is pvr-150 worth $20 more than pvr-150mce

[mrwxyz]

I finally green lit myself for a tv tuner for college, sounds better than buying a small tv. Only question i have is that is the only diff between mce and retail on the pvr-150 the included software for the retail and the remote differences. I dont really care about the fm tuner. I dont care for recording shows, just watching some but mainly hooking my systems up to it.....so do i need the software in the retail for this.

If i have to buy extra software with the mce, then id rather just get the bundled wtih the retail.

thanks

 

[oogabooga]

the pvr-150 should provide you with enough software to be able to watch TV live off the tuner.
the software it comes with is *meh*, i'm not too fond of the WinTV programs, and personally use SageTV on my PVR-250.
You can hook up your system to you computer, and it'll play back the audio through your soundcard (this is the case with the 250, and i'm sure the 150).

I think the MCE also has a FM tuner built in, which is the difference since it's for Windows media center which also has a FM tuner platform option.
Once you get your TV Tuner, i suggest trying out SageTV and the recording function. I am astounded by it, and wondered how i lived without it. Pausing live tv, recording shows when i'm not home etc It's quite grand.

 

[mrwxyz]

Originally posted by: oogabooga
the pvr-150 should provide you with enough software to be able to watch TV live off the tuner.
the software it comes with is *meh*, i'm not too fond of the WinTV programs, and personally use SageTV on my PVR-250.
You can hook up your system to you computer, and it'll play back the audio through your soundcard (this is the case with the 250, and i'm sure the 150).

I think the MCE also has a FM tuner built in, which is the difference since it's for Windows media center which also has a FM tuner platform option.
Once you get your TV Tuner, i suggest trying out SageTV and the recording function. I am astounded by it, and wondered how i lived without it. Pausing live tv, recording shows when i'm not home etc It's quite grand.

ok, but if i get mce will i be able to hook up and play my system and watch tv as is?

and is sagetv free?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Does the MCE version even come with non-MCE Windows drivers? You might want to check that in the AVS forums at http://www.avsforum.com/

Also, if you aren't ever recording, you don't need the hardware MPEG2 encoding of the Hauppage cards and can get a $40 Leadtek card instead. The software encoding cards can have audio sync and dropped frame problems when recording, but are just fine for watching live.

Finally, if you have a VCR or cable box, and a video card with video-in (not the TV out most cards have now) you can use the tuner on the VCR or cable box instead.

 

[oogabooga]

sagetv is not free, but there is a 14day trial to try it out, i liked it, and bought a friends copy, he offered at a good price.

Davesimmons actually hit a good point about the hardware encoding, if your deadset on just watching live tv FS/FT may be for you, and looking for a regular tv tuner may be best. (sorry i forgot to mention that, i'm relatively new to PVR/TV Tuners)

sorry i don't quite get what you mean by play your system and watch tv as is.
If you mean play a game on one screen, and watch tv on another, i do not think it is capable of doing that. (despite being hardware encoding there is still a certain amount of strain on a system, etcetc.

 

[mrwxyz]

so i guess hardware encoding isnt for me, although i would like to record occasionally if possible.

Sorry, i guess i wasnt clear...i dont want to watch tv and play my systems at the same time.....i just want to be able to do both right out of the box without having to buy extra software.

Well, the reason i was looking at the pvr-150 was that they are supposed to have much better video quality than other cards (maybe they mean better recording quality?). So I would be fine with a cheaper leadtek as long as its still very good quality. You guys wouldnt happen to know about the quality of those and other cards in that range, would you?