so what problem do you have? cant use agp/pci-e?

Anyone know how to upscale the ASTRO picture to 720i/1080i using ffdshow? Or other software to do it?

dun think PVR-150 comes with IR blaster.
only PVR-150MCE can remote control Astro
1. If you want to control astro using the MCE remote spend the 100 buck.

3. It will be easier and better if you have a LCD TV or projector to go with your HTPC. Standard CRT TV also can but your video card needs to support TV-out and the quality is not as good as LCD TV. I don't have projector so cannot comment on that.

Sorry for the wrong info. I guess the only difference between PVR-150 and 150MCE is that 150MCE supports windows xp mce.

As for Astro, I get 2 black box on both sides when watching on my HDTV unless I do post processing to enlarge the video.

Now we are spoilt for options!

I checked through SageTV website and hauppage website and still not sure of the following: -

1. using SageTV wireless/ hauppage mediaMVP wireless, i can stream mp3, pc video, pictures, etc to the wireless MVP and be display to lcd TV+audio. good idea. BUT you still ned PVR 150 for astro connection to pc, what a minus, because everything together is no good eyesight. I was thinking why cant they make a product that accepts Astro/FM/TV/ signals and transmits wirelessly to PC. In this case, we can hide the product and astro somewhere.

2. Can Astro give digital output signals. Should Astro provide such service?

To the sifus,

1. I read some comments at tomshardware. All of them seems to give thumbs up for Hauppauge. I just wonder if anyones has faced this problem since HTPC uses m-atx.

"Summary: Works great - mostly. Noticed when I view a signal on the RF connector signal looks fine when there is no card next to it in the PCI slot, but when I installed a SoundBlaster X-Fi in the PCI slot next to it the signal got static and went away when I moved the card 1 slot away. This did not effect the other video inputs. If you do not have a way to run your signal via S-Video or Composite Video (RCA video jack) or enough free PCI slots to keep one empty next to this card it would be a major problem. Apparently the RF port is sensitive to local RF interference off of PCI cards immediately next to it (maybe only the SB X-Fi - only one I tried). If you have Windows MCE, using the S-Video or Composite connections requires you to have a remote, ir receiver and transmitter (not that the hardware is actually required but MCE is hard coded to look for it so you cannot setup the signal without it - there is no way to bypass it), which this OEM package does not have so you would be better off buying the retail bundle. Only reason I did not give 5/5 stars"

2. I hate micrsoft products (and i hate bill gate more) but i can not live without using them (WinXP). Is MCE 2005 the way to go???? how about SageTV, Beyond TV and MythTv, etc. how are they compared to MCE (matched with WinTV PVR 150). I am thinking of using PVR 150 (without MCE) and do away with other media center software. Can SageTV, Beyond TV and MythTv do the Astro EPG?? any guides on this.

3. Question : how it works when u are watching Astro and EPG starts recording other channel that u are currently watching.

4. How is MPEG-4 compared to MPEG-2.

rgds

Ryan:
The PVR-150MCE comes with Blaster also?? From what i read, i thought PVR-MCE has NO blaster. Only the PVR-MCE Kit has a blaster. Check out hauppage website.

I'm not sure whether this "MCE kit" model is available here or not.

PS:Btw, bro, i haven't fix the DIY IR receiver yet...getting cold fingers whenever i thought of it...kid running around the house also doesn't helps...LOL. Btw, what kinda wires is best use for the purpose? There's many wires available but i dunno which to buy!

anyone knows where can i buy PC's remote control for media centre?

I just finished my HTPC. So far working fine and I can even download EPG (Electronic Program Guide) for 7 days advance.

My setup as below:
Hardware.
Opteron 144 o/c to 2.7 Ghz
DFI NF3 Ultra
GeForce 6800GT
1 Gb RAM
Prodigy 7.1 LT
250 Gb HD
Hauppage MCE 150 with IR Blaster and MCE Remote

Software
WinXP
MediaPortal 0.2.1 (this PVR software is freeware and highly customizable). Built in support for MCE Remote so I don't need keyboard and mouse.
TVxB (use to download EPG program guide for Astro).

So far except some software glitches (still beta build), the system work great. You can even set your computer to sleep and automatically wakeup when need to record your tv.

I am waiting for the launch of i965 mini-atx (Asus p5e-vm, gigabyte, etc) and match with E6300. just saw that pc-zone reduce E6300 to rm 660.

In this way, I can still keep the HTPC current for 1 to 2 years. Propose following for HTPC.

planned htpc.

