With more “affordable” CableCARD Vista Media Center PCs coming out from the likes of HP and Dell the lucky folks over at Gizmodo and Engadget have been able to play with them, and are ready to share their experiences and thoughts with the rest of us.

Installing a Vista CableCARD Media Center PC (part 1): Fiasco!
Installing [...]

Hauppauge adds QAM support to the WinTV-HVR-1600 dual tuner card - Engadget HD
This is some pretty interesting news. Unfortunately, I doubt there will be the necessary drives needed to get QAM working with 3rd party PVR software like Beyond TV, Vista Media Center, Sage TV, GB-PVR, etc.
As with anything else there is a catch, the [...]

I just noticed that the MSI 8600GTS fanless video card is available for $160 with free shipping from ZipZoomFly. I just bought this for $180 last week. Great deal on a nice card with HDCP support, full H.264 acceleration with Vista (XP coming soon), is passively cooled (no loud fans), and is good enough to [...]

She Goes Both Ways, Like A …: HP Dual-Format HD DVD/Blu-ray Media Center Priced, Now Available - Gizmodo
Well folks it’s finally here!  A reasonably priced ($1330 without HD optical drive and nvidia 8500GT video card) CableCARD PC compared to other high-end offerings from the likes of Niveus Media ($3199 for low end HTPC + $1499 [...]

SnapStream Blog » Record pure digital cable with Beyond TV and the HD Homerun
Snapstream has posted a very nice guide to setting up the HDHomeRun with Beyond TV complete with screenshots. You can find my guide here.

SnapStream Blog » Watch HDTV anywhere in the neighborhood (AKA: House to House wireless network for HDTV)
For those times when you wish you could share music, TV shows, etc with your neighbors. I suppose you could just walk over to their house, but where’s the fun in that? Here’s a rundown of the parts/costs. Click [...]

Missing Remote: The new world of high definition optical discs and associated acronyms
HDCP, AACS, ICT, DOT. Huh? Confused by the mysteries of high definition copy protection, especially when it comes to playing HD content on your home theater PC (HTPC)? Read this clear and concise guide at Missing Remote and put your worries [...]

I’ve noticed some people are having a hard time getting this to work, so I decided to write a more complete, detailed guide. Original instructions and support can be found in the Snapstream forums.
Standard Disclaimer: I do not work for and am not professionally associated with Snapstream or SiliconDust, and do not assume any [...]

Help us test Beyond TV 4.6.1 (did I mention it includes QAM support?)
Snapstream has just released a beta version of Beyond TV, release 4.6.1, which adds support for the HDHomeRun, networked dual tuner device.
What does this mean?
Beyond TV is Snapstream’s award-winning PVR software (TiVo for your PC). The HDHomeRun allows you to tune and [...]

I stopped receiving my over-the-air (OTA) HD channels though Beyond TV, so I tried tuning them with one of my DVico Fusion5 USB tuners and the Fusion app and found very weak signals. I re-positioned my indoor antenna, and was able to receive most of of the channels again, but have lost FOX. I already [...]