I've read over the various threads, I can't seem to find a solid answer to the following questions, perhaps someone with more expertise in these areas can lend a hand (or point me to the threads that discuss these questions).

1. I'm pretty sure I want two PVR250 cards. Do these still need the set-top box provided by the cable provider (I have digital cable from Comcast, but may decide to go DirecTV in the near future)? I was hoping to get away from the set-top box especially since I'd need two boxes to support two capture cards. This has been my biggest hold-up in getting the equipment. There's limited space around the TV for too much equipment and adding additional set-top boxes would suck.

2. If I do install dual PVR250 cards, can a single remote control both cards or will I have to flip between remotes? Are there problems with this setup? I've seen a few people complaining about confusion when watching a stream on one card and a scheduled show attempting to record (or something along those lines).

3. I'm pretty sure I'll be going with an nVidia card for video out. I'm leaning on a low end FX like the 5200 or 5600. Does anyone have a recommendation?

Well, I guess that's all the questions I can think of right now. Any help is always appreciated.

You will still need the cable boxes. The digital cable signals are not standardized in most areas and there is no generic tuner for them -- it's pretty much brand specific. That's why I do not have digital cable - I hate the super-slow boxes that Comcrap uses and I don't want to pay $4.95/month for each extra box in rental fees.



I don't have dual tuners, so I cannot comment specifically, but the remotes have nothing to do with the tuner cards themselves. The remote codes are fed to MythTV and Myth changes the channels and does the stuff for you. The card IR inputs are merely a physical connection for the IR receiver.



I'm a bit biased after having been so irritated by Nvidia TV-out, but my advice would be to stay away from Nvidia if possible. Even the MythTV documention lists Nvidia TV out as a last choice. Unfortunately, the best choices have other problems: The Matrox G200-Marvels are hard to find and not especially cheap and the PVR-350, which supposedly has really nice TV-out, seems to be really "hit or miss" as to whether people can get it to work under Linux.

Mike

One remote will control two cards. I'm happy with my GeForce 4.

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cesman

When the source is open, the possibilities are endless!

Well, thats fairly disappointing. In light of the fact that I'd have to get two set-top boxes, I'm thinking it would be better to go with the DirecTV Tivo box. It will take two inputs from satelite and provide me with the Tivo functions (recording shows, pausing live tv, etc.). Oh well, I thought it would be cool to build my own PVR...maybe in the future.

What is wrong with nvidia's tv-out? It's what I was planning on using but I'm open to other suggestions.

Well the nvidia tv out is ok but not great. the MX2 and earlier cards usually don't have great quality, and the MX4 and newer cards for some reason pump tons of red into the picture, this can be compensated for with the xv playback controls, but does leave the picture somewhat washed out looking.