Hauppage PVR - A Reasonable Alternative?

mkrosky asks: "I purchased a new PC recently, and also got a Hauppage PVR USB (http://www.hauppage.com/). This seems much more desirable than Tivo or Replay TV, because I control the hardware (no subscription fees). If Hauppage went broke or chose to stop supporting it, I can still use it in its present form (not true with Tivo). However, the software and drivers that ship with the hardware are beta-quality. I was wondering if anyone reading this owns the hardware. Are there any alternative drivers?"

"I have the following problems with Hauppage's software:

- When I set the "pause buffer" to 5GB, it doesn't work properly after 1 hour (1GB per hour, set at coarsest resolution). It works fine at 1GB, the default setting.

- There is a +10 second button, but it is not configurable. I would also like a +30 second button and +2 minute button.

- Sometimes, when using the +10 second button, it freezes for awhile.

Does anyone else out there have this hardware, and have reproduced these problems? I'm using Windows XP and have the PVR USB version of the hardware. I tried contacting Hauppage technical support, and they said that they may someday attempt to reproduce and fix the bug, if they feel like it. Yes, I downloaded the latest driver and software from their website.

Except for those problems, I'm really satisfied with the hardware. I recommend it to anyone considering a Tivo. I just wish Hauppage tech support would fix the obvious reproducible bugs. They are obviously software flaws, and not hardware flaws, so I'm looking for alternate drivers."

Comments

TiVo is Hackable

[Royster]

Right now, the TiVo hack community is not working on alternate guide data, but if TiVo went under you can bet that there would be options for us TiVo owners to continue to get value out of the box.

Since I got my unit 2 years ago, I've broken even on my lifetime subscription compared to monthly charges. If TiVo goes under, I think I've got my value out of the purchase.