Dead -->Hauppauge PVR 150 for $59.99 at CC after rebate

[TheCanuck]

Looks like the best deal around right now if you want a half decent PVR card for your HTPC. Comes with the Hauppauge remote / receiver as well.

PVR150

If you do a search on Ebay you can also find $15 off $100 coupons for about $1 that will work with this deal if you add something (i.e. $1 gift&gadget) to bring the total from $99.99 to slightly over $100.

Just bought this and a little desk clock for $1.99 with the coupon -- total came to 86.98 (not including the $40 rebates) before taxes. Free shipping.

** Edited title to indicate this is after rebate **

 

[cordite]

It's definitely much better than half decent!

 

[HardcoreRobot]

nice deal

 

[Elixer]

Just remember, some people say that using a coupon will void the rebates. (Read your receipt, and see if it mentions something about this)

Also, I got this PVR-150, and was not impressed at all. Some reason all channels were in mono, and the picture wasn't that good compared to my old 878 card.
Maybe I just got a dud of a card, since I also had stuttering issues.

Other than this, it is a OK card for $~60 +TAX...

 

[demon42]

Saw this on one of the reviews for the card, could be related to Elixer's problem...

Note: When you buy this capture card right out ofthe box the picture will be soft, as with the PVR 250, 350, USB2 models, to change that there is a registry sharpness setting from 0-default to 7-max, at this setting you'll get one good looking high quality picture playback for either DVD recording orV viewing.

How is it that I didn't see where to enter the coupon code? I got all the way to where it asked for my credit card... did I miss it??

 

[LurkingInNC]

Took a quick look at Hauppauge site, but still have a couple of questions:

Anyone know if this works with a DISH satellite receiver (including the computer set up menu)?

I take it you get stereo but lose 5.1 surround? (I suspet there's a good chance I'm displaying my ignorance with this question, like maybe MPEG doesn't support surround sound at all, so please go easy on me if so, 🙂.

Minimum specs call for a 733MHz Pentium III cpu. I assume that I should be alright with an Athlon 1600+ (overclocked to just under 1600MHz actual speed)? Just put in a 1 gig memory stick, so that shouldn't be a problem...

Thanks for any info. Sounds like this might be an interesting afternoon project (would need to run coax from the living room to computer room, but have unfinidhed basement, so that wouldn't be much of a problem).

 

[timmyb]

Originally posted by: LurkingInNC
Took a quick look at Hauppauge site, but still have a couple of questions:

Anyone know if this works with a DISH satellite receiver (including the computer set up menu)?

I have it hooked up to my Echostar 4900 dishnetwork receiver, and can control the set from the computer using the IR blaster that comes with the WinTV 150.

 

[TerryMathews]

tagged for later - thanks OP!

 

[cheetoden]

Originally posted by: demon42
Saw this on one of the reviews for the card, could be related to Elixer's problem...

Note: When you buy this capture card right out ofthe box the picture will be soft, as with the PVR 250, 350, USB2 models, to change that there is a registry sharpness setting from 0-default to 7-max, at this setting you'll get one good looking high quality picture playback for either DVD recording orV viewing.

I'd sure like to know how to accomplish this. I have one and I always thought the picture was a little soft.

 

[tamasrepus]

May want to mention that it's $59.99 after rebate.

Not to thread crap, after paying taxes on the original $100 price/gas (nearest CC is 50 mi away for me) it may be cheaper to order online.

 

[TheCanuck]

Originally posted by: Elixer
Just remember, some people say that using a coupon will void the rebates. (Read your receipt, and see if it mentions something about this)

Also, I got this PVR-150, and was not impressed at all. Some reason all channels were in mono, and the picture wasn't that good compared to my old 878 card.
Maybe I just got a dud of a card, since I also had stuttering issues.

Other than this, it is a OK card for $~60 +TAX...

I'll try to answer some questions:

1) I haven't seen anything that mentions a coupon voiding the rebates in the forms.
2) I have the MCE version as well and that had a problem with stereo mode because of the drivers supplied with the CD. To fix it, I uninstalled the drivers and then installed a previous version which then allowed for stereo sound. Some of the newer drivers are having stereo problems so you may need to find one that works properly with your configuration. Not really a big deal but you can check out this site for more help: SHSPVR

3)Video settings can be tweaked...check the shspvr site above. Also, I've found the Nvidia DVD decoder to work the best so far. And you can make adjustments to PQ etc with / enable hardware acceleration.

4)Should work fine with a DISH / cable box since it includes an IR Blaster that is supposed to control those devices...but YMMV.

