Hauppauge PVR150, 250 or USB2

[rwarren]

I have narrowed down my search for a capture card to the Hauppauge PVR150, 250 or USB2. I cannot decide between these 3 devices because I cannot really see any difference, other than 2 being PCI and the other is USB2. What am I missing? I guess I would prefer USB2, assuming everything else is equal.

What are the differences (the Hauppauge comparison page basically says they are the same)? What are the pros and cons, especially the USB2 version.

Thanks,

Richard

[yoda313]

Hi,

The usb version would most likely use up more computing power since its taping its power from the usb hub.

The 150 is a budget version of the 250 from my understanding. I have the 250 and love it. No problems whatsoever. There is also a 350 model that includes a fm radio tuner.

I would suggest getting the 250 as it is very dependable.

Kevin

[normcar]

I use the USB2 version, and it uses little CPU power. The USB2 version and 150/350 (250?) have hardware MPEG converters, which will take the mpeg conversion off the CPU. The main thing I like about the USB2 version, is the ability to use it on different computers, and on a laptop.

[AlecWest]

I'm a happy 150 owner (no MCE). Captures fine from my cable or composite/S-Video. As you can see by their "comparison" page:

http://hauppauge.com/pages/compare_pvr.html

the 150 and 250 models aren't all that different ... except that the 250 is friendly toward other 3rd party apps whereas the 150 uses WinTV2000. And, at a price of $86.24 (includes free shipping) from Buy.com, it's a good deal:

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

[JustPlainDon]

I have to agree with normcar about the USB2. It can easily be moved from PC to PC.

An added bonus for me is that I don't have to crawl around behind my system to connect different video sources to a card. I just connect it to the external unit.

L8r,
JustPlainDon

[jameshgross]

I also use the Hauppauge PVR USB2.0. I am very pleased with the product and the support from Hauppauge.
I also move my unit from one PC to another.

[hudsonf]

I have the PVR250 and the USB2 on the same computer and both work great. With Beyond TV I can capture two shows at the same time.

[presto]

I have three 150's and with Beyond TV I can capture three programs at once.

[reboot]

I have a PVR 500 and a 250 using GB-PVR. I hook up the cables once, and forget them.