Dave Gundry Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Hey all, hope you folks can help... Background story: I've been a Tivo user for a little over 5 years. Never really liked the picture quality degradation, but put up with it as long as I could... Then, we got a HDTV. We've always used analog cable. I made the mistake of thinking an HD Tivo would not degrade the picture as badly since it can do HD - but alas, I didn't do enough research. New HD Tivo is just as bad as the old box, and doesn't get the OTA digital channels my TV can accept when plugged directly into the cable line. So, I decided to try and get a HTPC up and running, as I understand the MPEG2 compression most of the hardware/software uses is much better than whatever Tivo is using right now (MPEG4?). So I bought a Hauppauge 1600 (1183) Hybrid tuner card and downloaded MediaPortal for use with my XP Home computer. Got the program and hardware up and running, but I am having a few issues: 1. Picture quality is very poor - very fuzzy 2. Can't figure out how to get the OTA digital channels to show up 3. Can't find a driver for the Windows Media Center remote (tried manually grabbing them out of the MCE plugin and another standalone driver source - both failed) 4. Current channel/program info won't show up (it does on my TV when direct wired for 80% of the channels) 5. Source for data for channel listing/guide info (and future listings)? I am willing to invest a bit more to get this working, maybe even go to Windows 7, but not if the picture quality is this bad... I love the idea of getting rid of my DVD player, Tivo, Reciever and huge speakers and going with a PC and decent 2.1 setup... Thanks for any help/info, Burned out & tired Dave with a headache Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlcrouch Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 i bet you find some help over at www.avsforum.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irq23 Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 They might let you get a few clearQAM which will be your locals but you will have to use your digital box for Comedy Central/ HBO etc. You can put your HTPC between your box and your TV and still record. I dont know about your capture card. Check the forum dlcrouch linked. I would also go with Windows 7 it kicks ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeamGE Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 Dave, Take a look at www.sagetv.com . I run it for all my digital OTA TV watching. Currently have 5 tuners and over 11 terabytes of hard drive space doing true HD video and 5.1 sound recordings. It can be set up to record from cable and dish also. I am using XP for the os, but it will run on Vista and W7 also, even Mac. I view the recorded media from 6 different networked PC's or stand alone media extenders. Channel listings and programing is done automatically through the web by www.zap2it.com . Once it is set up, it runs 24/7 with very little effort. If you want more details, give me a call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Gundry Posted December 9, 2009 Author Share Posted December 9, 2009 Thanks for all the help guys! I decided to try Windows 7.... For a HTPC, it kicks a$$! Great picture, EPG automatically updates itself, great UI, gets both digital and analog, just all around great. Now I just need to figure out what all the buttons do on the remote and how to tweak them, along with figuring out if a sleep timer is possible (usually fall asleep to TV), and an easy way to get DVD's backed up on the HDD with thumbnails/synopsis/etc... Currently running it on my regular desktop and getting used to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irq23 Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Thanks for all the help guys!I decided to try Windows 7.... For a HTPC, it kicks a$$! Great picture, EPG automatically updates itself, great UI, gets both digital and analog, just all around great. Now I just need to figure out what all the buttons do on the remote and how to tweak them, along with figuring out if a sleep timer is possible (usually fall asleep to TV), and an easy way to get DVD's backed up on the HDD with thumbnails/synopsis/etc... Currently running it on my regular desktop and getting used to it. Windows 7 kicks ass across the board. I am continually impressed by it. Good luck with your HTPC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Gundry Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 Update: Bummer! Wish I would have known MS changed the EULA from 1 person/3 computers to just one computer... makes it no longer financially viable to build a system for personal use Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now