[wplug] OT: Hauppauge 150 vs. 250

[Patrick Wagstrom]

On Tue, 2005-09-20 at 14:11 -0400, Arnaud Loos wrote:
> I'm looking for some advice from people that have either card. I understand
> the 150 came out after the 250 and is based on the same chipset. Supposedly
> performance is also the same. Obviously the 150 is the cheaper of the two
> but I was wondering if anyone had a vote either way. I've read that the 150
> has some problems recording sound, that it elevates the levels
> significantly.
> 
> The card is going to sit in a Windows box initially but will eventually end
> up in a MythTV box so any driver and/or compatibility issues I'd be
> interested in also.

Arnaud,

I'd be curious to see what you've heard about the sound issues as I've
had no problems in the 2 and a half years that I've had my PVR 250.  The
150 is the newer cousin of the 250, based on newer technology, at the
core it still is the same conexant chipset, but I believe it's ditched
the MSP3000 for the sound chip.

Drivers for both are provided by ivtv.  The 250 is the best supported
MPEG capture card for Linux (especially for MythTV), the 150 is newer
and is getting there.  My last experience with a 150 was okay, but the
driver was still stuck recording at 720x480 resolution at maximum bit
rate.  I'd imagine that Chris Kennedy has fixed this by now.

The major difference is that the PVR 250 is the same price now as it was
when I bought mine more than two years ago (actually more, I got mine
for cheap on sale), while the 150 is usually about $30 cheaper.  I'd say
go for the 150.  If you're going to spend the money on the 250, you
might as well spend $20 more and grab a 500, with dual tuners.

--Patrick