i need some help on card features.

[pdottz]

I couldn't think of any good search terms to use to answer my questions..

I'm looking to get a new card. the thing i use my current card to capture analog cable, but I also have digital cable. I'm looking for a card that i can use that I can use to decrypt the digital signal and still record from the non digital cable channels. for instance, cartoon network is a non digital channel in my area, and nicktoons is a digital channel in my area. I hope that's clear enough. I dont really want to have two cards in my pc.

any help ismuch appreciated.

i dont have any issues with capping so I hope my current setup can handle what i need.

2.2 ghz pc windows XP.

[buzzqw]

attention to forum rules (9 in this case)

please edit your thread title.

BHH

[jsquare]

Be careful, any form of hacking or signal theft is not allow in this forum.

As far as getting clear HD/Digital channels(if you're lucky) you'll need a QAM capable card and probably another for your analog channels, and some cards will do both. In my MCE2005 system I have an WinTV-PVR-150 plus an AVerTVHD MCE A180, the PVR-150 is use for analog cable channels and the A180 for OTA ATSC signal since MCE won't allow you to receive clear QAM channels.
Other cards worth mentioning are the FusionHDTV5(the newest version), MyHD MDP-130(expensive but has hardware decoding and video out) plus a few more that are also covered somewhere in this forum. The ATI HDTV Wonder may sound like an attractive choice but stay away from it, good hardware but very buggy drivers/application.

[pdottz]

it's not hacking or signal theft since i am paying for both services. i have the 2 digital cable boxes for the rooms with digital cable and the rest of the house only has analog.

jsquare,
thanks for the help.

buzzqw;
i changed my topic title, but can you tell me what was wrong with the old one? the topic explained what i need help with.

[buzzqw]

the topic is clear, but the title is somehow confusing and do not fully explain your needs.

thanks

BHH

[calinb]

AFAIK, you can forget about recording any 5c (DTCP) encrypted channels with a non-5c licensed device--unless maybe you're a Jon Johansen! A D-VHS deck is probably the best solution for recording 5c programming. No PC-based solutions were ever licensed, despite Intel's original intentions. (Thanks a lot, MPAA! :() However, many users with Motorola 62xx series STBs have had good luck recording channels that are in the clear from the 62xx firewire port. (Typcially, locals are in the clear, though PBS, government-funded as it is, seems to be rather protective around my home.) Check the avsfoum for howto using a PC with XP or a Mac with OSX.