If you are going to use Windows Media Center as your DVR, a cablecard tuner is a “must have.” Over the last 10 months, I have been using a Ceton cablecard tuner in my main HTPC.  The tuner worked well, except for a hiccup trying to make it network accessible.  I actually had to send my card back to Ceton.  In fairness, the networking process was stull a beta at the time. 

I have made the switch to the Prime because I have three computers I use to watch TV, all connected to a wired network.  One is connected to my Epson projector and serves as my main media center.  The other is my desktop I use as a general computer with a 24 inch Dell monitor.  The last computer I have is a nettop connected to my Toshiba 42 inch LCD in my den.  The nettop is primarily used as a streaming box since it cannot support the size of a tuner. 

HDHomerum Prime Set-up

The Prime, which is almost the same size as the original HdHomerun QAM tuner (see picture to the right), was setup without a hitch, especially since my cablecard had already been activated by Verizon (note: Verizon does not tie your card to a specific device so you can smply switch it to a new tuner).  The setup process involved installing the Silicondust HDHomerun software and then setting up the tuner in media center.  Simple. 

Pros and Cons

The only issue I have run into is the fact that my Dell monitor does not support HDCP. 

The advantages of the HDHomerun Prime include:

1) One cablecard can be used for 3 seperate streams to three different locations.

2) Smaller computer cases can be used without worrying about the size of the tuner.

3) Ipad 2 support through Elgato.  Unfortunately I have the original ipad.  No dice.

4) You are not reliant on one media center to be always on. 

5) Low power consumption at less than 10 watts.

If the network capacibility of the Prime does not interest you, a cheaper option is the upcoming Happauge cablecard tuner that has two tuners (compared to 3 for the Prime) and costs about $140.

Here are two quick rules of thumbs:

1. Do not spend more than $400 on building a media center (not including tuners). You only need to get a $50 video card to pull it all together.
2. Power consumption should drive your build.  One thing I have learned using a media center computer is that setting up Sleep and Hibernate is still a pain. For instance, my digital cable tuner won’t work after the computer is woken up.  This means I have to leave it on all the time.  Suddenly, idle power consumption becomes a big deal.  The goal should be to use less than 50W when idling.  That would equal about $3 a month in energy costs.

My ideal system would be to use an Atom processor with Nvidia’s Ion chip for 1080p playback.  I have not tested such a system but the word on the street is that Windows 7 Media Center can be sluggish with an Atom processor.  Still under 10W at idle is an impressive number.

Here are some tips for an energy  sipping build:

1. Don’t use more than 2 GB of ram.  Nothing more is needed. 4 GB is just a waste.
2. Use “green” hard drives.  No need to use the fastest hard drives on the market.
3. Use an energy efficient power supply.
4. Anything more powerful than a Dual core Pentium E5300 is a waste. I have one in my system and it works fine.  The one caveat to that is the new Clarkdale processors that Intel has like the Core i3, which would save you from using a video card.

After a brief hiatus, Sony has started Vaio-branded digital cable tuners once again at the price of $299 with free shipping. Sonystyle.com is one of the few places to purchase standalone cable tuners if you wanted to add a second, third, or even fourth tuner to you set-up. As before, the tuners available are only the external versions, which connect via USB.

Digital cable tuners are typically only sold bundled with a new computer. These tuners still require a special bios and a special version of Windows Vista to access premium cable channel.

The only other place that I know of (besides Ebay) that sells standalone tuners is Cannon PC. In fact, Cannon is the only place you can buy internal tuners (note: internal tuners still connect via USB).

There are three main options to buy a Vista media center computer with a digital cable tuner: Dell, HP, and Velocity Micro PC (other vendors offer cable tuners but are ridiculously expensive). Dell by far has sold the most. Velocity Micro offers the best looking though most expensive solution. HP has been the forgotten one, mainly because of their decision to allow consumers to only buy one tuner and not two, a deal breaker for most. Sony, however, allows you to buy refurbished tuners for $199, which makes HP much more attractive.

Every now and then HP offers “$400 off desktop” coupons. For those looking for a HTPC, that is a great deal and worth waiting for when buying a new machine. Using this coupon (code DT3325), you can buy a m9300t for $699 from HP that comes with one tuner, an Intel Quad Core processor, 3 GB of RAM, a 320 GB hard drive, and a GeForce 9500 GS. Slickdeals.net is a good website to see when HP is offering a coupon or just sign-up for HP’s newsletter. Dell alos offers the occasional deals but rarely discounts their XPS systems.

The main drawback of that system is the hard drive size and having only one tuner. For an extra $199, you can buy a refurbished tuner from Sony, bringing the system up to $899. Adding another hard drive is easy and can be done anytime.

This system is cheaper than if you built one yourself. The quad core processor is about $200 by itself, the hard drive is about $70, a copy of Vista Home Premium OEM is about $100, and one refurbished digital tuner is $199. This leaves about $130 for a case, a video card, and RAM.

I have been looking for a way to prioritize my tuners in Vista Media Center. Why do I want dictate which tuner is used as the default? Mainly to avoid digital rights management. I currently use the HDHomerun as a QAM tuner to receive unencrypted HD channels on my computer. This tuner allows me to record HD channels with digital rights management.

