"There is no way to have Live TV on a HTPC without having a tuner connected to it."

Ben, you're just talking about VMC/7MC here, correct? :-D

PF

I give you 10 good talking points about Sage, and all you say is Windows Mobile isn't popular? :-)

PF

While I agree that the HD-PVR & Sage solution isn't the equivalent of a dedicated DirecTV or Dish tuner, I think some other reasons people are switching are:

VMC has flagged OTA or ClearQAM recordings as DRM encumbered, MS has abandoned its v2 extenders, TV Pack was a joke/nightmare, you need to come up with workaround after workaround to do things, because MS has to keep the content providers happy, and now there is all this tuner delay/cancellation news, etc... I don't use VMC, so I'm sure the faithful could come up with a few more. A former MCE/VMC developer or two have switched as well in the recent past.
OTOH, Sage has pretty much delivered on every rumor that has come down the pike. It's v1 extenders still work fine (and will continue to), and the HD200 is one of the best extender/media players made (Blu-ray from a folder anyone?). About the only thing you can complain about is the UI (and that's only about 50% for the Sage community).
Sage/Serial Changing of an STB/HDPVR...while *slightly* more complicated, it's a perfect solution (and lets face it, VMC isn't plug & play either...you've got to configure CableCard or the phantom satellite tuners as well)...and at the risk of being called a blasphemer, DirecTV HD channels recorded by a PVR500 S-Video connection look better than you would think they would...if you have more HD STB's than HD-PVR's.

PF

ArcSoft 2 decoding to analog and outputting through a Xonar D2X to an SR606....good enough for me. 16/48 is fine...what number of movies use more than 16/48 out there? (I'm seriously asking...I don't know).

PF

I live in the woods. 5Gig EVDO cap. Keep the discs coming please. (or get unlimited WiMax going...so my opinion hinges on high-speed availability, or more importantly, no caps).

PF

I'm rural...have EVDO only, for internet access. A 5 Gig cap rules out any streaming. Long live Blu-ray!

P

Stuff happens, the drop out was annoying for about 1 minute. X-box as MS's only extender is a BAD MOVE (unless they just don't care that much about Media Center as they once did). While I love having my server under the main TV (dead silent Zalman HD135 case), I have an extender at the secondary TV and every other computer can access the server via Client software (SageTV user). Server/Client is where its at. I would not however, pay for an X-Box at each TV. Aside from the heat and noice issues, I DON'T GAME...at all...ever. It just seems like overpaying or underusing the purchase. I bet a lot of 40ish guys feel the same way. MS does need to produce an extender in-house, using the Sigma chip...thinking that everyone will buy X-Boxes is a pipe dream.

CableCard and the HD-PVR are about equal: You have to rent stuff either way (CC or a box). The HD-PVR's can be had cheaper from 100's of retailers, not the E-bay lottery. You can use Cable, Satellite, or FIOS with the HD-PVR, as well as BeyondTV, Sage, Myth, Media Portal, etc... Serial channel changing is reliable if not as neat, and the quality is great from the couch. Heck the HD-PVR is better. Congrats to the guys that figured it out though, seriously.

(2nd post due to my 1st comment not appearing...yet?)

PaulF

To keep an apples to apples comparison between CableCard and the HD-PVR:

I believe you need to pay a rental fee for each CableCard, correct? So you either rent a box or a card...it's a draw.

Just how available are these CableCard adapters? E-bay @ $195 is sold out huh...thousands of HD-PVR's are available at 100's of retailers for $219 retail and $149 during frequent specials.

With CableCard, you are eternally tied to...(duh) cable. You can never switch to FIOS or Satellite and use your CC tuners.

Channel Changing: CC wins, but really, I have never had a mis-tune with serial changing and DirecTV.

Quality: Technically CC wins...practically, from 10 ft away on the couch...you'll never see the difference.

DRM: LOL, we know the answer to tis one.

Platform: Windows VMC/7MC for CC .vs Sage, Beyond, Myth, GB-PVR, CtPVR, Medio, etc...

Again, kudos to the guys that got this working...it's awesome. But Cablecard isn't better or easier than the HD-PVR. Keep up thr great work.

Great guide Ben, as usual. But man!...you're stuck with cable and Media Center no matter what. The HD-PVR (with it's own quirks, admittedly) lets you use any Software, and any source device...the average mortal will never see the re compression difference. But its awesome that you VMC guys have figured this out!

PF