Can anyone please tell me the difference between the Hauppage PVR-150 and PVR-250 TV tuners?

[wmanzoul]

I hope that this has not been asked before, but I've been so frustrated attempting to find out the difference between these two cards. And which one is "better"?

http://www.hauppage.com/pages/products/data_pvr150.html

http://www.hauppage.com/pages/products/data_pvr250.html

Any input would be appriciated

 

[intogamer]

depends on your needs...

 

[wmanzoul]

I'm a college student who wants to be able to watch TV on my computer. I like the idea of a tv tuner because it saves space in my dorm room. I'd also like to be able to schedule recordings of shows that I may not be able to watch "live" because of my schedule. While recording, I'd want to be able to do other things on the computer, so an onboard hardware encoder would be needed. Ideally, I'd also like to be able to record Steelers and Penguins games (I go to UPitt) and archive them to DVD. I'd like to be able to fit 3 to 5 games on a dvd.

It appears that the PVR-150 and PVR-250 do the same thing. How about this: just tell me the difference between the two, and I can decide which one i need? THanks!

 

[Matthias99]

The PVR-150 is newer, and has essentially replaced the PVR-250. The cards have identical capabilities.

 

[wmanzoul]

really? the naming would lead one to think otherwise, as if the 250 had something that the 150 didn't. my first guess would have been better recording capabilities (better compression, or what not). moreover, the 250 costs about $40 more.

but if the 150 is newer, would it do what i need it to do?

 

[Schadenfroh]

Same thing feature wise, the 150 is newer, they moved to it because it was cheaper to build.

 

[JasonE4]

Yeah, definitely go for the 150. Great card!

 

[wmanzoul]

Thanks guys, that cleared up a lot of frustration for me. I have a related question, though. Do i need an actual sound card to use a tv tuner card. I have onboard audio and im pretty satisfied with it. I do believe that it has a line out jack, though. Shouldn't that be enough. Or do i need to invest in a sound card as well. If so, please give me some recommendations of good, inexpensive cards.

Edit: would the onboard audio actually need a line-in jack? im not sure.

 

[nazimm]

The main difference is that the 150 is found on Windows MCE system and is indeed newer and smaller factor. You may want to check out the 350 as this is a 250 with Radio and will work on MCE btw.. I have a pc with MCE (kit) and 150 installed and a 350 and they both work no worries so I have two tuner and radio...
Whatever tv card you end up selecting make sure it has hardware encoding!!! smooth and PVR capabilities.. AVOID anything ATI does!
Hope this helps

 

[JasonE4]

You don't need a sound card, as the onboard sound should be just fine. I had a 250 and used onboard sound and it worked very well.

 

[IeraseU]

ATI actually has a new hardware encoding solution with thier Rage Theater 550pro chip. I actually give it the edge over the Hauppauge cards in image quality. Well, the same image quality from S-video source, but if the source is composite or RF, imo the ATI cleans up the video better.

Here is an example of a card based on the ATI Rage Theater 550 pro chip :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814129050

 

[ZobarStyl]

Originally posted by: nazimm
The main difference is that the 150 is found on Windows MCE system and is indeed newer and smaller factor. You may want to check out the 350 as this is a 250 with Radio and will work on MCE btw.. I have a pc with MCE (kit) and 150 installed and a 350 and they both work no worries so I have two tuner and radio...
Whatever tv card you end up selecting make sure it has hardware encoding!!! smooth and PVR capabilities.. AVOID anything ATI does!
Hope this helps

No, there are PVR-150MCE and PVR-150 versions. The PVR-150 is nothing more than the updated version of the PVR-250, and Hauppage, in a stunning move, passed on their cost savings to the consumer (read: a good thing). Get the 150 (non-MCE, the MCE has no remote or software, since Windows MCE should have both already) and if you are plugging in coaxial (standard cable tv plug) then you don't need seperate audio. Even onboard audio should have a line in jack, but if you only use the coaxial you won't need it.

 

[wmanzoul]

Thanks for the new info IeraseU. Does this card have all of the extra software that the Hauppage card has?

 

[wmanzoul]

ok so i don't even need to worry about a seperate audio input because the coax will handle it just fine? that's good! makes it simpler!

Another question: how many football games can be recorded on a DVD after removing the commercials and recording using decent, but not the best, compression?

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: ZobarStyl
if you are plugging in coaxial (standard cable tv plug) then you don't need seperate audio. Even onboard audio should have a line in jack, but if you only use the coaxial you won't need it.

The PVR-150/250/350/500 has its own audio inputs for RCA/S-Video recording. Any hardware encoding card almost *has* to have them.

You don't need a sound card at all just to record. Any soundcard (including onboard) will work for playback.

