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Posted by Ken Moiarty on 09/29/71 11:41
"Bob" <spam@uce.gov> wrote in message
news:4409dec8.98715062@news-server.houston.rr.com...
> On Sat, 4 Mar 2006 06:43:37 -0800, "Ken Moiarty" <kmoiarty35@shaw.ca>
> wrote:
>
>>But I will want to eventually pack it with at
>>least three encoder-capture cards (which would allow it up to six tuners),
>
> What make and model?
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500.
> Why so many tuners?
Well I don't know that I'll ever really want all that many. I just want to
leave that option as wide open in case I discover in my PVR viewing habits
that something more than two tuners may come in handy for recording "needs"
I may find over time that I frequently come across. For example, in the
short time I've owned my cable provider supplied PVR, which has two tuners
in it, I've come across at least one instance in which I couldn't record a
program because I already had two other programs scheduled to record at that
very same time. And more commonly, there are times when I reach to change
the channel only to be warned that I've got two recordings going on and that
to proceed I'll have to stop one of them. Of course, this hardly justifies
resorting to six tuners, I realize. But the logical step up in number of
tuners from two would be to go to at least four. Leaving open the option
for two tuners above that is, let's say, just extra breathing room.
>
> How much CPU power is used by these cards?
I don't have the specs on that at this time.
>
> I have a Celeron-D CPU which is plenty fast for routine Internet use.
> It is a helluva lot cheaper than its P4 counterpart. My son's P4 isn't
> any faster except for games.
>
I wouldn't buy a Celeron CPU if I was paid to. Well, maybe _only if_ I was
paid to. <g> Celeron is just a de-tuned Pentium. In other words, it is
Pentium which is handicapped by an downsized onboard cache. We have
Celerons on our computers at work. While admittedly there may be other
factors involved, I do get tired of waiting for the lightest of programs to
load on those machines.
> I would add a NIC and connect this unit to your LAN so you can archive
> on another machine with removable drive bays. Hard disks are cheap
> enough to be the archive media of choice.
>
That's why I want a RAID hard disk controller. So I can use multiple hard
disks to record to as though they were one partition. Otherwise the PVR
software will stop at only one disk.
> Let us know how it all works out. I expect the major makers of DVDRs
> to offer something like this, maybe as soon as the next Christmas
> season: Multiple tuners, hard disk, DVD and network.
>
They may, but they have to contend with members of the original-content
industry who are afraid of allowing consumers such technical control over
what they watch. A big part of this concern has to do with how television
programming is financed: Commercials. PVR's give consumers unprecedented
ease, if not invitation, with which to avoid watching commercials. Making
PVR's that are viewed as "too appealing" and/or "too powerful" meets with a
lot of resistance and pressure from the content providers and such; many of
whom are just a different branch or division of the very companies
responsible for the manufacture of these machines.
Ken
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