Upgrade HTPC and drop Comcast HDTV?

[davestar]

Maybe it's the tanking economy, maybe it's my constant need to have a project... either way, I'm thinking about cutting down my Comcast bill without cutting down my TV options too much. I already have a HTPC which I use for DVD, streaming video, etc.

Currently:
Athlon 64 3500+
K8N Neo4-F MoBo
Nvidia 6600GT (128 MB)
1 GB RAM
42" 1080p HDTV
Harmony H659 Universal Remote

Plan:
Add a WinTV-HVR-2250 dual tuner card to my system and downgrade my Comcast service from HD+DVR plan to the basic cable package, which should save me ~$75/month. One tuner input will get the basic NTSC cable signal and the other tuner will get ATSC broadcast signals.

Concerns:
(1) Will my hardware be sufficient? It seems that I can play 1080p video samples without choppiness at the moment, so hopefully I'm OK. Also, the HVR-2250 2 hardware encoders should alleviate stress on my system when performing DVR duties.
(2) Will TV watching/surfing be simple and seamless? I'm not going to be the only person using this setup, so I want it to be fairly user-friendly. Will my universal remote be able to control most (all?) surfing and DVR functions?

Thanks for any input.

 

[Slugbait]

In my neighborhood, all the channels I would watch on Comcast basic are available OTA. The difference is that one OTA channel is 480p and the rest are 720p or 1080i, while all the channels from Comcast basic are 480p. For your TV, I'm thinking you might save another $15 or so...why pay for the same channels at a lower rez? Unless of course you have one or more analog TVs you want to run as well.

 

[davestar]

Originally posted by: Slugbait
In my neighborhood, all the channels I would watch on Comcast basic are available OTA. The difference is that one OTA channel is 480p and the rest are 720p or 1080i, while all the channels from Comcast basic are 480p. For your TV, I'm thinking you might save another $15 or so...why pay for the same channels at a lower rez? Unless of course you have one or more analog TVs you want to run as well.

Yeah, I considered just dropping Comcast altogether, but there are three other bedroom TVs to consider and it would be nice to have basic cable for things like ESPN, MASN (local sports), Bravo, TNT, etc.

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: davestar
...and it would be nice to have basic cable for things like ESPN, MASN (local sports), Bravo, TNT, etc.

Comcast Basic is ABC, NBC, CBS, WB, UPN(?), PBS, ION, local government, public access and a couple of independents.

You won't receive anything above channel 29. ESPN, Bravo, TNT, Disney, Comedy Central, music channels...not part of the package.

Comcast hasn't advertised Expanded Basic for quite some time now. It's still available, but they don't want you to know about it, so you have to call and specifically ask for it. Costs about three times as much as Basic. After the switch happens, you will need Comcast converter boxes for all analog TVs, they will cost $2 per month/per TV.

Edit: note that the converter boxes will only be needed for Expanded Basic. They are not necessary for Basic. Also, if going with Expanded Basic, your remote controls will be almost useless.

My wife and I are in the same boat...well, maybe we're in the same river, anyway. We have Expanded on 4 cable inputs, but no HD. Thinking about an outside antenna jacked into the cable splitter, two A/D converters for the upstairs TVs (got in line for coupons), and QAM tuners for the two computers (one is MCE connected to a 36" FD Trinitron). Then dump Comcast completely, and watch our favorite cable shows via Hulu on the MCE machine...watched BSG last week via Hulu, it was a surprisingly good picture.

 

[DoubleHelix747]

nm