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

[Tsunami982]

i have a 32in tv so i guess i should be fine. thanks psxjunky. what do you recommend in the way of remotes?

 

[sync]

What is a good site for learning about PVR software and hardware?

 

[dailyfreestuff]

htpcnews.com

 

[mtcabral]

Hi, Greg,

I ordered one of these guys from you guys last week, so I'm anxiously awaiting its arrival. Since it's OEM, do I get the CD with it? If not, can you point me to exactly what I need to download to get whay I need?

Thanks!
Mike

Originally posted by: 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

 

[dailyfreestuff]

downloaded the drivers from pcalchemy, and its running great with sagetv

 

[psxjunky]

Originally posted by: Tsunami982
i have a 32in tv so i guess i should be fine. thanks psxjunky. what do you recommend in the way of remotes?

I am using the Home Theater Master MX-500 remote thru IRMan with my SageTV box. This combination works soooo well that I don't think I will ever want to switch Sure it is a bit pricy, but if you have a bunch of appliances in your home theater setup to control, and you want to manage everything thru one remote, then you will be hard pressed to find a better choice.

 

[gmessner]

Originally posted by: mtcabral
Hi, Greg,

I ordered one of these cards from you guys (http://www.pcalchemy.com/) last week, so I'm anxiously awaiting its arrival. Since it's OEM, do I get the CD with it? If not, can you point me to exactly what I need to download to get what I need?

Thanks!
Mike

We have a download site at:
http://www.pcalchemy.com/downloads.php

You'll find everything you need there.

 

[huesmann]

Okay.

 

[Tsunami982]

thanks for the link gmessner...

 

[Shyatic]

Any more in stock here?

 

[htpcguru]

Originally posted by: Scribe
Any more in stock here?

Looks like the WinTV-PVR-250 MCEs will be available at the end of April or the beginning of May. We will soon offering all the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR products. Below is our proposed price list and availability:

WinTV-PVR-250 MCE (OEM) $99 (available ~4/30)
WinTV-PVR-250 (whitebox retail*) $119 (available ~4/30)
WinTV-PVR-350 (whitebox retail*) $164 (available ~4/26)
WinTV-PVR-USB2 (whitebox retail*) $164 (available ~4/26)
MediaMVP (retail) $89 (available ~4/26)

* The whitebox retail products are exactly the same spec as what you'd buy at a retail outlet minus the pretty Hauppauge box, like the retail version the whitebox package includes the PVR, a Hauppauge remote, and the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-250/350 or USB2 software CD-ROM.

The availability dates are not cast in stone nor are the prices, I'm basing this off information that I'm getting from Hauppauge, where we purchase directly. I believe all Hauppauge shipments are currently being held up in customs (damn terrorists).

Starting the week of 4/26 we will be adding many new products to the website, Pabst fans, additional power supplies, fan silencers, acoustic padding, more Ahanix cases and accessories, CPU HSFs, etc... If anyone has any HTPC related hardware or software suggestions you should send them to us and we will consider them for addition, as long as we can find a good low price source so we can pass the savings along.

Our goal is to become not only the "one-stop-shop" for HTPC, but to offer the best products at the best price with the best customer service.

 

[Tsunami982]

f*cking terrorist! i want my card already!

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

There are some people having problems with these cards (all of the 250 series cards) that you may have to reboot a few times in order for it to work. May work for a week, then stop working.

The easiest way to fix it without a lucky reboot is to delete everything in the Windows/Prefetch/ directory. Just a tip.

 

[htpcguru]

Great News!

The WinTV-PVR-250MCE as well as all of the Hauppauge PVR products will be available from http://www.pcalchemy.com beginning tomorrow 4/22/2004. Currently only the WinTV-PVR-250MCE is listed in our shopping cart but we will be eventually offering the following:

WinTV-PVR-250 MCE (OEM) $99 (available 4/22)
WinTV-PVR-250 (whitebox retail*) $118 (available 4/26)
WinTV-PVR-350 (whitebox retail*) $164 (available 4/26)
WinTV-PVR-USB2 (whitebox retail*) $164 (available 4/30)
MediaMVP (retail) $89 (available 4/22)

* The whitebox retail products are exactly the same spec as what you'd buy at a retail store minus the pretty Hauppauge box. Like the retail version the whitebox package includes the PVR, a Hauppauge remote, and the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-250/350 or USB2 software CD-ROM.

