretty darn close. And knowing that a software upgrade to my STB won't render recording useless (at least there's less of a chance this way) is nice as well.

[hemicuda]

With Comcast, I don't think it will make that much difference. Netflix streamed to my Xbox is less pixelated than any HD channel.