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I have been hunting and researching for the best way to proceed to the 'next level' now that Ihave been using MCE for my TV for a while. With HD channels coming/here, I want to get access to them, plus I have been messing with ICETV on a free trial and getting into the whole PVR thing a little. There is so much info out there I'm a little overloaded with it so thought I would ask for recommendations from those who are more experienced with these things.
Questions and considerations.
1. I am currently using an external SD set top box - I have an internal TV card that came with the PC but quality of reception was always poor when I tried using it. How does quality of reception generally compare between an internal tuner card, external tuner (USB) or a set top box (HD)? I would definitely prefer a twin tuner set up. Requiring only one antenna and one USB port would be great, but of course can be worked around. I have an Antenna guy coming today actually so I may get him to whack a splitter in while he's here just in case I need it (can't hurt for what I would guess would be a minimal cost).
2. I really like ICE-TV, but one recommendation here lead me to DigitalNow as a recommendation for a twin tuner (Tiny Twin) - and I see that comes with "DNTV Live! and DNTV Scheduler Pro". This sounds like possibly an open source replacement for IceTV - am I right? If so and the quality is comparable, this could be a big plus for this option - so any feedback on that software would be appreciated.
Forget an external STB - you can't capture it in the VMC at HD.
Most of the newer tuner cards are pretty good when it comes to handling not so great signal strength. The TinyTwin, S2 PCI Dual Hybrid & HVR-2200 look to be the current favourites when it comes to tuners.
DigitalNow's software is an alternative to VMC - it has nothing to do with what IceTV does.
FreeEPG is the alternative to IceTV.
Justin
__________________
VMC32: Asus M3N78-EMH HDMI, 4850e, TMG A2 CPU Cooler, 2x1GB Kingston HyperX 800, 2 x HVR-2200 (4 tuners), 500GB Samsung, NSK2480B. Connected to a Metz 32 inch LCD.
Office/Server: Abit A-N78HD, BE-2350, 2x1GB Kingston HyperX 800, 2 x AverTV Duo (4 tuners), CoolerMaster Centurion 5 Tower.
The following Member(s) said "Thank You!" to logifuse for this information:
I've downloaded FreeEPG and will compare with Ice to see if the subscription fee is worth it for Ice.
Will check out the tuners you mentioned too. I'm feeling a bit silly that I was seriously considering getting Tivo or a Topfield STB or similar, when I'm already owning most of that functionality in the computer it would be plugged in to.
Well boy the FreeEPG seems to compare very favourbly to IceTV to me.
1. It has all the channels - I live country and was disappointed Ice doesn't have Prime, Win, SounthernCross - Free EPG does (and their HD counterparts)
2. Channel numbers - on Ice, the channel numbers are sequentially, just 1,2,3,4, ... etc - so after setup, you need to manually change them all to match the actual numbers of the channels. Lose your settings/data when Windows updates etc? You have to manually set them all up again.
I'm sold on FreeEPG. (though I did have troubles using the setup file downloaded through Firefox and had to use IE and use the 'one-click' install method instead)
On the tuner, I went ahead and ordered the DigitalNow TinyTwin, figuring I can leave my existing internal card in and configure laterif I feel the need to have a third tuner (2 will probably do me for now I think). Very impressed with service - product shipped the same day I ordered it, direct from the producer's web site. Expected arrival time: 2 working days.
1. It has all the channels - I live country and was disappointed Ice doesn't have Prime, Win, SounthernCross - Free EPG does (and their HD counterparts)
Ice has all those stations. I live in Wollongong and get Prime/Southern Cross 10 and Win data.
Quote:
Originally Posted by scapes
2. Channel numbers - on Ice, the channel numbers are sequentially, just 1,2,3,4, ... etc - so after setup, you need to manually change them all to match the actual numbers of the channels. Lose your settings/data when Windows updates etc? You have to manually set them all up again.