We will also be announcing the availability of SageTV products on 4/23. We are the first authorized reseller of SageTV and will be offering the entire SageTV product line at a discount. Additionally we will be bundling SageTV with the above PVR cards for even more savings. Here are the proposed bundles and prices:

Bundle 1: SageTV 1.4 w/ WinTV-PVR-250MCE $139
Bundle 2: SageTV 1.4 w/ WinTV-PVR-250MCE and Streamzap PC Remote $165
Bundle 3: SageTV 1.4 w/ WinTV-PVR-250 and Hauppauge Silver Remote $159
Bundle 4: SageTV 1.4 w/ WinTV-PVR-350 and Hauppauge Silver Remote $199
Bundle 4: SageTV 1.4 w/ WinTV-PVR-USB2 and Hauppauge Silver Remote $199

We provide a full 2 year limited warranty on the WinTV-PVR-250MCE (OEM) cards as well as knowledgeable technical support (driver and software downloads, FAQ, and support tickets), something that no other online retailer has.

The whitebox PVR products come with the standard Hauppauge 2 year limited warranty, we will also be offering non-warranty technical support on these products.

 

[Chadder007]

Originally posted by: psxjunky
<blockquote>Quote

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.[/quote]

So which software is better? SageTV or BeyondTV? Does anyone have a comparison review site of these softwares?

 

[Bry]

I'm trying to decide between the 250MCE, 250, and 350. Both 250 and 350 include a remote, whereas the 250MCE does not. As far as I can tell, the 350 adds FM and svideo TV out. The 250MCE is the same as the 350, without the remote. Is that correct?

If I get a 250, how can I output to my TV? Would I need to get a video card which supports TV out? Or do I have to use the onboard TV out to get the hardware decoding?

If I get a 250MCE, can I use this with XP? If I buy an MCE remote, can I still use that remote with standard XP?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Bry]

Also, can I buy a separate remote like the StreamZap instead of the MCE one, and have it still work with XP?

 

[dailyfreestuff]

I have the 250mce and use it on xp pro with sagetv, I'd just go with that, unless ya really want a remote.

 

[Bry]

I don't need a remote now, but I want to have one eventually. Right now this is just for my home PC, but eventually I might use this card to build a PVR in my living room. I have the HTM MX-500 universal remote, and want to be able to program it in later.

 

[zinkpig]

In sage 1.4 the remote doesnt seem like its super important. with the new ver 2 the entire user interface(UI) has been reworked to workaround the remote. The version 2 is looking better and better with the UI working with the pvr 350 out . Beyond better counter with dual tuner support soon.

 

[htpcguru]

Originally posted by: Bry
I'm trying to decide between the 250MCE, 250, and 350. Both 250 and 350 include a remote, whereas the 250MCE does not. As far as I can tell, the 350 adds FM and svideo TV out. The 250MCE is the same as the 350, without the remote. Is that correct?

If I get a 250, how can I output to my TV? Would I need to get a video card which supports TV out? Or do I have to use the onboard TV out to get the hardware decoding?

If I get a 250MCE, can I use this with XP? If I buy an MCE remote, can I still use that remote with standard XP?

The 250MCE is *not* the same as a 350, the 350 has TV-out and MPEG decoding built into the card.

If you use a 250 whether MCE or not you'll need something to output video to the TV, one method for this is to use an FX5200 with TV-out, these can be had for about $60.

The MCE card can be used with all the modern Windows OSes. I wouldn't recommend an MCE remote, I'd use a Streamzap or something similar.

On 4/23 http://www.pcalchemy.com will be offering a bundle that has everything you need, I'd suggest you look into one of the following:

Bundle 2: SageTV 1.4 w/ WinTV-PVR-250MCE and Streamzap PC Remote $165
or
Bundle 4: SageTV 1.4 w/ WinTV-PVR-350 and Hauppauge Silver Remote $199

 

[Tsunami982]

is the tv out on video card going to look as good as the tv out on the 350?

 

[htpcguru]

Originally posted by: Tsunami982
is the tv out on video card going to look as good as the tv out on the 350?

Probably not quite as good, but that's just an educated guess. And it would also depend on the video card as all are not created equal. The other thing to keep in mind is that not all software supports the TV-out on the 350. For example, SageTV 1.4 does not but SageTV 2.0 does.

When I have a chance I'll do an actual comparison between the 350 TV-out and the TV-out on my FX5200.

 

[zinkpig]

The video on the 350 is stunning as far as tv out quality goes. I ve compared the tv out with radeon 9600 pro (supposed to be a class leader ) , its simply too soft. The best I ve seen so far from a graphics card has to be the matrox g450 and g550, the quality is almost as good as the 350. Another option that gets good reviews is the xcard($100). sage doesnt support UI on it yet so i am not that keen on trying it.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Chadder007

Originally posted by: psxjunky
<blockquote>Quote

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.

So which software is better? SageTV or BeyondTV? Does anyone have a comparison review site of these softwares?[/quote]

SEARCH buddy. IT's been discuessed a LOT