Review: Ceton InfiniTV 4 Quad CableCARD Tuner – Part I

[jennyfur]

Thanks for that info. I’m running 64-bit with only 2gb RAM and was getting worried.

[mikinho]

If you pass DCA you are good to go.  If you don’t pass…well you may still be ok w/ a little registry homework.

[captain_video]

I upgraded my HTPC to Win 7 in anticipation of acquiring the Ceton card.  I went with the 32-bit version because most of what I read about using the 64-bit version with HTPCs didn’t seem to provide any real benefit other than the ability to use more RAM.

Would there be any benefit in upgrading to the 64-bit version for use with the Ceton tuners?  Is there any reason not to stick with the current 32-bit version?

[mikinho]

Do you have any extenders?

[Anonymous]

Let’s say someone does have some extenders, such as xbox 360.  Any compelling reason to go with either 32 or 64bit?  Ask this same question because I am building a new htpc tonight when I get home.

[mikinho]

You’ll want to check out the [url=http://www.missingremote.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=198&topic=2854.0]Win7 HTPC client: 32 bit or 64 bit?[/url] thread.

I’m in favor of 64-bit for Windows Media Center based HTPCs.  The extra memory is used by Extenders (250MB – 800MB per extender) and the WMP library will benefit from the extra RAM for large collections.

[mikinho]

Here is a screenshot of my memory utilization.

[img width=566 height=451]http://blogs.technet.com/blogfiles/markrussinovich/WindowsLiveWriter/PushingtheLimitsofWindowsPhysicalMemory_878B/image_4.png[/img]

Ok….that isn’t my system.  Nor could I afford the monthly electricity bill to keep that thing running.

For those that didn’t recognize the screenshot, check out Mark Russinovich’s technical [url=http://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2008/07/21/3092070.aspx]blog[/url].  A very good writer and even better developer (yes I am a nerd and enjoy reading development books)

[Mike Garcen]

as Mikinho mentioned, the memory utilization with HD streams is pretty intense, so depending on your number of Extenders it definitely helps to have 64-bit and more RAM.

[Anonymous]

64bit it is then.  Was already leaning that way, just needed a push.

Can’t wait for part 2 & 3!!

[mikinho]

[quote=”hpservertech”]
Can’t wait for part 2 & 3!!
[/quote]

:-[ 

Trying….work keeps getting in the way.

[captain_video]

[quote=”Mikinho”]
Do you have any extenders?
[/quote]
Yes.  I currently have three Linksys DMA2200 extenders that I plan to use with the Ceton.  It looks like I’ll be upgrading to Win 7 64-bit this weekend.  I might also have to consider bumping up to a bit more RAM (currently at 4GB).

[Mike Garcen]

4 should honestly be fine (of course more won’t hurt you) for only 3 extenders.

When i was working on a 8 tuner x 10 extender product last year it maxed out at 4 and while memory was close to fully capping it, it still made it. So you should be fine with 4gb and only 3 extenders.

[joao12345]

Hi Mikinho,

Can you kindly detaile the viewing experience when using the Xbox360 and DMA220?
Is there any stuttering or pixelation when viewing live tv?
Any connection problems?
How easy is accessing recorded content through the xbox?

[mikinho]

Sure but give me a few hours to respond.  My car broke down so I’m attempting to rebuild an alternator…

[joao12345]

[quote=”Mikinho”]
Sure but give me a few hours to respond.  My car broke down so I’m attempting to rebuild an alternator…
[/quote]

Also please exactly which other xbox is it you have? i see you have an xbox slim but is the other one an arcade or elite? how many gigs of storage?
I wanted to buy a plain vanilla xbox arcade which to my knowledge has almost no storage and little ram…

[Author]

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