Newbie question on HTPC functionality

E

{EB}NuTSymPToM{EB}

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 1, 2003
Messages
1,037
Hi all. I'm a long-time PC enthusiast and have done many of my own builds. Now that I've been out of school and working long enough I'm starting to plan out some of my new tinkering ventures.

I'm thinking of going with an HTPC setup as a DVR/media server but I'm curious how it fits in with cable TV. Do my cables still go into the cable box, then to the HTPC or do I go straight into the HTPC? If I go straight into my HTPC do I still access menus and premium content in a similar way?

I'm concerned that Comcast is my provider and they are well known to make life difficult for anyone who wants to work outside the norm. Anyone have any experience working Comcast cable into an HTPC setup?
 
HD I'm assuming?

1 - Hauppauge HD PVR + SageTV + Comcast Cable Box
or
2 - Buy a pre-built computer equipped with CableCard

That's pretty much it.
 
normal HD cards cannot accces HD content other than NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS, etc

for ESPN HD and such you need one of the two thata wiretap suggested
personally, HTPCs are great for movies, mymovies server, they are okay as a DVR..


but i love the ability to transfer TV shows and play them on any PC....

last night House showed the science of the virgin birth and since i teach HS biology i transfered the HD recording to my USB drive, took it to school and played that section for my students...

it was great :) they were like, i watched this last night........ i showed them 5mins of it and connected it to meiosis, which is what we are studying.



I use a HDhomerun for ClearQam HD recordings, fox, cbs,nbc and have standard def cable for everything else.... cannot beat $29 a month for cable and getting HD football on sundays :)
 
I'm thinking of going with an HTPC setup as a DVR/media server but I'm curious how it fits in with cable TV. Do my cables still go into the cable box, then to the HTPC or do I go straight into the HTPC? If I go straight into my HTPC do I still access menus and premium content in a similar way?
Click to expand...
1 - Hauppauge HD PVR + SageTV + Comcast Cable Box
Click to expand...

#1 is the best option. And you can even buy a second HD-PVR to go with a second comcast box if you want dual tuners.
 
Just to be clear, the Hauppauge HD PVR is not really a tuner. It's more of a video pass-thru or capture device.
 
I see. So the cable box remains part of the setup and I would access On Demand channels like HBO or Showtime the same way I do now. Those are not recordable are they?

When you say second cable box do you mean being able to DVR more than one show at once on the HTPC? Sorry for the stupidity...I'm only just looking into building an HTPC now and have ignored every discussion on them until very recently.
 
Using the HD PVR you can record any channel you can tune on the box including HBO and On Demand. It records whatever is passed out through the component (including any menus displayed, or anything else so keep that in mine).

Yah, they meant with two boxes and two HD PVRs you can record two shows at once. Personally, I just pay the extra $8 a month to have a HD DVR from comcast that can already record two shows at once and then dump them off to my computer through the HD PVR as needed.
 
Yea I have the Comcast DVR as well but I'm always pressed for space. My main motivation is a universal media server but if I can knock the DVR out with it too then I'm happy.
 
You can do just fine with that then for recording a single channel. Just keep in mind for DVR capabilities you're going to have to drop more money on a software front end too like SageTV even after buying the box. You'd think you'd get better software included with a $250 device, but it sucks. Basically with the included software you can only record while watching something, you can't hide the interface and just use a preview window, and when you're recording you can't mute the sound for the caputre program.

I've heard that media portal has beta support for the HD PVR, I haven't tried it yet though. Going through my 21 day trial on sage tv then going to give beyondtv a shot. Figure I'll try them all before spending money on one.
 
darkpaw said:
Using the HD PVR you can record any channel you can tune on the box including HBO and On Demand. It records whatever is passed out through the component (including any menus displayed, or anything else so keep that in mine).

Yah, they meant with two boxes and two HD PVRs you can record two shows at once. Personally, I just pay the extra $8 a month to have a HD DVR from comcast that can already record two shows at once and then dump them off to my computer through the HD PVR as needed.
Click to expand...

How do you offload it from your cable box? Seems like this is the simplest way to do it.
 
I usually just play the program in the background while doing something else or at night and the software records it using the HD PVR.
 
Ah ok. So you replay the program so the Hauppauge Box can save it to the harddrive. I was thinking you had some way to get the content directly off your Comcast box, like through the Firewire port.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top