And yes, the model numbers make no sense. They should have called the updated version the PVR-251 or PVR-260 or something.

To clarify a little:

PVR-150: Single hardware encoding tuner. Includes software and a remote control.
PVR-150MCE: A PVR-150 without any software or their remote control.
PVR-250: Single hardware encoding tuner. Includes software and (I think) a remote.
PVR-350: Single hardware encoding tuner with hardware MPEG2 decoder.
PVR-500: Dual hardware encoding tuners.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: wmanzoul
Another question: how many football games can be recorded on a DVD after removing the commercials and recording using decent, but not the best, compression?

Depends how much you compress them. MPEG2 video at ~4Mbps (which looks decent IMO, but you can tell it's been compressed) would work out to about 2.5 hours on a standard DVD-R. Keep in mind that ~15-20 minutes of every "hour" of TV programming is commercials.

 

[IeraseU]

I should say that the software included with all of these cards is pretty spartan. If you want good PVR software then look at BeyondTV or SageTV, which you will have to pay for but are well worth the money. My preference in remotes is the Firefly remote or the Remote Wonder II.

As to how much you can fit on a DVD? Well, I would say you can get 2hrs of very good video, 3hrs of good video, and 4hrs of so-so video. That is on a standard single layer DVD, for dual layer DVD's double those numbers. You will also need DVD Authoring software, I recomend Ulead's DVD MovieFactory 4.0 (30 day free trail available for download).

I should also mention that you could do all this with a stand-alone DVR with a built in DVD-recorder and the process would be simpler, although you would lose a bit of the versatility of editing on a PC. Most users however, I think would be better off with the stand-alone setup. Maybe if you need to save space though, the PC setup would be the way to go.

 

[nazimm]

Originally posted by: ZobarStyl

Originally posted by: nazimm
The main difference is that the 150 is found on Windows MCE system and is indeed newer and smaller factor. You may want to check out the 350 as this is a 250 with Radio and will work on MCE btw.. I have a pc with MCE (kit) and 150 installed and a 350 and they both work no worries so I have two tuner and radio...
Whatever tv card you end up selecting make sure it has hardware encoding!!! smooth and PVR capabilities.. AVOID anything ATI does!
Hope this helps

No, there are PVR-150MCE and PVR-150 versions. The PVR-150 is nothing more than the updated version of the PVR-250, and Hauppage, in a stunning move, passed on their cost savings to the consumer (read: a good thing). Get the 150 (non-MCE, the MCE has no remote or software, since Windows MCE should have both already) and if you are plugging in coaxial (standard cable tv plug) then you don't need seperate audio. Even onboard audio should have a line in jack, but if you only use the coaxial you won't need it.

I stand corrected.....

On the PVR software side, unless you are going for MCE, I would really suggest you look at MediaPlayer. It is free and open source and looks like MCE. I used to have it and worked fine but I was tired of the bugs so I went MCE (this just works 100% of the time) The new version of MediaPortal should be OK now and you cannot go wrong with that. If you get the hauppage card with it's remot, you can get plug in to make it with Mediaportal. If you only get the car, no remore, then go with ATI Remote wonder I. Plug in are available and there are free utlities that allow you to make it do whatever you want including make your wife/ girlfriend/ mother/ mother in law go out of the living room so you can enjoy football as God intented

Last word on TV cards, compression etc.. go to www.vcdhelp.com Tons of guide, comparaison and software tools...

Have fun

 

[wmanzoul]

So I understand that the PVR software that comes with the tuner is not that great. Can anyone verify this? I don't need it to work miracles, just need it to work.

If i do need to get seperate PVR software, what is the difference between titanTV, MythTV, BeyondTV, and SageTV? Why are they better than the packaged software?

 

[JasonE4]

Honestly, the software that comes with it is not that bad. It does what it's supposed to do. It's not pretty, but it does the job, so try it out, and if you're not happy with it you can buy third party software like sagetv.

 

[nwo4life022]

i have the pvr 250 myself and to answer your question there isnt a difference between the 150 and 250...as far as software i recommend strongly gb-pvr and you wont need to pay a dime for it either

 

[ZobarStyl]

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: ZobarStyl
if you are plugging in coaxial (standard cable tv plug) then you don't need seperate audio. Even onboard audio should have a line in jack, but if you only use the coaxial you won't need it.

The PVR-150/250/350/500 has its own audio inputs for RCA/S-Video recording. Any hardware encoding card almost *has* to have them.

You don't need a sound card at all just to record. Any soundcard (including onboard) will work for playback.

I stand corrected as well, I had to go double check my media rig, but yes, there is audio input on the 150, it's just not RCA. Sorry, I'd just always used the coaxial and had forgotten about that little line-in.