Ceton's quad CableCARD tuner for Media Center available for pre-order
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted March 13th 2010 10:23AM
posted March 13th 2010 10:23AM
That's right, you can now reserve your place in line to be the first to record four HD cable shows at once on your Windows 7 Media Center. The bad news is that ship date for the InfiniTV 4 is now May 31st. Ceton wasn't willing to share a specific reason for the 60 day delay, but we suspect CableLabs is to blame -- Ceton refuted this and insisted CableLabs has been very helpful, but we don't buy it. The other big news -- for those that were concerned with noise or fitment options -- is that the latest version of the PCI-E card pictured above no longer includes a fan. The InfiniTV name was the result of over 1000 submissions to Ceton's naming contest, of which Gary Petro came up with winner -- the name is not to be confused with Comcast's XFINITY. Future tuners in the line will share a variation of the name, so the dual external tuner would be the InfiniTV ex2 -- for example. But Gary isn't the only one receiving a free tuner, as two more submitters were deemed worthy. Rus Sanchez submitted 94 different product names, while Charles Fraser earned his free card with the funniest submission; Wicked Super, Super Duper, and Super Duper Alleyoopder. The last bit of news out of the Kirkland startup is a littler clarification in regards to the network capabilities of the card. Although you can share the tuners with a small form factor PC on the network, the bad news is that it gets paired per CableCARD, so all four tuners have to go to the same PC. Oh we almost forgot, the best news of all is that we received our review sample, so stay tuned for a full run down.
"That's right, you can't now reserve your place in line to be the first to record four HD cable shows at once on your Windows 7 Media Center. "
Why?! :)
@IvanP91
Don't forget live viewing as well..
So you can watch one show, and record 3 other conflicts. That'd be more realistic for me, but still wouldn't happen all that often - just nice to know that when it dose, you can handle it.
@IvanP91 Why not?
Remember, Media Center is an extender environment, so one box could be hosting 3 or 4 other "clients", streaming them live TV on 4 different channels.
@andysexton
Right the first thing I tried was to record 6 shows at once (two on my HDHR) and playback recordings on all three of my extenders. Worked great.
@BenD Good to hear.
@IvanP91
Here's one reason why:
http://www.atxnetworks.com/bulk-qam-to-qam-mdu
This unit uses a version of the card for hotel cable systems that use different encryption for digital video. They also have one that outputs to an Ethernet connection. Could have interesting possibilities for the cost-is-no-object home theater crowd.
Does anybody how much this thing costs?
@portlander
$478.99
Check the source next time..
@FORDY More than your HTPC should :). But still delicious if you're into this sorta thing.
@FORDY According to Jeremy Hammer of Ceton it is also a pricing error and it should be $399.
http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/t/78488.aspx?PageIndex=151
This suddenly makes upgrading from my Series 3 Tivo to a Premier not as interesting as I thought.
I quite like Media Center, and being able to record 4 shows makes me feel all happy inside.
Not exactly the prettiest card you'll ever buy is it..
@FORDY
+1
And they should've picked "Super Duper Alleyoopder"
@FORDY
Because you'll constantly see it inside your case...
@PBB
Have a look at 90% of GPU's and Sound cards priced >£100.
Some people have windows in their PC's, and regardless, people buy things that look good.
I just think if it was in a swish looking black (or red, for the colour scheme) casing, sales would be higher.
@FORDY
its internal u asshole
@Annoying Poster
Wow, names really do define people.
@FORDY
It is a pre-release review unit. The retail version with probably look a bit different. But who cares. It is an internal card.
@FORDY
So, when you build your computer, you pick the "prettiest" components?
Again, its internal, which means that unless you case is in some awkward design, you'll never see the top or bottom just the side because its mounted horizontally.
I'm looking at my case (With a window) and All I see are the sides of my PCIe cards, not the top or bottom.
Too little, too late. Most of the larger markets are moving to SDV so unless this works with a tuning adapter then thanks for playing.
@(Unverified)
Yes it works with Tuning adapters. One Motorola TA will be required for all four tuners, while two Cisco TAs will be needed for those on Cisco systems.