5)I'm using a 2.0ghz Athlon XP with 512MB ram and haven't had any problems what so ever. CPU USAGE is around 30% watching TV / timeshifting and a few percent (i.e. 2-4) while recording / not watching TV. Watching while recording is still around 30%.

6) As far as I know NTSC only supports stereo. If you have Dolby Pro Logic enabled on your stereo then you'll get "simulated surround sound".

7) Coupon codes can be entered at step 3 of the checkout under Billing Information and where it says "Would you like to use an eGift card, gift card or merchandise card, or apply a coupon?" -- check the "Yes" option right above where you enter the credit card info.

Better hurry though since now it looks like they may not deliver anymore. My area only gives the pickup option. And last day for the deal is Saturday.

Also if you are looking for a decent front-end, take a look at GBPVR. It's free and similar to Media Center Edition (not quite as poslished though), but is the most customizable, fastest and stable front end that I've seen. And I've tried MCE, Meedio, Sage TV, BeyondTV, Media Portal etc: GBPVR

 

[Kobb]

thx OP. Nice deal.

 

[isekii]

Tried to purchase this online ( Now out of stock )

Tried to do local pickup ( Out of Stock ) in two locations near me.
I refuse to pay toll to go across into the city to pick one up.

I purchased a 15 off 100 from ebay but if anyone wants they can have it.

First PM gets it

 

[Elixer]

Originally posted by: TheCanuck

Originally posted by: Elixer
Just remember, some people say that using a coupon will void the rebates. (Read your receipt, and see if it mentions something about this)

Also, I got this PVR-150, and was not impressed at all. Some reason all channels were in mono, and the picture wasn't that good compared to my old 878 card.
Maybe I just got a dud of a card, since I also had stuttering issues.

Other than this, it is a OK card for $~60 +TAX...

I'll try to answer some questions:

1) I haven't seen anything that mentions a coupon voiding the rebates in the forms.
2) I have the MCE version as well and that had a problem with stereo mode because of the drivers supplied with the CD. To fix it, I uninstalled the drivers and then installed a previous version which then allowed for stereo sound. Some of the newer drivers are having stereo problems so you may need to find one that works properly with your configuration. Not really a big deal but you can check out this site for more help: SHSPVR

3)Video settings can be tweaked...check the shspvr site above. Also, I've found the Nvidia DVD decoder to work the best so far. And you can make adjustments to PQ etc with / enable hardware acceleration.

At FW, someone said that they used a coupon in store, and the machine didn't print out the CC rebate form. There is also a thread there about using coupons & PMs. From what I can tell, only the newer stores with the newer system (small receipts) are the ones people are complaining about.

That SHSPVR site is pretty nice... I also went to http://www.cask-of-amontillado.com/htpc.html for some other tweaks. I tried them all, and tried many different driver versions, and even a different machine.
It looks like the card is defective. I can't be sure since this was the last card at the store, so I can't really compare with another card, and not much I can do since this is the last day today.

Maybe the new Nvidia Dual tuner will be on sale for $60 AR sometime soon? 😉

 

[cheetoden]

I found the sharpness registry settings. Here they are:

Sharpness, brightness and contrast
Trick for pvr 150/500: Changing these value?s will change the different settings in some 3rd party software, like mce2005

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\hcwPP2\DriverData]

"HcwHue"=dword:00000000

"HcwSaturation"=dword:00000073

"HcwBrightness"=dword:00000000

"HcwContrast"=dword:0000005A

"HcwSharpness"=dword:00000007

 

[kof]

I just finished spending a rebooting hell trying to get one I purchased last fall reinstalled.
System- ECS A939 m/b with AMD X2 3800 ($279 BF special🙂), 1GB - Tried installing an old MX300 sound card and it corrupted the registry.
Did a clean reinstall of W2K (SP4, MB drivers, ATI video, MS patches. Antivirus) and with both the sound card and the 150 in it would blue screen. Then I'd tried not loading the m/b IDE drivers and it would boot, but WinTV would give me "-10 errors", or a blank screen. Tried switching slots on both card. Tried newer version of the MB drivers and everything else. Rebuilt a few more times with different driver mixes and figured out that WinTV had to have the sound drivers loaded. With the MX300 in all would load but WinTV would not show a screen, but would select the channels.
Figured it was the MX300 causing most of the problems. Took that out, rebooted with the cheap m/b sound drivers and the later 150 drivers - now video but no sound.
I tried the beta driver (which was supposed to fix some sound problems) and that just caused a rebooting loop.
Finally wiped most of the drivers and went back to the original CD. It seems like it needed a different mix of drivers. Works now but make sure you have the right mix of card, m/b and drivers.