[therealbiglou]

Okay, so the Ceton Quad Tuner will be available after March 31st... that's pretty soon! My question is will this be available in stores like Microcenter or Newegg... or will this be available only through them? Does anybody know?

 

[mike_311]

march 31st unless you work for a testing site like engadget... then you might get one early... if not you need to wait.

 

[bryansj]

From http://www.cetoncorp.com/support_faq.php#faq_122


Q: Where will I be able to by the Ceton Digital Cable Quad-Tuner Card?


A: Initially the card will be available at retail from retail partners whom will we announce soon. Over time we expect it to also be available from leading OEMs, as both a pre-installed option on new PCs and as an upgrade option in OEM accessory stores.

 

[Servicetech571]

I'd wait for the price to drop, $400 is pretty steep for a tuner. Are the cable company DVR's that bad?

 

[Basilius]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Servicetech571 /forum/post/18200063


I'd wait for the price to drop, $400 is pretty steep for a tuner. Are the cable company DVR's that bad?

In general, yes.


I've got FiOS. Great service, but the DVR is hard coded to a max of 160gb (even if you replace the drive) and there is no way to get the recordings off the DVR for archival purposes.


Plus, you pay $15.99/month for the HD DVR, and cablecard is ~$6/month. So, I'll save $10/month there, get double the tuners all the space I want, and I choose my own software.

 

[cybrsage]

I suspect we will see them on newegg rather quickly.

 

[jreese831]



Quote:
Originally Posted by cybrsage /forum/post/18203116


I suspect we will see them on newegg rather quickly.

And I'm sure they will be sold out just as quickly too

 

[therealbiglou]

Okay, thanks.


I hope they are sold in Microcenter stores... I just got a nice gift card to one!

 

[embit]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Basilius /forum/post/18200344


Plus, you pay $15.99/month for the HD DVR, and cablecard is ~$6/month. So, I'll save $10/month there, get double the tuners all the space I want, and I choose my own software.

sure you save $10/month, but at $400 you'll need to wait almost 4 years for it to pay for itself. In theory the ceton cards will be relevant in 4 years, but who knows.


I want one just so I can have a single device for all my tv needs

 

[BigZAJ]

I'm still concerned that some Comcast areas only have 2 stream capable m-cards. Can't get any confirmation on this though.

 

[arosenbl]

I'd buy a 2 tuner for 150. 400 is really steep. And I don't need 4 tuners... I suspect most others don't either.

 

[captain_video]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Servicetech571 /forum/post/18200063


I'd wait for the price to drop, $400 is pretty steep for a tuner. Are the cable company DVR's that bad?

Ummm, that's four tuners to be exact. Actually, four CableCARD tuners to be precise. Consider that you can use Windows 7 Media Center for recording and compare it to what you'd pay for two Tivo HDs plus M-cards and $399 starts looking like a pretty sweet deal.


Two Tivo HDs would cost you about $450-$500 and about double that if you go with the Tivo HD XL. You'll need two M-cards plus the monthly Tivo service. You'll pay for just one M-card from your TV provider with the Ceton tuner. You don't have to be a rocket scientist or an accountant to do the math and realize how much less expensive the Ceton tuner will be, not only in upfront costs but also in the long run.


Did I also mention that upgrading your hard drive in an HTPC is also easier than doing it in a Tivo?

Quote:
Originally Posted by arosenbl /forum/post/18204776


I'd buy a 2 tuner for 150. 400 is really steep. And I don't need 4 tuners... I suspect most others don't either.

Need has nothing to do with it (nobody needs to watch TV). Viewing habits are what drives your tuner requirements. Occasional PVR users can get away with just one or two tuners. HTPC enthusiasts and diehard couch potatoes need far more to satisfy their cravings. Between my two S3 Tivos and HTPC I've got a total of ten tuners. It's all about avoiding scheduling conflicts and not having to choose which program to record.

 

[bryansj]

Is it true that you'll need two tuning adapters (TA) with the four tuner model if your cable company uses SDV? That would use up two USB ports and require some COAX splitting to connect the TAs.


I've been out of the loop for a few years with cable since I switched to E*, but I'm pretty sure my Comcast feed switched to digital and requires SDV boxes at a minimum. I'm considering switching back depending on these cablecard tuners.

 

[beaups]



Quote:
Originally Posted by bryansj /forum/post/18205303


Is it true that you'll need two tuning adapters (TA) with the four tuner model if your cable company uses SDV? That would use up two USB ports and require some COAX splitting to connect the TAs.


I've been out of the loop for a few years with cable since I switched to E*, but I'm pretty sure my Comcast feed switched to digital and requires SDV boxes at a minimum. I'm considering switching back depending on these cablecard tuners.

That's correct. Each TA can handle 2 streams. So for 4 streams you'd need 2 TA's. I am using 2 TA's today (to get only 2 streams because ATI implementation) and remember they each have an output on them as well. No biggie really. From my experience though, the outputs don't support 2-way communication so you can not daisy chain the TA's to each other.

 

[jreese831]

This may seem like a really noob-ish question, but I know next to nothing about TV tuners...what is a tuning adapter? My understanding is that if I buy this card, all I need to do is pop it in a PCI-E slot and get a CableCard from Cox, have them set it up (which hopefully they will be able to handle!), and that's that. Am I missing a step, or is this not something I even have to worry about right now since--allegedly--Cox doesn't support 2-way communication with CableCards in my area?

 

[almostinsane]

I dont think Comcast is using SDV. They have plenty of bandwidth. And it doesn't affect all channels, only the less used ones.

 

[cybrsage]

Does FiOS use TAs?

 

[captain_video]

No. I've been with FIOS for three years now and have yet to hear even a rumor of them going to SDV. AFAIK they've got plenty of bandwidth and shouldn't have to resort to using SDV to deliver sufficient channels in HD.

 

[beaups]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jreese831 /forum/post/18209731


This may seem like a really noob-ish question, but I know next to nothing about TV tuners...what is a tuning adapter? My understanding is that if I buy this card, all I need to do is pop it in a PCI-E slot and get a CableCard from Cox, have them set it up (which hopefully they will be able to handle!), and that's that. Am I missing a step, or is this not something I even have to worry about right now since--allegedly--Cox doesn't support 2-way communication with CableCards in my area?

Nothing wrong with noobish q's.


Most cable companies are low on bandwidth. So for channels people don't watch much, they only broadcast to your hub when someone is watching. When you tune to the channel on your cable box that is one of those (SDV) channels it sends a signal back asking for the channel. The cable co lights it up and all is well.


Since CC tuners can't send a signal back to your cable company you need a tuning adapter in order to get those channels. These were originally built for TIVO. It looks a lot like a cable box, but "just works". Plug in a coax cable feed and run usb to your PC (Win 7 only) and you're all set. When you tune to an SDV channel the tuning adapter handles the request, sends it to the cable headend, the channel gets lit up, and it tells your tuner where to find it.

 

[jreese831]

Should I assume that my cable co will advise me if this is something that I will need? I'm fairly certain they don't use SDV in my area, but should I try and find out myself so I'm not left hanging if/when the tech shows up with my cablecard?