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Old June 21st 04, 01:32 AM
Dave C.
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Default PCI PVR card for use with Dish Network DBS?

I'm looking for a good video capture card to use as a PVR to record TV
programs onto my hard drive to play them back later through my A/V receiver
and 32" flat screen TV. Most PVR cards I've looked at have no audio INPUT.
Those would work OK for analog cable recording, but not recording off of
satellite. For recording from Dish Network, I will need to use composite or
S-Video video plus analog or digital stereo audio from connections on the
back of the satellite receiver. Note that I have considered Dish Network's
own PVR solutions and ruled them out. If I can't make a PVR out of a PC,
I'd rather stick with my trusty VHS format VCR. I need a good card with:

- PCI format expansion card (prefer internal rather than external)
- Analog video inputs, both composite (RCA) and S-Video. These two inputs
can share one connector with an included adapter, if necessary
- Analog AUDIO input
- Analog audio output
- Remote control
- connector for remote control sensor, and the remote control sensor itself
(obviously)
- Good software for time-shifting. When I say "time-shifting", I mean
schedule recordings to run while I'm asleep or not at home so I can watch TV
programs later.

I don't mind paying for the software separately, but I want software that
works WELL with whatever card I buy, without any extra "fiddling" with
firmware, updates, etc. I technically don't even need a TV tuner in this
card, though I imagine whatever card I buy will probably have one.

OK, does this card exist? -Dave

The system I intend to use for this has the following rough specs., though I
can change anything if necessary to make this happen:
AMD XP2500, 1GB Ram, Geforce4MX440 video card with TV out, nforce2 chipset
mainboard, 50GB of free hard drive space (was thinking of picking up a new
hard drive just for video recording, eventually), Turtle Beach Santa Cruz
sound card, Windows XP Pro.