Third time's the charm for our Vista CableCard testbed
Three visits by a Time Warner Cable of NYC technician and two trips to NYC from Virginia by Velocity Micro's Chris Morley, and today I finally brought up a Vista-based CableCard signal on a Velocity Micro CineMagix Grand Theater system. I actually have two CableCards working, each plugged into its own ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner PCI card. That means I can watch digital cable on one channel and record another at the same time with full, TiVo-style automation through the Vista Media Center-based channel guide software. Throw in the Blu-ray drive, an Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS graphics card for next-gen gaming, wireless networking capability, and a wireless keyboard, and you could say I'm finally living the home theater PC dream.
If you saw my last Vista CableCard post, you'll know it wasn't easy getting here. Microsoft hasn't provided the cable installers with the documentation describing PC-based CableCard, so actually getting the connection to work takes some patience, both with the technology and the technicians. Fortunately, today my service call was escalated to a Time Warner Cable foreman, who was knowledgeable and more than willing to work on an unfamiliar CableCard device. As Chris and I thought, our initial install failed due to a faulty CableCard, which the foreman replaced with a working unit. He also reported to us that CableCards aren't the most reliable devices in general, and that it's fairly common to have to try a couple before one finally works.
Our PC CableCard guinea pig, the Velocity Micro Cinemagix Grand Theater.
(Credit: CNET)Even after getting Windows Media Center to recognize both CableCards, my signal is not ideal. I ordered a standard digital cable package of about 150 channels, along with a handful of HD channels, including all of the local networks, as well as ESPN-HD and others (missing the NCAA Men's Basketball Final in HD by one day). Right now, the standard-def channels look fine, but the HD channels are plagued by frequent pixellation and occassional stuttering. The TWC foreman said that it can take a little while for the full bandwidth to kick in. I've also had signal strength issues in my apartment before, so I'm not ready to attribute my bad reception to the technology or Velocity Micro's computer. If the signal remains choppy through the weekend, the foreman suggested that I get TWC to come back out.
Now that I finally have a working CableCard PC at home, I plan to spend the next month or so diving deep into the full home theater PC experience. I'll be playing with scheduled recordings, HD audio reception, input devices, streaming media around my apartment, and whatever else comes to mind. If there's anything you're curious about that I haven't listed, let me know and I'll try it out. My first update will hopefully have the full story on HD cable reception over your PC. Wish me luck.
Rich Brown reviews desktops and various other components and peripherals for CNET. E-mail Rich. 
You have two tuners on that thing. Am I correct in understanding then that the ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner doesn't have dual-tuner capability?
With your setup, what happens when you want to set up a schedule to record two shows simultaneously?
What if you want to watch TV and record at the same time?
What if you want to watch a pre-recorded program and record TV at the same time?
What happens when you connect to the PC through more than one MCE at a time?
I have two HDTV's and will have an Xbox 360 for each (which has a Media Center Extender built-in). Ideally, I'd like to be able to watch different programs through both Xboxes simultaneously and/or watch through a single MCE and record TV at the same time on the PC ... Bascially I want this PC to be able to replace my current dual-tuner HDTV DVR cablebox setup, and then allow single recordings of programs to be watched on either television.
I know it's a lot to ask of you; but you have the setup there!
Hope that helped!
living room? I have enjoyed my compact EyeTV for years, with online
schedules & recording, programmed recording. Though I usually watch it on
my Powerbook or connected flat screen monitor, I can connect my PowerBook
to my larger living room TV. For digital programming, beyond basic cable, I
can connect the EyeTV to my cable box. Since my PowerBook can also be
used to watch a DVD or to connect to another TV or monitor and my Airport
Express base station connects to my stereo (any audio device), is there any
benefit that the reviewed system has over a set-up like mine? I even have a
remote to run my PowerBook. So far, I am enjoying my media center
experience and have not had any set-up or connectivity issues. Since I am
considering an AppleTV, I wanted to see what other options are available.
Thank you
- choppy cable tv signal
- by HDspoiled May 20, 2007 9:44 AM PDT
- The prewire is in most cases in apartments, not sheilded
- Like this Reply to this comment
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(10 Comments)coax like rg 59 copper coax. I would suggest get permission in writing with property management letter head to have the cable installer rewire your apt. exterior only. Most cable companies will not do an inside the wall rewire called a wall shot.If after the cable has been replaced and your picture is still choppy the the next step for your cable co. is to check the signal outside on there end. Your problem sould be escalated to a network tech to check system