WARM: Hauppauge PVR-250 MCE OEM $99.95 [PRICE DROPPED]

[anxman69]

I was looking for one of these for a long time. I ended up buying one on eBay for $128 shipped, which is a good deal for this newer chipset PVR250 MCE (runs cooler than the regular one, has a newer chipset, and has FM radio). I realized that the company I bought through on eBay, has their own website where the PVR is $15 cheaper.

http://www.pcalchemy.com/

PVR 250 MCE: $104.99. Now $99.95

This makes for a good deal. I can't comment on ordering through their website, but through eBay they were fast and courteous, and replied to emails very quickly.

-Ankur

Update: I got my card and it works great in Windows XP.

 

[htne]

Shipping via UPS ground to Texas was $7.50, not bad.

 

[Capster]

This sounds attractive for a card that has hardware encoding but from the looks of Hauppauge's webpage for it, it would seem that the fm radio is not stereo. Can you or someone verify this?

 

[FuzzyBee]

If you're looking to use this in a MythTV box, you may want to check which revision it is. Apparently, there is a new version that is not quite compatible with MythTV.

 

[zaph]

up for a pvr card

 

[zinkpig]

i ve heard that these cards are good alternates to the pvr 250 . they have the same encoding chip. Any one have any experience with them ?

ATI ehome

 

[simo]

Not bad, but I got a retail box PVR-250 from Fry's for about $20 more a few months back, although if this has FM/cooler.....

The WinTV2000 software is kinda crappy, SageTV is OK though. These guys have MythTV plastered all over the page, so if it doesn't work you should be able to get a refund I'd have thought, plus it it a HTPC site!

I've never used mine as a PVR really (scheduling etc) just a high-quality capture card, and I've converted a few VHS tapes and TV programs (Clone Wars!) to MPEG and then to DVD using this and Nero. The quality is great, and being a hardware encoder means that you can surf etc whilst it's capturing (or you can use a slow PC).

Edit: this doesn't have a remote control like the regular 250, as you're supposed to use WindowsXP MCE 2004's remote.

 

[DaCurryman]

Wow...I guess eBay prices have gone up. I picked it up off eBay about 2 months ago from someone who had a bunch for Buy It Now (only, no bidding) $88.00 + like $9 S&H or something like that. At the time he would come back like every 2 weeks or so with another 20 cards...

Sorry, can't give a review of the card since my HTPC hasnt been built yet...

 

[pilgrim2u]

I have the PVR 250. I had to return my first one.

Make sure you get one that works

 

[Hummercash]

if u plan on using mythtv, might wanna read this thread before you buy the MCE version...

http://mysettopbox.tv/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1001


.//chris

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Grabbed one earlier. Had a UPS tracking number 10 minutes after placing the order. Beats SVC...

 

[gmessner]

I'm an employee of http://www.pcalchemy.com, we are now selling the same WinTV-PVR-250 MCE for $99.95.

To clarify a few things:

1) This card does work with MythTV, however the current [un-patched] ivtv driver is recognizing the card as a version 1 card and then the computer immediately locks up (the MCE card is a version 2 card). I provided a fix for this to many of our customers and also provided the ivtv developers with a card so they could provide a permanent fix. Currently ivtv 0.1.10 is in pre-release with the fix to make this card work out of the box, though I'm sticking with my patched 0.1.9 until 0.1.10 is stable. If anyone needs the ivtv fix just email support@pcalchemy.com and we'll send it to you.

2) To whoever bought their card for $88.00, I'm pretty sure that was an older WinTV-PVR-250 OEM card without FM and probably has a heatsink because the card runs a bit hotter.

3) The reason we sell on eBay for more than the website, is that on average it costs us about $10 more to sell on eBay + the extra time involved listing, etc. I wish I could just tell everyone bidding on the eBay cards to come buy from the website, but that would be violating eBay rules and we'd get kicked off. We've also lowered the price of the card because we are now buying them for less and are passing the savings on.

A little plug for http://www.pcalchemy.com, we are dedicated to HTPC and are adding new HTPC related hardware to our site every day. We are VERY aggressive on our prices and usually beat even the big guys like newegg.com. The difference is that we are customer service oriented, if you have a problem, we'll either help you directly, or point you somewhere to get the best help, most retailers have know idea on the technical issues involving the products they sell, we have experts that do and are ready and willing to help.

Greg
Lead Technical Guru
http://www.pcalchemy.com

 

[psxjunky]

<disclaimer>I am NOT thread crapping ... just trying to point out a possible better deal out there right now</disclaimer>

Z-Buy.com is selling the new version WinTV 250MCE OEM for $81 shipped. See this thread for details

WinTV 250MCE for $81 shipped

 

[darnholt]

I just installed a PVR-250 MCE that I'm using with snapstream's BTV - much better than ATI's software that came with my AIW 9700. The hardware decoding of the card is a huge improvement over the AIW 9700 software decoding, plus my cpu now runs at only 20% when watching live tv and recording, versus 65% with the AIW.

Although I'm delighted with the PVR-250 MCE and would recommend that everyone who wants to turn their machine into a media center get one, I can't seem to get the FM radio working. A hauppauge tech told me to install the main drivers and then install the radio software, both of which I had already done, but each time I open the radio software I get the error message that there is no radio hardware installed. Anyone have any suggestions? Is there a seperate radio driver??? As I mentioned, I'm running BTV. Do I need to install the hauppauge tv software to get the radio to work?

Also, any tips on good FM antennas to use with the card.

Thanks,

Richard

 

[e-Spider]

OOS at pcalchemy & it's not 81 at z-buy anymore. gmessner any idea when you all will get more?

