This question have been asked a few times before and have been answered by members here. Anyway, I don't mind repeating it here.

Yes, the Byond PVR (with builtin 500GB harddisk) is HD ready and can receive all the Astro HD channels.

However, which HD channels you can watch will depend on which Package you subscribed. Not necessarily you can watch/record all the available HD channels... if you did not subscribe to Movies Pack, then the HBO HD Ch 431 is locked so cannot watch/record. If you did NOT subscribe to any SuperPacks or HD Service, then ALL the HD channels are locked and you cannot watch or record any HD channels, only watch/record SD channels.

I really don't know whether you are allowed to get the Byond PVR box by subscribing to PVR Recording Service only, without subscribing to HD Service. Of course, no problem for the 4 SuperPacks because already included PVR Recording and HD Service.

Please refer to Astro website for further details or contact Customer Support for such enquiries. I am a bit lazy to explain in full detail here again.

The Byond DVR (with builtin 500GB harddisk) have 2 tuners which allows recording from 2 different sat TV channels at the same time... or record from 1 channel and watch another channel at the same time. Because of this, it has 2 Inputs to be connected to 2 different cables to the LNB at satellite dish.

For Byond PVR subscribers, the installer will change or install to a new Dual (2) or Quad (4) Output LNB at the dish which allows more cable connections.

Eventhough you mentioned that your new house is "Astro cable ready", is it only ONE single cable installed in-wall ? If only 1 cable, then unfortunately you need to have a second (2) cable for the Byond PVR so this will be problem for you to find a way to install the second satellite cable.

Well... to avoid adding second cable, you can think of using "1 In-2 Out" cable splitters to connect 2 cables from the single cable plug at wall to the Byond PVR BUT this is not recommended. Why ? Signal quality will be affected and can drop so much to affect the HD channels reception, maybe interference/noise appears or maybe more "rain fade" will occur eventhough slight rain. Remember that some installers DID use splitters for the Byond PVR when the Byond PVR subscriber refused to allow extra second cable to be installed because house looked "ugly" if cables are seen snaking on the walls. Well... I have heard of complains later about the reception, hehe. If you decided to use such splitters for your Byond PVR, then good luck to you, hehe.

Hehe... one of my friends came to me to ask for suggestions when his new house was still being built so I advised him to put in at least 3 or 4 satellite cables inside the walls. More expensive because of more cables used but at least it is "future proof" and he never regretted it later when he did actually used 3 for 1 Byond and 1 Byond PVR so no need to worry anymore on "drilling holes" into the wall !

You are welcome.

In your previous first post, you did not mention anything about whether you will be a new subscriber or will be upgrading from existing "old" Astro decoder box/Byond (non PVR) to the Byond PVR (with builtin 500GB harddisk). What you did confirm is that you already have laid a single "hidden" cable inside walls for Astro reception. What I am trying to say is that... for the Byond and Byond PVR boxes, a slightly larger dark grey dish is used when compared to the dish used by previous "old" Astro box which have been discontinued for new subscribers.

Ok, whether you intend to use cable splitter or not, do make sure these are installed for your Byond PVR... (1) Dual or Quad LNB at the satellite dish so that you can still add more cables in future in case you decide to later use more cables and therefore, no need to "change" LNB again, (2) the recommended slightly larger dark grey satellite dish is installed which will help to improve signal reception, especially important for the much "heavier bandwidth" HD reception, which will of course also help to stabilise/improve the SD reception as well as "slightly" reduce occurances of signal loss due to "rain fade". After all... these are standard items included for the Byond PVR installation so there is no excuse for failing to use them eventhough you want to use splitter for your in-wall single cable.

Hehe... do all installers come ready with the cable splitters ? Honestly I don't know. I can only use my own common sense that they will come prepared for all situations when they do the installations. Anyway, the installer will phone to you before he/she come for installation so you can probably explain your existing cable situation and also ask about the cable splitter... the installer will be able to advice you further and be better prepared before coming. Many years ago, when I was using only 2 "old" Astro DMT boxes (before Byond appeared), a single splitter was used for the old 1-output LNB... the splitter was given free so I "think" the splitter should be given "free" but that was a long time ago... at that time, no signal problem for the SD channels with the 2 old Astro boxes. Now the LNB have been replaced when I added the Byond box.

Eventhough I mention the "1 In-2 Out" cable splitter, I need to repeat my caution to you that using the splitter from one cable split to two for your Byond PVR 2 Inputs is NOT the standard recommended installation so you may or may not face signal or other problems later. So please don't blame me later if any "problems" appear in future, hehe.

Here's a "rough explanation" just for comparison...
The HD signal uses a "heavier" bandwidth with screen size of 720p or 1080i and 6 channels Dolby Digital audio at 48KHz.
The SD signal uses a "lighter" bandwidth with screen size of 576p and 2 channels PCM audio at 44.1 KHz.
A slightly bigger dark grey dish will help to slightly improve reception of the "heavier" HD signal and of course will help much more for the SD signals.

...so, what I can actually say is that... it would seem that using splitter for the 2 tuners of the Byond PVR should cause less problems for SD reception BUT does not mean it will not cause any problem because 2 tuners "share" the same cable.

I am using 1 Byond (non PVR) box and 2 old Astro boxes connected to 3 separate cables to a Quad (4 outputs) LNB so one LNB output is not used, no splitter used. Well... 3 "ugly" cables are seen on the walls of my house but I don't mind it, hehe. Since I do not use Byond PVR (with builtin 500GB harddisk), I cannot personally 100% confirm to you whether using cable splitters for the Byond PVR inputs will be ok or not for the SD channels.

Remember that each installation location is different due to different cable lengths used and where the dish is located. For example... when the LNB signal direction to the satellite above is slightly blocked by a nearby very tall condo. So... of course, if possible, using 2 separate cables will be better loh.

Just be aware that I may or may not be correct in some of my comments here. Probably anyone here who have installed such splitter for the Byond PVR can provide you with an accurate answer. Also, probably this has already been answered in some posts in the earlier thread... I don't know because I was lazy to check loh, hehe... so you can search yourself. So, for now, I guess that the only way to be sure if got any problems is to see it with your own eyes when the splitter is used... even if got no problems for the SD channels now, you may still not know for sure until after it has been used for a longer period especially when rain occurs... and when problem appear later, I really don't know whether the installer will not charge you to come again to add the second cable.

Even when separate cables are used, signal loss still occur due to heavy rain because of the 2 feet diameter dish ! No need for me to explain further on why we are still not allowed to legally (without any license) install large dish to watch satellite TV channels... the debate continues, hehe.

Its your personal decision not to install second cable and use splitter for your new Byond PVR so I hope there will be no problems for you eventhough should have less issues for SD reception only.

Well... these are my 2 cents, I guess. 

No problem, you are welcome.

The only problem is my "bad" character of making extremely looooong replies/comments. All my personal friends say that I am too fussy and too long-winded, and never use short sentences with short sms words such as "u, I c, dun knw, tks" etc, hehe. Sorry for that.

Anyway, hope you can let me know later whether the splitter can be used for the 2 inputs of the Byond PVR without any problems... just send pm to me will do.