Just wondering what other people's experiences with these cards were. I bought a PVR-250 earlier this week, and I'm loving it so far. I've used it to create both VCDs and high-bitrate MPEG2 recordings from the built in TV tuner without a problem. All without slowing my computer to a crawl, like the raw AVI capture I was doing with a WinTV-GO. Oh, and no dropped frames either 
VCD quality isn't great, but then it's not supposed to be, correct? The higher-bitrate stuff looks great though, and makes a good source for conversion to DIVX. Now, if only I had a DVD burner...
That said, I do have a few small complaints
a) the sound cuts out - only once in a while, and it doesn't seem to affect recordings any. just kind of annoying.
b)the WinTV application seems a little unstable. It doesn't crash all that often, but when it does the picture goes but the sound stays - the only way I can get the TV sound to quit playing is to re-start the computer. The application also locks up occasionally, and I have to kill it in the task manager. Not nearly bad enough to make me want to quit using it though.
c) The scheduler program works great, except for one thing - recording quality can't be set for each individual show. This is more of a wish-list thing than a real problem, but I would like it because some of the stuff I've been recording goes straight to VCD (simpsons & other stuff for my family & friends), while other stuff (mostly anime from CN) I like to record at a higher bit rate and convert it to Divx later.
Oh, one little tip for the scheduler, in case anyone is considering purchasing one of these cards: set the start time a minute or two early to avoid missing any part of the begining of your show; it takes a little bit for the program to get up and going.
And in case anyone is wondering, the card is installed in the Bebop rig in my signature.
Nate
VCD quality isn't great, but then it's not supposed to be, correct? The higher-bitrate stuff looks great though, and makes a good source for conversion to DIVX. Now, if only I had a DVD burner...That said, I do have a few small complaints
a) the sound cuts out - only once in a while, and it doesn't seem to affect recordings any. just kind of annoying.
b)the WinTV application seems a little unstable. It doesn't crash all that often, but when it does the picture goes but the sound stays - the only way I can get the TV sound to quit playing is to re-start the computer. The application also locks up occasionally, and I have to kill it in the task manager. Not nearly bad enough to make me want to quit using it though.
c) The scheduler program works great, except for one thing - recording quality can't be set for each individual show. This is more of a wish-list thing than a real problem, but I would like it because some of the stuff I've been recording goes straight to VCD (simpsons & other stuff for my family & friends), while other stuff (mostly anime from CN) I like to record at a higher bit rate and convert it to Divx later.
Oh, one little tip for the scheduler, in case anyone is considering purchasing one of these cards: set the start time a minute or two early to avoid missing any part of the begining of your show; it takes a little bit for the program to get up and going.
And in case anyone is wondering, the card is installed in the Bebop rig in my signature.
Nate
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