Spacecast Community

Got the new Hauppage HVR-1800 MCE TV card, with remote.  They knocked $50 off the price-- a great deal at $109.

Gawd, is this thing ever sweet!  Got PVR capabilities, it taps into SHAW for the Program guide, what more could a guy ask?

This is the first time I get to use the Windows Media Center.  Not bad... it's actually kinda neat.

--TT

TheTransla:

Got the new Hauppage HVR-1800 MCE TV card, with remote.  They knocked $50 off the price-- a great deal at $109.

Gawd, is this thing ever sweet!  Got PVR capabilities, it taps into SHAW for the Program guide, what more could a guy ask?

This is the first time I get to use the Windows Media Center.  Not bad... it's actually kinda neat.

--TT

Are you sure it taps into Shaw and not TVguide on screen? TV-GOS is the usual source for PVR listings.

 

 

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...The poster formerly known as rick -s

Are you sure it taps into Shaw and not TVguide on screen? TV-GOS is the usual source for PVR listings.

It's SHAW Cablesystems, all right.  Unless... they get their source from there.

When you set it (Windows Media Center) up, it contacts the internet and offers you a list: SHAW is one of many to choose from.

--TT

Read about it here.  Hilarious, man.

Favourite line: marketing executive said that the company will try to overcome the common view that Windows Vista is a failure

Why does the phrase "beating a dead horse" come to mind?

--TT

Holy 'moly, read about it here... and here.

What the hey?  I'm scared, Ma.

 

Meantime, USB 3.0 is full steam ahead here.

--TT

 MacBook Pro 17"   2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, 3 iPods. You can stop drooling know, I'll stop 

Read it here.

WINDOWS 7, AKA Me II SP1a, is going to disappoint, it is simply a warmed over Vista with shatteringly few new features.

In grand fashion, MS is once again doing the wrong thing with Windows 7 and not delivering on much of what it promised for the last version. The 'new' program delivers one thing, a new GDI. Yes, you can extend the 'power' of pretty to all the apps on your desktop, with 3D widgets and the like, but it will also likely break compatibility with older apps.

 

IOW, more of the same ol', same ol'  If it's going to disappoint at this stage, why bother making it and selling it?

Geez, why can't they just fix their old mistakes instead of making new ones?

--TT

TheTransla:

Read it here.

WINDOWS 7, AKA Me II SP1a, is going to disappoint, it is simply a warmed over Vista with shatteringly few new features.

In grand fashion, MS is once again doing the wrong thing with Windows 7 and not delivering on much of what it promised for the last version. The 'new' program delivers one thing, a new GDI. Yes, you can extend the 'power' of pretty to all the apps on your desktop, with 3D widgets and the like, but it will also likely break compatibility with older apps.

 

IOW, more of the same ol', same ol'  If it's going to disappoint at this stage, why bother making it and selling it?

Geez, why can't they just fix their old mistakes instead of making new ones?

--TT

... because their human.

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...in essence we are the universe
trying to understand itself.

I just ordered a nice little Vostro 1710 laptop for back (after 13 years) to school time.  Best part of the deal was still being able to get it with XP Pro.

 

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hemulator

TheTransla:

Got the new Hauppage HVR-1800 MCE TV card, with remote.  They knocked $50 off the price-- a great deal at $109.

Gawd, is this thing ever sweet!  Got PVR capabilities, it taps into SHAW for the Program guide, what more could a guy ask?

This is the first time I get to use the Windows Media Center.  Not bad... it's actually kinda neat.

--TT

 So how is this working out? I might have to get one, I see there are some newer cards out that I might consider if they're available. I'd try it in my current PC first and if it does what I hope, I may build a media center PC with it later.

Are you using it with a cable box?

 

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...The poster formerly known as rick -s

So how is this working out?

Bloody marvelous, man.  I can watch and record with the push of a button.  IR remote is tolerable, could use more buttons.

One drawback: Windows Vista blocks certain channels like AMC and Encore because the networks don't want me to record the copyright programming.  Eh, that's Windows for ya.  Still, I can use the more primitive software and watch them with no problem.

 

I might have to get one, I see there are some newer cards out that I might consider if they're available. I'd try it in my current PC first and if it does what I hope, I may build a media center PC with it later.

Wait for the price to drop at $100, or so.  $159-$200 is quite steep.

 

Are you using it with a cable box?

Yep, plug my cable right into it.  I could use satellite (ATSC) cable but Canada doesn't support it.  Love the FM radio though.

--TT

 

Look Ma!  I'm dancing!  I'm dancing!

I picked up the ATI HD4870 card at $289 at BEST BUY!  

WHOO-HOO!  YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dudes, this is a $400 card... and with tax over $450 big ones!  Plus, I sold my old card (3870) to a friend for $150 so I'm only paying half!

WAH-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

In yer face, losers!  IN YER FREAKIN', FRIGGEN, FACE!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I'm calm.  

No, I'm not!  HAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

--TT

Geez, I've just been to Hell and back,

My 4870 card got amazingly hot when I powered up for the first time: it was scalding, upon feeling the top of the card, and the case was heating up inside and out-- was practically a sauna from the back, and the video card's rear vent burned my fingers.

ATI overdrive reported a whopping 80 degrees!  Even in my room, in front of the computer, I could feel myself sweltering from that radiating heat.

Didn't take a rocket scientist to deduce something was wrong.

However, upon checking the internet, it seems I wasn't the only one getting this problem as it was posted everywhere.  Upon reading the various message boards people were asking for advice, and it seems the 4850 and 4870 cards run hot-- that 80 degrees was considered the norm for these cards, because ATI set low fan speeds.  The overall solution was creating a profile changing the fan speed to manually run when you enter the desktop.  It worked, but I hated to do that every time I turn on the computer, and the notion that the card heats up that high when its idle and I only in BIOS is scary.

So I took the card back to Best Buy and exchanged it.  Now it works perfectly.  Temperature is a now steady 50-52 degrees-- and no tweaking-- which is what I've always known the proper temp to be, and I've been through a lot of ATI's cards.

So all I can say to those with that quick fix: consider taking the card back cuz it may be defective.  Bad or corrupted RAM heats up, or it could be a defective power supply, that may not have enough voltage.

Ya know it's funny... I've never had bad or defective video cards from FUTURESHOP or Best Buy before.  ATI is one of the good ones, even if Diamond is one of their manufacturers.  Still, I'm pretty ticked at the poor packaging and quality of ATI's lower end stuff-- take the HD4850, for instance: no anti static bag, no foam cushions, just an acetate plastic molding, accessories, and instructions.  You could crush the outer box like an empty beer can.  Pathetic.

But my 4870 card they went all out: anti static bag, plenty of foam cushioning, heavy cardboard packaging within the box itself.  Seems the only way to get that is to buy their most expensive card on the block.  Again I say, pathetic.    

--TT

Here is supposedly the first 'pro' Vista ad with Bill and Jerry.

This is the start of the new $300 million marketing campaign  to counter Apples Mac vs PC ads.

If you can see anything in it that says 'Vista' anywhere, I want to know.

Youtube

 

I thought Bill retired, what's he doing making ads now?

 

 

 

 

 

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...The poster formerly known as rick -s

What's even better is that there is an Apple computer in 180 Seinfeld episodes.

 

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hemulator