InfiniTV 4 USB Turns a PC Into Cable Set-Top Box

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JOSHSKORN

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I'm really dying to try this out, actually. Not this one, but the internal card along with a cablecard. I don't know how it'll work with my Verizon FiOS, though.
 

extremepcs

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It would cost me roughly $2,000 to outfit my 4 TV's with media center extenders, build the HTPC, and buy this device. Where is the savings vs renting 4 cable boxes? It costs about $14 a month right now to rent them. It would take over 12 years just to recoup the initial investment. That's assuming the technology would even last for 12 years without needing to be updated. I guess it would work well for people who already have a PC and extenders/xbox though.
 
"It would cost me roughly $2,000 to outfit my 4 TV's with media center extenders, build the HTPC, and buy this device. "

No, One device. Then any computer on your internal network can play the contents. Not cheap ($300 plus whatever the m-card costs you) but not $2K.
 

neon871

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How many family members can you get around your PC? It make more sense to get internet on your TV (like GoogleTV for $99.99) , not everyone wants to sit at their PC for a 2hour movie! I will & have, but my wife won't.

If this requires a "CableCARD" then what good is it? Most CableCARD's come with DVR type software.

To me this is a......... FAIL!
 

dark_knight33

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[citation][nom]extremepcs[/nom]It would cost me roughly $2,000 to outfit my 4 TV's with media center extenders, build the HTPC, and buy this device. Where is the savings vs renting 4 cable boxes? [/citation]

You can't really put a price on sticking it to the cable company.

Besides, It's a value add. You get essentially free DVR services with this device that you'd have to pay quite a bit extra for on those 4 boxes. More than that, it can record 4 channels at once, on one device. You only need the one device, on one PC to do this. You use MC extenders to view the programing on the other TV's. I get the impression that there is a solution on there that allows you to stream this content to DLNA capable TV's sans MCE. If that be the case, you'd only need one server with a cable connection, and the rest of your TV's would be golden.

 

dark_knight33

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[citation][nom]neon871[/nom]How many family members can you get around your PC? It make more sense to get internet on your TV (like GoogleTV for $99.99) , not everyone wants to sit at their PC for a 2hour movie! I will & have, but my wife won't.If this requires a "CableCARD" then what good is it? Most CableCARD's come with DVR type software.To me this is a......... FAIL![/citation]

Your comment is a....fail. You use your TV for the PC monitor hence: HTPC. Get out of the 90's ffs.
 

the_crippler

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[citation][nom]dark_knight33[/nom]Your comment is a....fail. You use your TV for the PC monitor hence: HTPC. Get out of the 90's ffs.[/citation]

This. I already have a PC hooked to my TV and use it quite a bit.

Of course, this device costs more than the PC it'd be used with, but there it is. Record 4 different channels? That's twice what I get right now, and would save me the hassle of torrenting the stuff I can't record.
 

Hatecrime69

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[citation][nom]JOSHSKORN[/nom]I'm really dying to try this out, actually. Not this one, but the internal card along with a cablecard. I don't know how it'll work with my Verizon FiOS, though.[/citation]

using a fios cable card with my happauge WinTV-DCR-2650 (same as this, but only a 2-tuner, but only $150 too) and it works flawlessly, i love the thing!
 

ford_contour

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[citation][nom]JOSHSKORN[/nom]I'm really dying to try this out, actually. Not this one, but the internal card along with a cablecard. I don't know how it'll work with my Verizon FiOS, though.[/citation]

I have the InfiniTV internal with FiOS, it works flawlessly.
All you need is to rent the CableCard from Verizon and have the tech come and program it. Install the card and run the Digital Cable Advisor beforehand tho, to make sure everything is working properly.
 
G

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You also have to remember this CableCARD tuner givers you 4 Tuners, which means you can record up to 4 things at once or watch 4 stream at once. I doubt your current cable box can do that. Also storage of recorded video can be significantly larger than your existing cable box (I have 2TB drive in mine, which currently has over 100 recordings). With media Center, you have a built in Netflix App, a Hulu Desktop Plugin and if required a browser to access other content. You also control the energy usage of your device and mine usage significantly less power than my old comcast box, so there are energy savings you should calculate as well. If you kid has an xbox 360 already, you have an instant extender. I could go on and on but hopefully you see the benefits.

