Hey Ali, so I've got two TW cable DVRs (the HD ones) and a HD Tivo up here in LA. The HD Tivo uses cablecard and it's just like you said-it's way cheaper for the cable card per month than the DVRs, and it works fine (I should get rid of the DVRs...). I can't guide you on using the CC in a PC, but the cablecard tech itself seems pretty solid and works great in my Tivo.
Oh, you just have to be aware of whether you're getting a singlestream or multistream CC-single means you can only tune to one channel, and multi means you can tune to 2 at once (I use a multistream in my TivoHD). Obviously multistream is better as you only need to pay for one CC/month to tune 2 channels...make sure you get the right one from TW as they sometimes send the wrong one even if you ask for mstream, etc. HTH! BINO > From: ames...@websense.com > To: hardware@hardwaregroup.com > Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 09:39:47 -0700 > Subject: Re: [H] Suggested HTPC Setup > > Do you have to buy a cablecard yourself? Here in San Diego TimeWarner > apparently will lease it for $2.50 a month which I find kind of hard to > believe its so cheap. Anyone have experience with these cablecards? I hope it > doesn’t require some DRM software to take over my machine. I will be setting > everything up on a Linux system so I wonder if that will be a problem. Also > what interface do these cards plug into? Do I need some type of adapter or is > there PCI-x slots or similar? > > Thanks, > ------------------------------------------ > Ali Mesdaq (CISSP, GIAC-GREM) > Sr. Security Researcher > Websense Security Labs > http://www.WebsenseSecurityLabs.com > ------------------------------------------ > > > -----Original Message----- > From: hardware-boun...@hardwaregroup.com > [mailto:hardware-boun...@hardwaregroup.com] On Behalf Of Alex > Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 11:11 AM > To: hardware@hardwaregroup.com > Subject: Re: [H] Suggested HTPC Setup > > One minor point I'd like to make: > > Confirm that you can receive a strong TV signal for the reception mode you > are going to use. (i.e. OTA/Sat/Cable). I bought a an ATI TV card, hooked it > up to an antenna only to find my OTA reception is barely acceptable where I > live (for the dozen or so channels that are available)... and so my HTPC > lacks PVR/Live capability, unless I choose to spring for cablecard. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: hardware-boun...@hardwaregroup.com > [mailto:hardware-boun...@hardwaregroup.com] On Behalf Of Mesdaq, Ali > Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 10:51 AM > To: hardware@hardwaregroup.com > Subject: [H] Suggested HTPC Setup > > Hey Everyone, > > I am looking into putting together a HTPC system together and I am at the > stage of planning it out. I have been looking stuff up online and reading > docs and I think I have an idea of how the software should be setup. My basic > requirements are: > - Nice interface > - Easy access to online content > - Ability to remotely stream my content (slingbox'ish) > - DVR replacement > > Nice to have features: > - Notification of new online content > - Remote streaming optimized for mobile (nokia n900) and laptops > - Ability to record and locally store online content > > So for the software I was thinking of using: > - xbmc as the frontend for everything > - mythtv as the backend pvr > > However I am not sure I have found a good solution for doing the remote > viewing of the content especially have not found anything that can optimize > the remote streaming. > > For the hardware I was basically thinking of putting together a smaller > quieter system but not sure if everything will fit in those smaller cases. > Also it would be nice to have a remote so probably something that can > accommodate that will be nice. Also I am not sure about best video card for > the job as well as what tv tuner card I should get. I was thinking of setting > the system up with either usb flash drive or ssd (if its cost effective) for > booting and having another larger slower drive to store the content on. > > So I would love to hear from people here who have suggestions on > software/hardware/configurations to help accomplish this. > > ALI MESDAQ > Sr. Security Researcher > > WEBSENSE, INC. > ph: +1.858.320.9466 > fax: +1.858.784.4466 > www.websense.com > > Websense TRITON™ > For Essential Information Protection™ > Web Security | Data Security | Email Security > > > > Protected by Websense Hosted Email Security -- www.websense.com >