 

[gmessner]

Originally posted by: e-Spider
OOS at pcalchemy & it's not 81 at z-buy anymore.

http://www.pcalchemy.com ran out-of-stock yesterday, z-buy.com has been OOS for 2 weeks and are now up to $95.

 

[odog]

OOS at z-buy and pcalchemy. price went up to $95 + shipping at z-buy.

anyone considering getting this card for use with beyondTV might check out the combo they sell direct from their site. for $179.99 plus shipping you get a retail PVR250 + hauppauge remote + beyondTV. separately it's $150 for the PVR250, and $60 for the software. saves about $30 with the bundle.($210-180)

might even be worth considering for people thinking about OEM cards. $80 gets you the upgrade to retail, the software, and a remote.

edit: i thought i was the streamzap remote, it's just the hauppauge remote.

 

[e-Spider]

Isn't the PVR-250MCE supposed to be on a newer connexant chipset that's supposed to run cooler? So which is better the MCE or 250 retail?

 

[psxjunky]

Originally posted by: e-phex
OOS at z-buy and pcalchemy. price went up to $95 + shipping at z-buy.

anyone considering getting this card for use with beyondTV might check out the combo they sell direct from their site. for $179.99 plus shipping you get a retail PVR250 + streamzap remote + beyondTV. separately it's $150 for the PVR250, $35 for the remote, and $60 for the software. saves about $65 with the bundle.($245-180)

might even be worth considering for people thinking about OEM cards. $80 gets you the upgrade to retail, the software, and a remote designed for the software.

Where are you seeing the bundle that includes the StreamZap remote ? The only $179.99 bundle that I see here includes only the Hauppauge remote, which comes with the retail 250 anyway. This bundle does NOT include the StreamZap remote.

BTW, if you are interested in SageTV, they sell a bundle with the retail 250 as well for $169.95 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://store.freytechnologies.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SOS&Product_Code=STVPVR250&Category_Code=">SageTV + WinTV-PVR-250 Bundle
</a>

 

[odog]

Originally posted by: psxjunky

Originally posted by: e-phex
OOS at z-buy and pcalchemy. price went up to $95 + shipping at z-buy.

anyone considering getting this card for use with beyondTV might check out the combo they sell direct from their site. for $179.99 plus shipping you get a retail PVR250 + streamzap remote + beyondTV. separately it's $150 for the PVR250, $35 for the remote, and $60 for the software. saves about $65 with the bundle.($245-180)

might even be worth considering for people thinking about OEM cards. $80 gets you the upgrade to retail, the software, and a remote designed for the software.

Where are you seeing the bundle that includes the StreamZap remote ? The only $179.99 bundle that I see here includes only the Hauppauge remote, which comes with the retail 250 anyway. This bundle does NOT include the StreamZap remote.

BTW, if you are interested in SageTV, they sell a bundle with the retail 250 as well for $169.95 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://store.freytechnologies.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SOS&Product_Code=STVPVR250&Category_Code=">SageTV + WinTV-PVR-250 Bundle
</a>

yeah my bad... i saw a remote and just thought it was the streamzap one


the sagetv isn't a retail PVR250

Software available as Electronic Download. The PVR-250 card is a white box item and is not shipped in the retail box. However it is the same product available in retail stores and the product specifications are listed on the datasheet.

 

[psxjunky]

the sagetv isn't a retail PVR250

Yes and no. Strictly speaking it isn't a retail PVR-250 because you don't get the outer cover for the box and the card comes in a white box. But the contents of the box are EXACTLY the same as you get in a retail PVR-250 ... so the ONLY thing you don't get is the colorful outer cover. You DO get the Hauppauge software CD, the Hauppauge Remote and the IR Blaster just like in the retail PVR-250.

I have bought both the retail PVR-250 from CircuitCity and the SageTV + PVR-250 bundle and have compared the contents ... except for the outer cover they are exactly the same.

 

[Tsunami982]

i want to use this as a true pvr (not just use it for its recording features). i want to do that cheesy pause and watch tv using its tivo-like tv guide interface. does anyone know if i connect my cable to the computer and have the computers svideo heading back into the tv, if the picture quality will suck? i know theoretically it should be degraded.... but does anyone know about how much?

 

[uwannawhat]

This is exactly as I intend to use mine as well as using the scheduling feature with BTV's software.

Although I can not tell you how good the quality will be as mine is backordered till 4/19/04. But I did get in @ the $81 price!

I still need to find a remote though. The one listed on newegg is generic & others have said it was a phillips before but they have since changed the description. I may just go ahead with the StreamZap from BTV as well, unless I can confirm the one @ newegg is better.

I'm sure someone will chime in on the video quality.

 

[psxjunky]

The video quality will largely depend on how big a TV you have got. If your TV is about 32 inch or less, the video quality thru S-Video will look pretty darn good ... sure there will be degradation anytime there is conversion from analog-to-digital-to-analog but on a small to medium sized screen you will hardly notice the difference.

On the other hand, if you have a 50 inch or bigger screen TV, the degradation thru S-Video will start showing up more and more and it will be highly recommended to use a video card that can do component out (or even better, DVI or RGB, if your TV can handle DVI or RGB directly).

Between 32 and 50 inch ... do trial and error to see

uwannawhat - I would highly recommend NOT getting the StreamZap. I have it and it is pretty worthless at approx $40-45 that you will end up paying (incl shipping). Save your money and buy a IRMan or USB-UIRT instead. This will allow you to use virtually any of your favorite remotes.

 

[huesmann]

Do these things work with WinXP MCE?

I don't know anything about MCE, does it have scheduling and whatnot natively like the Beyond and Sage s/w have?