Im looking at making some upgrades in order to handle video editing/compressing a bit easier. Right now Im using a QAM tuner to capture HDTV transport streams, and hopefully TWC is going to come through for me in getting a digital cable box with a Firewire output, so hopefully that will be an option soon as well. Capturing is pretty much not a problem, but when attempting to compress to another, smaller format, Ive had nothing but trouble...long job times of course, and video that usually playsback slow. Im sure more memory will help (I have 1GB right now), but Im also thinking a motherboard/processor upgrade might be a good idea. Right now I have a Asus A7N8X-Deluxe with a Athlon XP 2500...over 2 years old so its probably about time for an upgrade anyhow. Im looking for some good suggestions on what I should look at...something affordable that will do the job. Any suggestions?

9/21/2005 6:55:02 AM

drop 2k on a new puter

9/21/2005 7:15:13 AM

Quote :

"hopefully TWC is going to come through for me in getting a digital cable box with a Firewire output"

i fucking wish

9/21/2005 7:59:23 AM

i wish they would unencrypt their digital channels below 78.. we already pay for those channels if we receive a cable feed into our house, so why not let those with QAM/ATSC tuners receive those channels. I think they'll have to unencrypt them once digital becomes the standard (no more analog transmission that is).. so tv's with built in tuners and pc tuner cards (such as the fusion5, hdtv-wonder, etc.) can watch at least the basic channels..

if your card is saving the files as .ts files.. then you may be able to download the fusionhdtv software and use their converter that converts to any mpeg(i think) or divx format... It does take some time.. but i haven't had any playback issues.

[Edited on September 21, 2005 at 8:47 AM. Reason : ]

9/21/2005 8:45:07 AM

^^ Well they did, the guy just brought it by today...try going through their website and emailing them, youll never get anything but clueless CSRs on the phone. It was probably only 2 weeks between when I requested the box and when they called saying one was available.

^Yeah I have the FusionHDTV QAM tuner card...Ive tried the software that came with it and got nothing but crap...hence why I need more power.

9/21/2005 11:41:23 AM

So yeah, hooked up the Firewire box, and, as I guess I should have known, ESPNHD, HDNet, etc, are all set as "copy once"...which means you cant record to PC. Sigh...you would think there would be some hack around this since theres one for everything else you can think of, but if there is, I cant seem to find it and no one seems to know about it.

9/21/2005 12:46:50 PM

What box did you get from time warner that has firewire output on it? Like whats the model?

9/21/2005 12:53:02 PM

Its the SA3250HD, but you have to specifically request one with Firewire, as the majority of the boxes dont have it. This is the only Firewire box they have also, although Firewire capable DVRs are supposed to be coming in the near future.

9/21/2005 2:20:30 PM

ok, thats what I was wondering if it had dvr with it. I got the SA8300...the hdmi/dvr box but would rather have a firewire/dvr box. Thanks though

9/21/2005 2:57:55 PM

k

[Edited on September 21, 2005 at 3:00 PM. Reason : pron]

9/21/2005 2:59:43 PM

You actually want a drive with eSATA.

9/21/2005 2:59:51 PM

so what channels can you copy / view via firewire thorugh your pc?

9/21/2005 4:24:50 PM

9/21/2005 11:25:16 PM

You definitely cant do PPV or OnDemand channels, and it appears you cant capture from the HD Tier or HBOHD or ShowtimeHD...which is pretty much the main reason I wanted to try the firewire box. Pretty much any channel other than those from what I can tell.

9/22/2005 12:11:36 AM

how much cpu power does it take

9/22/2005 12:18:17 AM

Quote :

"So yeah, hooked up the Firewire box, and, as I guess I should have known, ESPNHD, HDNet, etc, are all set as "copy once"...which means you cant record to PC."

Well, you can record it to DVHS. There are supposedly programs available that can facilitate pulling the program off DVHS. That's an expensive route to take though...

Quote :

"This is the only Firewire box they have also"

Not so. I got the 8300HD recently, and it has a Firewire port. Not sure if it's active, but it's there.

9/22/2005 8:25:03 AM

Its probably inactive, Im sure it would have been mentioned on AVSforum if there was an active one available in our area. However, TWC apparently does have them in a couple of markets though.

And yeah I know you can record to DVHS...I actually bought one last year, never used it and probably should have sent it back or sold it on Ebay. And yes there are programs that allow you to record from DVHS, but the copy flags are carried over onto DVHS recordings, so if there was a way to do this, it would still have to be some kind of hack.

9/22/2005 7:58:40 PM