Low profile TV tuner

[CougTek]

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hvr2250.html

I plan to use the above in several HTPC I'll sell in the upcoming two months. The card is low profile, but there's no mention of low profile bracquets for the full kit. Only the model 01229 (board only without the remote control) is confirmed to have the low profile brackets. It would be absurd that the bare board package includes those and not the full kit, but reading their web site, it seems so.

Anyone used that card and can help me to know if It'll be able to use it inside a half-height enclosure? Or suggest a high quality, low profile alternative?

I'll probably put it inside an Antec Micro Fusion Remote 350. I would use the NSK1480, but the design of the front plate makes it mandatory to use a silver optical drive to look good and I can no longer find those.

 

[Mercutio]

A couple Newegg reviewers comment that they did get low profile brackets with their cards.

 

[MaxBurn]

My friend has a network based tv tuner that he puts in the basement and I thought that was nice not being in the computer. Works with media center. I'll ask what it is.

 

[Stereodude]

Probably a SiliconDust HD Homerun. I have two of them.

 

[ddrueding]

I use a slingbox for a similar purpose...

 

[Fushigi]

Speaking of Sling, via them Dish Network now allows pretty decent remote access to their DVRs via the 'net as long as the DVR is not using dial-up. I can't stream from the DVR but can add/change/delete DVR events and it has icons for each show & network, unlike the DVR's native interface. Access it via DISH Remote Access in the My Account area.

 

[CougTek]

I think I forgot to say thanks for the replies... :

Thanks.

 

[CougTek]

Now I can't decided which one to get : Asus My Cinema-EHD3-100/NAQ... or the Hauppauge WinTV HVR-2250 I was originally interested in. Both should do the job and have more or less the same inputs. Both use NXP chips, althought Asus doesn't specifies which model (but from the pictures I've seen, it is the same 7164 as the Hauppauge).

The Asus is 24$ less. I'm tempted to go with it versus the Hauppauge.

 

[Mercutio]

I will say that the couple times I had to call Hauppauge, a human being answered the phone. That was a few years ago though.

Asus, half the time their RMA and motherboard downloads web sites are down.

On the other hand, tuner cards just come down to chipset regardless. Hauppauge might include a more polished tuner app or something, but I imagine whatever you're buying is probably going in a Windows Media Center or MythTV setup regardless.

 

[CougTek]

That's more or less the analysis I did. I called my supplier this afternoon and he could have the Asus faster than the Hauppauge, so it helped me to take a decision. I read reviews for both cards and the conclusion was the same : they worked better with Windows Media Center than with their bundled software. So I saved 24$ and ended up ordering the Asus.

Thanks for giving you input.

 

[Handruin]

Are you planning to use this with XP, Vista, or Win 7's Media Center with this card? Any chance you can give your impression of the card after you build your HTPCs with them?

 

[CougTek]

I can already tell you that I hate the color of the box. The rest of my appreciation will follow in the upcoming days (I won't have the time to play with it this evening).

I will using it exclusively with Windows 7 Media Center. I can install it right away on customers' systems since we're precisely 30 days from October 22nd and the activation for Windows 7 Home Premium is 30 days. I think it's the Enterprise or Professional Edition that has a 60 days activation allowance.

 

[Handruin]

That will be great. I'd like to get a TV card for my windows 7 system at some point down the road.

 

[Fushigi]

Speaking of Sling, via them Dish Network now allows pretty decent remote access to their DVRs via the 'net as long as the DVR is not using dial-up. I can't stream from the DVR but can add/change/delete DVR events and it has icons for each show & network, unlike the DVR's native interface. Access it via DISH Remote Access in the My Account area.

Apparently they're finally addressing content streaming. I just got an email from Dish wanting me to participate in a trial with Sling. I get a free Slingbox Solo w/installation in exchange for answering some surveys.

 

[Fushigi]

It should be installed by this time tomorrow. :cheers: I love free tech.