1. Asus p5e-vm/Gigabyte G965-s2
2. E6300 buy from singapore
3. 1x320 G HD
4. 7600gs GC
5. 1x1 gb ddr2 667 mhz ram later on another 1 gb
6. Logitech Z5500
7. Creative Audizy 4 - is this necessary. can i just use on board ICH8
8. Hauppage pvr 150 mce - buy from singapore
9. Ciplak casing - i-cute
10. logitech wireless kb + mouse
11. Samsung lcdtv 32" R7

since mediaportal is freeware, i will try it.

hope can still do ffdshow with the above. any comment

rgds.

okay, i found a solution to the conversion.

(1) Use DVRMSToolbox to convert dvr-ms to mpg file - very fast. Less than 1 minute.
Download here :- http://www.download.com/DVRMSToolbox/3640-...4-10444368.html

(2) Use the DIVX converter that comes with DIVX 6 and convert it to DIVX (just drag the file and drop it inside). Took about 1 hour+ to convert the 1/2 hour show...still extremely long time. Looks like short of getting real-time encoding of DIVX via some other software (provided the CPU can handle), this is not going to work pratically.
btw, anyone tried Beyond TV v4.x?? I tried to install but it doesn't seems to regconized the IR blaster? I don't know which option to select at the last part when it ask for the IR blaster...doesn't seems like an option there.

My sound problem still persist. It's weird, it's okay for about 5 to 10 minutes before it starts kicking in. The encoded files however have no problem when i play it elsewhere.

Think i need to change sound card to test.

Hello guys,

I have been comtemplating about this issue.

E6600|Intel 965OT|LCD TV 37"

I notice this two is about the same price.

1. MSI 7600 GT diamond plus c/w HDMI cable 128 bit RM 600

2. EVGA 7800 GT DVI only OEM 256 bit RM 600

I am not sure what connection is normally used between HTPC and LCD TV. Do you connect by DVI and follow by RCA audio. I am sure connection by HDMI will give the best output in terms of Audio and Video but is there a difference in terms of video. Is it true that connection by DVI can not have high bandwidth (like 1080p). I notice the MSI 7600 GT diamond plus does not print HDCP on the packaging, does that mean playing hdcp content will not be allowed.

rgds

terency: what i meant was not upscaling for astro... for others (DVD and d/l movies).. do i need to adjust the resolution?

what resolution and refresh rate u use for ur htpc to R7? using powerstrip? are all the hd format movies played in hd resolution? (1080i)

sorry for too many questions, i just need some info the bottomline is i want to play dvd frm my notebook at 1080i resolution... hope someone can guide me...

Terencey: Is there something wrong with ASTRO?? The TVXB can't download the guide from ASTRO website since today. It just keeps hanging halfway. I've tested on my other PC and it's still the same!!!

Arrggghhh!!! What's wrong with it!!! Anyone knows?? Or is it ASTRO doing something to prevent us from downloading the info???

1. Can we link to another pc to play video file(in MCE)?

2.Homebrew serial IR receiver can use in MCE?

3. Where to get the receiver?

4. Can anyone expert here recommend me a TV Tuner card which support MCE with controller. Budget under rm250>rm300

Ok maybe a *little* offtopic:

1) How do you customize the name of a TV channel in MCE, as in Instead of Channel1: Unknown, I want it to show Channel 1: RTM1. Been googling no mention, all also linked to GUIDE which doesnt work for malaysian channels.

2) This been an annoyance since day 1 for me long ago. My MP3 collection is organise by folder. Once I add it into MCE, all haywire, I will have lots of songs filed under different albums and all. I tried to tag all the ID3 tags to the proper album name but somehow it will pandai pandai list the song under diff album.
E.g I got folder "Best Hits 1980s", song is Michael Jackson - Dirty Diana

End up in MCE filed under "Bad" album by Michael Jackson even if I set the ID3 tag of the MP3 to "Best Hits 1980s".

If I wrong thread pls recommend somewhere I can check with, thanks.

Follow terency guide on setting up mce:
http://www.terencey.net/blog/

As for your mp3 you can organize it outside from window media player.

Well I might just have a 2nd decoder soon, so I'm considering it. My mobo is cramped enough already with 2 video cards (3 output devices) and a sound card. I am not sure if I can get 2 tuner cards in, so I'm considering a dual tuner card.

I wonder if Malaysia will get digital TV anytime this decade? I remember RTM testing some new broadcast standard (was it digital?) a year ago.

Anyone plan to put a HTPC in living room may consider this AcerPower 1000 ... AMD64x2 on nforce 6150.. Tiny and slim to be put on top of your Astro decoder 

R u using LCD or 4:3 CRT? If u r using 4:3 CRT like me, then u can try adjusting resolution a bit.

For my TV, if i set to max 1280x720 in 720p mode, The image will goes off the screen and i'll miss some of the info, so i set it to about 11xx x 6xx, which is just about nice. I didn't notice much black bar at side when zooming in.