EDIT: Have hardware niggle, see later reply from me. Thanks
Do you have a HTPC, running Media Center 2005? If so, what TV card do you have?
I am looking to buy a tv card, but do not know which one. The PVR150 looks like the most popular, although its only an analogue card. Anyone running one with freeview which they can recommend? I would prefer a recommendation as I can find loads which are compatible. My brother bought one a while ago, but it was incredibly sluggish to operate.
Cheers
Haupagge Nova 500-T - dual digital (DVB-T) tuner.
Not sure if theres a newer/better one out.
Quote from: KunalHaupagge Nova 500-T - dual digital (DVB-T) tuner.
Not sure if theres a newer/better one out.
Thanks Kunal!
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/113946 and with £10 off at Goggle checkout will bring it down to £44.
Not sure if there is a newer one though? On another note, why is the dual analogue one, twice as expensive (the PVR 500 one)? I would have thought it would be cheaper as surely most people would prefer freeview??
I went for a Pinnacle. Their own software doesnt work in my Vista, but the card/MCE is flawless. Even better through the Xbox360 Media Center Extender.
reason about the analogue being more expensive is that it comes with a hardware MPEG2 encoder onboard,
where as Freeview is essentially transmitted as an MPEG2 data stream, so it only needs to read the signal.
remember reading in reghardware about a freeview dongle....
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/03/09/hauppauge_wintv_nova-td/
think thats the nova-t 500 in usb stick form.
Right, got a little problem.
Have bought the Hauppauge 500T card and have it installed. Got all the channels displaying; seems to record and pause/rewind etc very well. The problem is in the EPG (Electronic Programme Guide); its just very very sluggish!!!! I had planned on doing away with my freeview box and use the Media Center, althoguh with performance like this I think not. It is a bit sluggish changing channels too.
Now, want to run the spec past you as I think a hardware upgrade may make a slight difference. Problem is I do not know what needs changing and only have limited funds.
Right, I have a standard ASUS m/b with a Sempron 2800 chip. Machine has 1GB ram and is using built in graphics. TBH, its not a great spec but as a media center works like a dream. If I was to put in a seperate display card is this going to make a difference to the speed of Media Center (music is only marginally slow and EPG)? Or do I need to change processor/motherboard? More RAM???
Some assistance would be appreciated, cheers
ive not had any experience of media centers EPG,
i think it can be set to download the UK listings off the net though i dont know the full details.
i noticed on my freeview box if it crashes and i kill the power, it does take a long time to resync the EPG details.
now when you say its slow, is it slow scrolling through or being populated?
if populated you might have to leave it on so it doesnt lose the details / clear its memory of the EPG.
Sorry, its slow on scrolling through. It downloads with no problems at all. But is very sluggish when trying to move through it with the remote.
Any help appreciated.
It should populate fairly quickly anyway.
Try using the mouse/on screen controls, I have a different make but havent bothered with the remote supplied because of speed issues. At the very least it should remove that as a possible issue.
I am using the Microsoft Media Center Remote; the EPG comes displays pretty quickly; its just navigating through channels within the EPG where it is sluggish. I am sure a hardware upgrade would help, but just not sure what I should replace. I am thinking to install a new graphics card, as I am sure it would be much better than the onboard one on the motherboard, the thing is I have not got a clue what a good upgrade would be. I have not bought one in years, so am a bit out of the loop. I dont want to play games on it; just something a lot beefier than the onboard one. Any ideas?
Obvious question - which slot?
Quite a few take a bit of time scanning for the channels as you move through the list, even set top boxes and built ins. If the signal isnt perfect it might hunt a bit and that will slow it down. If it shares an aerial try giving it exclusive use or try using a bigger aerial.
When I press the guide button, up pops the guide, it displays about 6 channels on screen along with the programme details; its just very sluggish when moving the highlighted cursor around the screen. Its the master tv and is in slot 1.
dont think the graphics card would do much to be honest,
as windows tends to be more dependent on CPU and ram, ram looks ample soooo......
what flavour sempr0n chip is it?
socket ?????
id go with a A64 or A64 X2 if the board can take it.
Mine runs adequately on a 2500+ Barton, they all seem a little sluggish when changing channel though, especially if it displays the picture whilst its doing so, it needs enough information to display the first frame and that can take a couple of seconds or more to collect. Upgrading may not make it any better.