Cable cards are digital thus work with SDV without the need for any additional adapters as long as it is a M series card which I am sure this tuner requires.
This is from Comcast's website, note the last line:
26. How does the Digital Migration affect a media center PC that is used with Comcast Cable service?
A set top box or digital adapter will be required in order for a media center PC to receive Comcast’s Expanded Basic channels or a higher level of service. The installation is the same as the installation for a set top box or digital adapter on an analog television.
Note: Media center PCs that use a cable card do not require a digital adapter.
@AEDan1977
We are talking about Tuning Adapters, not Digital Adapters.
http://hd.engadget.com/2008/07/18/motorola-cisco-see-tuning-adapters-certified/
@AEDan1977
It's starting to sound like you would be better off with a couple of Hauppauge 1212s. Even Tivos seem to have trouble with this bit of technological musical chairs.
@BenD
Good to hear, and most Cable companies are giving away Tuning adapters. Still you have to have a box or two (if using Cisco) Kind of defeats the purpose of an all in one solution for PC users.
It costs $478. That is quite a bit of money. I am not likely to rent 4 cable cards (each has a seperate monthly fee). So for people like me, the ATI cable card tuner might be a better option. However I cannot find those from any reliable sources and don't know enough about them to gamble $300 to add cable card capabilities to my Windows 7 Media Center PC.
Has anybody done this sort of thing before and documented the process?
@portlander
The Ceton card only requires one CableCARD which authorizes all four tuners. I just replaced my ATI Digital Cable Tuner with a review unit last night and it poped right in and worked. I'll write a full review just as soon as I can.
@portlander I'm sure once they actually start shipping they will sell for the $399 retail price Ceton originally stated.
@BenD I'm so jealous
@portlander The Ceton card only requires one cable card, that's the point.
What is with this "Too little too late" mantra that people keep using without doing any research and making baseless assumptions?
@(Unverified)
they could easily stream most of the shows using clear qam but no they lock it down so we have to use crappy cable box or cable card. all of this authorization to view should be at the cable corp side not in the home.
The Networking Feature is not bad at all. I buy the 4tuner model for my main tv and then a 2 tuner model for other networked pc.
@Emiliano
Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. You can use it over the network but all four tuners have to be paired to the same PC.
@BenD Isn't that what I said. So the way I was thinking wouldn't work. I install a 4tuner model and a 2 tuner model in the same pc. I pair the 4 tuner model with the host PC and the 2 Tuner model with the networked pc.
@Emiliano So I just use the PC as a tuner farm.
@Emiliano
Oh yeah, sorry I read it wrong. You could do that.
This begs the question of whether you could throw the tuner card in your Windows Home Server, and network it out to a PC running media center.
@RandomGuy
To use the networking feature the OS needs to support Network Bridging, something WHS can't do out of the box. Might be a 3rd party add-in. You'd also need a 2003 driver, Ceton only has Windows 7 drivers at the moment.
@BenD There is talk that the next iteration of Home Server will be based on Server 2008 R2, instead of 2003 Server. This would make it easier to support homegroup, etc. I was more wondering if that would make it feasible.
@RandomGuy
Right, the driver and the bridging feature should work in WHS2 right out of the box.
@RandomGuy: yep. The next version of WHS (codenamed Vail) is definitely based on Server 2008 and has been leaked. I just haven't made that leap of faith yet. ;)
@RandomGuy
If only Media Center was a service on WHS2 like in Ben's article a while back.
May also want to remember that the current version of Home Server is about to be replaced with an updated OS running on essentially Windows 2008, same as Windows 7.
If only there was something on cable that was worth recording. Maybe American Idol can start simulcasting with 4 camera angles.
@sharkync
Oh HELL nah!
What's the deal with the $478 price? I thought it was going to be $399?
Scalping the early adopters, or is this the price?
@andysexton
It is $399. There was a correction
@PBB Did you follow the link to the produce page on zones.com? Still $478.
Not saying it's Ceton with the increase in price, wondering if it's the vendor.