 

TeraMedia

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Gotta love TWC. Rather than giving you an opportunity to save, they bake the rental fee for the STB and remote into their standard pricing, so that you only get a benefit after you already have at least one STB by avoiding the need to purchase more.
 

bucknutty

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Looks like a really cool option, how ever I bet my cable company Optimum online will create some sort of "compatibility problem" that makes this device unusable. You know the monthly cable box and programing fee is pure profit. They are not about to allow a 3rd party cable box take that revenue. Rember back in the 80s and 90s you could use any cable box you wanted or you could just use the tuner in your TV. Not any more plug your tv into the cable with out a box and you get a blue screen that says "this device is not authorized to view this channel" on every channel. They dont even give you the basics any more.
 

neon871

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dark_knight33: Your comment is a....fail. You use your TV for the PC monitor hence: HTPC. Get out of the 90's ffs.

I was simply stating most people don't want to sit behind their PC/desk for a 2 movie. I even said I will!
"your Brain ....Fails" to understand I also said it wouldn't work for me hence: "FAIL for me" because I have GoogleTV for the whole family to enjoy in the living room! That is where most TV's are set up!

I live in America freedom of speech here. I was talking about the product never did I bash anyone about their opinions, as you did! But, You have a blessed day any!
 

khaydin

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I have the PCI-e 4 tuner adapter they sell and love it! You can actually watch TV on other computers in the house without getting a media center extender. You can actually dedicate one or more of the Tuners to another PC on your network. So what you can do is dedicate 2 to the main dvr pc and if you have a tv upstairs hooked up to a pc that is networked you can dedicate the other 2 tuners to it and watch/record live tv. You can only record/watch 2 channels at once on each pc though if you go that route.

If you don't want to go that route, you can just keep all 4 tuners on the DVR pc and just watch recorded shows on any other computer as long as they're on the same network and have windows/windows media center installed on them.
 

ac21365

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[citation][nom]extremepcs[/nom]It would cost me roughly $2,000 to outfit my 4 TV's with media center extenders, build the HTPC, and buy this device. Where is the savings vs renting 4 cable boxes? It costs about $14 a month right now to rent them. It would take over 12 years just to recoup the initial investment. That's assuming the technology would even last for 12 years without needing to be updated. I guess it would work well for people who already have a PC and extenders/xbox though.[/citation]

The savings is for those of us that already have an htpc built and/or have either Win7 boxes or XBOX360's already. I have the internal tuner and LOVE it. For folks like me, the initial $300 investment for Tuner card and $2/mo for the cablecard, beats the hell out of 2x $15/mo for HDDVR's.
 

khaydin

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@Bucknutty

All cable companies are required to support cable cards whether they want to or not. I think it is the FCC that requires this. There should be no compatibilty issues. I've used cable cards with Comcast and Verizon with relatively no problems. Comcast it was easy, you just read some letters/numbers off the screen to a tech and in a few min you're watching TV. Verizon they insisted on sending someone out to set it up.
 

TeraMedia

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@khaydin:

The fact that they are legally required to support them doesn't necessarily mean that they jump at the opportunity to do so. If you read the reviews on similar products (such as the PCIe version), you see that some cable operators seem to put artificial barriers in the way. Or the tech doesn't know what you're talking about and gives the initial answer that it's not supported or can't work. So unfortunately, "required to support cable cards" does not translate directly to "should be no compatibility issues." Heck, my TWC-issued cable box has a cable card built into it, and they even manage to screw that up once in a while.
 

TeraMedia

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@neon871: your comments don't make sense to some of us because you have failed to say why you can't / won't hook up a computer to a TV in a living room. If your computer is chained to your desk, then yes that could be a problem. If your TV is mounted on the ceiling, then perhaps that too could be a problem. Your statement,
not everyone wants to sit at their PC for a 2 hour movie
implies that you have to sit at a PC (I'll assume you mean PC monitor) to watch content on a PC. Since that's not the case (HDMI/DVI/VGA ports on TVs and computers are compatible, and computers can be placed - elegantly even - in a living room setting, allowing you to show PC content on a large HDTV hanging on your living room wall), your statements are nonsensical to many of your fellow commenters.
 
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