LifeView seems to be unfortunately unavailable here in France
Have searched trough +/- 15 web retailers. Therefore I'll go for a Winfast TV2000XP Deluxe, as it his well present in mythTV and other PVR hardware database. Cheap card , but not as cheap as the LifeView FlyTV Platinum at newegg.com.

I usually do +/- 900Kb XviD video encoding with 80 to 128 Kb Ogg or mp3 audio, depending whether it's a manga, a movie or a video clip.
I'll try everything i can as soon as i'll have configured the capture card + software =o)

My brother may be the next of my family to switch to Linux
As my Dad and Mum are already more than partially converted (took me + them 2 years before i knew they were ready to switch), are quite satisfied with it, and I now successfully tested VNC distant administration ^o^

Electro > Thank you ++ for the advice you wrote here.

If my goal is to hook up a pc to my tv to pull down just like what Tivo would do using something like mythtv/freevo, what kind of hardware would you recommmend?

Is it possible with "DirecTV" to hook up a pc to the box in this way?

I have plenty of computer cpu/hd to do this with

amd64 3200 & 3000
amd xp-2000
duron 1100
p3 daul 833

So I have 5 box's to do this with I just wasn't sure how cpu intensive any of this is and would you recommend doing it on one proc over the other.

Basically I want to hook the pc up to the tv/directv box, record tv shows and replay them either on the tv or on computers in other room.

Video cards I have

GT 6800
FX 5500
TI 4200

I do have an all-n-wonder ve (i think) laying around I used to use when I had cable tv coming right into my pc. But i figure it is probably a bit outdated to do something like this now, maybe I'm wrong.


Can you recommend the hardware I should use and will it work through a directv box,

thx

http://knoppmythwiki.homelinux.org/i...e=DirecTVSetUP

Depending on the hardware I have at home (i'm at work) it might be possible to use DirecTV box, I will just need to know what kind of Cards would be best.

I would pick the dual PIII system because one processor can playback and the other can record very high quality.

Have you read this thread because all your questions will be already answer if you do.

YEah, the part i'm still a bit confused on is if I can watch and record at the same time from one directv box and one computer

You can watch recorded shows while recording a show. If you want to watch two TV channels, you need two or more capture cards. You will need a full-duplex sound card like the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz to playback and record at the same time.

Ok, got it, so if I have:

one directv rca cable box
2 pvr-250 cards

for example than I could watch a tv channel "live" and "record" another channel on one tv, right?

Will an Audigy 2 ZS sound card work?

It sucks on terms on sound quality. The Turtle Beach Santa Cruz which costs a lot less has much better sound quality. Also the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz has less crosstalk noise and better channel seperation. The Turtle Beach Santa Cruz is easier to setup for recording and playback.

Hey Guys,
I am thinking of getting an ATI All in wonder (100-714127 HD-TV All-in-Wonder) but I am not sure if it will work with my linux machines. I have checked the HCL, ATI website, and google but still not sure.
Any experiences with this card?

responses are greatly appreciated

TIA

ATI never will support their hardware in Linux as well as nViida. The best capture is using video capture cards that are based on Philips SAA71xx chips or use DV camcorders/VCR. The only HDTV card that works in Linux is pcHDTV model HD-3000. You then need at least a 2 GHz system just to decode the HDTV signals. Also it uses lesser quality video capture chip.

Hi Electro,
What chipset is in the ATI HDTV all in wonder? Is it the conexant 2388x chipset?

Thanks in advance

Actually I found it. It is a cx23883. Woudn't this mean that I could use Xawtv and cx88 driver to support this card on Linux.

Although I am experience with Linux, I am a newbie with Tv tuners so any advice here would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

You can get it, but only a few features will work. Probably the tuner will half work. I suggest buying analog cards that cost around $40 to $50. Not many shows and stations contain HDTV information to make HDTV a good investment. If you really want HDTV, invest in HD-3000 from pcHDTV. Unfortunately you are stuck using xine, pcHDTV's command line program to record the shows, and a minimum of a 2 GHz system.

You have to upgrade the kernel to at least 2.6.10 or the latest stable version to make it work. xawtv is ok program to make sure the tv capture works but lacks deinterlacing and many other features. tvtime and MythTV are better for TV watching.

Hi Electro,
Thanks -- I'll take your advice.

I have an ATI HDTV card, just collecting dust. I guess from reading many posts, that I waisted my money. Bought it when I was using windblows, but updated to an AMD64 box. ATI ceased to support it, when the new copyright laws went into affect.

Got pretty good HDTV coverage in my area as I have a direct view of the transmitters. What software is there that might work with this card? The ATI Linux drivers supposedly include the drivers for the card, but no TV software.
Any information on these facts?

Dave