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Old 16-Sep-2011, 4:25 PM   #37
MisterMe
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: USA Gulf South
Posts: 231
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheEmrys View Post
It can be done cheaper. If you have a spare computer laying around. If you have an unused computer, depending on its age, you could use the computer as a DVR. ...
I would caution the OP to decide what he wants and to thoroughly research the product before buying it. A DVR set top box may cost $300, but it does exactly what you expect it to do. This may not be the case with PC-based tuners. I find it curious and troubling that Hauppage does not list the specifications for the WinTV-HVR-2250 dual TV tuner card.

Let me say up front that TV producers give birth at the very thought of digital TV on personal computers. We are all pirates out to beat them out of their hard earned money, they believe. The computer allows us pirates to duplicate their digital programs with perfect fidelity. As a result, producers do not allow digital connections between Hauppage's competitors' products and the host computer. Composite video, you can do. Component video, maybe. Digital? Absolutely not.

I cannot say if the WinTV-HVR-2250 is limited in its digital options in the same way that competing products are. However, Hauppage does not say that it does not have these limitations--not on its website anyway. The manufacturer says that its card can handle all 18 ATSC formats. This is not the same as saying that its card will display these 18 formats at full resolution.

A $300 DVR set top box will record and stream all ATSC formats at full resolution. About the Hauppage cards, I don't know. The OP may not care. If he does, then he should address this issue before making a purchasing decision.
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