Well, you shouldn't lose your settings via a Windows Update so it should be a one off setup. Things like SBS, ABC1 and ABC2 match up automatically due to the channel naming being the same, admittedly I do have to match the others but as I said, it's only ever been done once.
But FreeEPG is supposedly good. I like the Ice data better.
As for the TinyTwin, well you just can't go wrong with DigitalNow.
My tuner did indeed arrive today (express post - under 24 hours)
Here's a problem though - it came with a remote, but I'm not sure how to make it work, it's not responsive so I'm guessing it doesn't work through the MCE remote receiver.
Also, all my channels are in the wrong aspect ratio - I'd like to change it, but have no idea how and can't find it anywhere - previously I had to do it through my STB remote.
My tuner did indeed arrive today (express post - under 24 hours)
Here's a problem though - it came with a remote, but I'm not sure how to make it work, it's not responsive so I'm guessing it doesn't work through the MCE remote receiver.
Forget about the remote in MCE - the tuner will have a receiver for it built in, but MCE works best with it's own remote/receiver (or something like a Harmony that clones the MCE remote).
Quote:
Also, all my channels are in the wrong aspect ratio - I'd like to change it, but have no idea how and can't find it anywhere - previously I had to do it through my STB remote.
Any ideas on those points?
That's the zoom setting in MCE. If you have the MCE remote, the info button will bring up the zoom menu. A right mouse click brings it up too.
Justin
__________________
VMC32: Asus M3N78-EMH HDMI, 4850e, TMG A2 CPU Cooler, 2x1GB Kingston HyperX 800, 2 x HVR-2200 (4 tuners), 500GB Samsung, NSK2480B. Connected to a Metz 32 inch LCD.
Office/Server: Abit A-N78HD, BE-2350, 2x1GB Kingston HyperX 800, 2 x AverTV Duo (4 tuners), CoolerMaster Centurion 5 Tower.
The following Member(s) said "Thank You!" to logifuse for this information:
Ice has all those stations. I live in Wollongong and get Prime/Southern Cross 10 and Win data.
No go here - downloaded Ice data again last night after installing the new tuner and getting new channels - still no regional data. Going to switch back to FreeEPG today.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dgaust
Well, you shouldn't lose your settings via a Windows Update so it should be a one off setup. Things like SBS, ABC1 and ABC2 match up automatically due to the channel naming being the same, admittedly I do have to match the others but as I said, it's only ever been done once.
I am not completely sure the reason I lost my settings was the Windows Update - but I lost all channels except a 'sample channel' (Channel 1 ABC), and tried everything I could to get them back. Reinstalled - redownloaded - still no good. I did notice that the computer had done an autoupdate though. Eventually I did a Windows System Restore, and reboot and reinstalled - got them back. I contacted Icetv and it was them who said "The most common cause of this is either a Windows Update or installing the Xbox extender software."
Now if I can just get my antenna guy to turn up and fix current antenna problems (I think the signal booster he installed is on the fritz personally but last time he did show the problem - which is sporadic - wasn't evident so he couldn't fix it) - I would be a happy camper.
I do seem to be getting there. But now have a new problem. Seems like my dual tuner is only giving me 1 tuner. When I installed it, MCE did ask me whether to use 1 or 2 tuners. But the first time I try to schedule 2 simultaneous recordings, I get a scheduling conflict.
Far as I can tell it is in a USB 2 port - no warning that it could perform better on a faster port when plugged in. I saw one other thread where someone was advised they should not have installed dntvlive if they were going to use MCE (which is the case with me I think). Should I uninstall everything and go through all the setup yet again? Or is there something else I can try first?
... Solved. Well ... fixed anyway. I thought I would run the TV setup again - it seemed to do exactly what it did the first time - offered me choice of 1 or 2 tuners etc. But after running it again, I have access to dual recording and recording while watching another channel.
Last edited by scapes; 15th March 2008 at 10:05 PM.
Reason: Solved
(though I did have troubles using the setup file downloaded through Firefox and had to use IE and use the 'one-click' install method instead)