I ultimately want to get a digital cable tuner (I mean buy a new machine that supports DCTs). Ideally, I want to incorporate the HDHomerun into that system. Digital cable tuners incorporate copy protection into anything they record. The HDHomerun does not. I want the HDHomerun to be the default tuner.

Luckily, there is a small application that sets priorities for you: Media Center Tuner Priority. This app basically shows you a list of your tuners and you set which one should be used first.

I recently was on the SonyStyle website and noticed that Sony is now selling refurbished digital cable tuners for $199, a $100 discount. That certainly is more palatable. Digital cable tuners are known for having a high failure rate right out of the box so buying a refurbished unit may actually be better than buying a new one. I assume a refurbished unit would actually be tested before being sent out. Plus, who cares if you have a refurbished tuner? It either works or it doesn’t. These tuners are ugly and should be hidden anyway.

HP right now is selling the cheapest media centers that support digital cable tuners. Their main drawback is that they only you to purchase one tuner with your system. This makes no sense. Sony helps solve that issue. Currently, the cheapest way to have two tuners, which is almost essential so that you can record and watch TV at the same time, is to buy an HP computer and then buy a refurbished unit from Sony.

According to PCMag, Dell is planning on re-entering the Digital Cable Tuner market by this summer. Currently, Dell is not offering consumers the option to buy DCTs since the XPS 420 is not approved by CableLabs.

Dell’s new strategy will be a slight deviation from most OEM’s. DCTs require two things: 1) an upgraded BIOS and 2) a protected content path through HDCP. Dell is planning on making both of those items standard on their high-end systems. That way, when a consumer is ready to buy a DCT, they do not have to buy a whole new system.

This simple approach makes sense. Dell is trying to create an aftermarket for DCTs, kind of like a Trojan horse strategy. DCTs are certainly a work in progress and Dell is betting that the situation is improved (i.e. less tech support calls). From the article:

“We’re now after that round of testing and ready for more widespread deployment,” Clardy said. CableCards have been leased primarily by enthusiasts and early adopters: “the most critical audience out there, knowledgeable and enthusiastic,” he added. “You don’t want to upset that mass of customers.”

Dell is certainly an important ally to DCTs. If anyone can create a market for HD media centers, Dell can.

SageTV has been adding all sorts of media center features to its product line, including clear QAM support and HD media extenders. They are completely out-innovating Microsoft. With all the features they are delivering, there is one lingering problem: SageTV does not support digital cable tuners and CableCards (i.e. cannot watch.record premium HD cable content).

Currently, Vista Media Center is the only viable option for digital cable tuners (DCTs). Why is that you might ask? DRM, also known as digital rights management. CableLabs has made life very frustrating for the HTPC enthusiast by requiring all HTPCs with DCTs to be certified.

In order to buy/use a digital cable tuner, I have to purchase a pre-built system from an OEM vendor like HP, Sony, or Velocity Micro PC. Definitely a pain in the butt, not to mention expensive. This layer of DRM essentially has locked you into the Vista Media Center ecosystem.

No OEM is going to sell you a Sage product or BeyondTV product that can use DCTs. It currently does not exist and I will be very surprised if it ever does. HTPCs are definitely a niche market for nerds only. There is no market incentive for HP to offer SageTV on their machines when Vista Media Center is readily available. In order for SageTV to offer suport for DCTs, they have to be approved by CableLabs AND then convince an OEM to include them on their systems.

So what does this mean for Microsoft? Basically, they have a monoply of the digital cable tuner market (not including Tivo since it is not a PC-based solution). How many companies have the ability to deliver DVR software and convince vendors to supply their software? No matter what Microsoft does or how far they lag behind the market, you have to use Vista to watch cable premium content on your computer in HD. No competitor can match them on that important feature. All thanks to DRM. Not innovation or feature-sets, but content protection.

I wonder how much Microsoft has actually fought with CableLabs about its DRM-scheme. Publicly, they appear to be butting heads but privately, Microsoft has a lot to gain by being the only option on the block. Could Microsoft be using the iTunes/iPod model of vendor lock-in?

With four CableCard tuners, the Inteset server can distribute to up to 5 media center extenders with four Live TV streams and one pre-recorded stream.

At $300 a piece, 4 digital cable tuners will cost you about $1200. That is a steep mark-up for tuners. However, four tuners begin to make extenders more attractive. With time, the cost of tuners should decline. Right now, the Denzel server, with 4 DCTs and 4 TB of storage, is clearly a product for the high-end market.

With the recent news that Sony is selling standalone digital cable tuners, enthusiasts should be able to add quad support to cheaper solutions like HP’s DCT computer.

S1Digital and Microsoft are hosting a Media Center event in Manahattan on December 5th. If you live or work in Manhattan, it might be worth checking out. S1Digital is a Microsoft OEM that sells media center pcs with Digital Cable Tuners so you can record cable HD television shows on your computer.

The average person knows nothing about Media Centers and Digital Cable Tuners. Most retail stores, like Sony’s or Best Buy, have no demonstration of what Vista Media Center can do in terms of watching television. Microsoft’s marleting of media centers has been really very poor.

That being said, I am always glad to see OEMs and retailers promote media centers.