Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150 Retail vs MCE version

[Twister_29]

Am shopping for a new capture card to replace my ATI AIW 128Pro with a hardware MPEG2 encoder. In researching these products I have basically come to the conclusion that I want to purchase the PVR150 or PVR150MCE - BUT - in looking at the system requirements for these two boards, I noticed that the PVR150 retail requires a P3-733Mhz processor, but the PVR150MCE requires a P4-1.2ghz processor. (???) From what I have read, the only difference in these two cards is that the 150 has a remote/ir-blaster and no RCA inputs and the 150MCE has no remote but has RCA inputs. Why does the MCE version require a faster processor????? Can anyone enlighten me?

[Twister_29]

bump

[AlecWest]

Am shopping for a new capture card to replace my ATI AIW 128Pro with a hardware MPEG2 encoder. In researching these products I have basically come to the conclusion that I want to purchase the PVR150 or PVR150MCE - BUT - in looking at the system requirements for these two boards, I noticed that the PVR150 retail requires a P3-733Mhz processor, but the PVR150MCE requires a P4-1.2ghz processor. (???) From what I have read, the only difference in these two cards is that the 150 has a remote/ir-blaster and no RCA inputs and the 150MCE has no remote but has RCA inputs. Why does the MCE version require a faster processor????? Can anyone enlighten me?

First, I suspect the faster processor requirement is an MCE requirement, not a Hauppauge requirement.

I'm a happy PVR150 (without MCE) owner ... with reservations (more later). The standard PVR150 does have RCA inputs for video and a "stereo mini-plug" input for audio. This is not a big deal, really. For a couple of bucks, you can get a miniplug-to-RCA adapter (like I did) from Radio Shack to plug into it and, bingo, you've got RCA inputs for everything.

BTW, if you planned on paying more than $86.24, you're paying to much. It's available at Buy.com for that price (and shipping is free):

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10385910&loc=

Now ... on my "reservations" mentioned earlier. Hauppauge has yet to address issues with sound overmodulation and, to some extent, video issues. Fortunately, a third party has. So, if you get the PVR150 and notice that the sound level or video appearance seems to be out of whack, be sure to read the following topic and download the fix:

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=269336

[reboot]

The MCE version has FM radio, no remote.
The Retail version has a remote, no FM.
There are OEM versions of both, that may, or may not have both FM and/or a remote.
Either version will work on the P3 700, without XPMCE.

[Twister_29]

Strange that one requires P4 1.2ghz and the other requires P3 733mhz - when the only difference in the two is that one has a remote one doesn't and the other has FM tuner and the other doesn't. Why would Hauppauge list it that way?

I'm befuddled!! Maybe I'll just get the MCE version and "take a chance"?

[reboot]

They list it because of the requirements of XPMCE, not the actual card.
The MCE versions only ship with MCE drivers, so if you're installing in on regular XP, you need to download your own.
If you don't need the remote, I have a PVR-250 for sale. PM me if interested.