Upgrade from 4 to 6?

[Cutriss]

So, two questions -

I have a working 4, if I upgrade to 6, is that going to render all my DVR recordings inaccessible if I don't run 'em through DVRMSToolbox first?

Second - I have small needs. Just me and the missus. I have two TVs but we only ever watch TV on one (haven't even used the other since buying the first one to "replace" it and moved the second one into another room). It has a 360 on it in case we ever have a desire to have another program on (first TV has an Echo, that's another can of works obv).

I don't record a ton, I rarely have three recordings going at once and generally if that's happening the TV is either off or it's watching one of those recordings.

I tried to set up Network Tuners on the 4 and it just fails horribly (and I then have to reconfigure the 4 on the DVR PC, so I have to reset the channel favorites...). I'd like the ability to watch TV in Media Center on my desktop in another room while I'm working, so tuner pooling would be really nice. And it'd be nice to have room to grow for whenever we remodel the attic and I want to put a TV up there or if we ever add a TV to our bedroom, but again, if we're up there, won't be watching TV in the den...

So, all that said, I'd like some opinions on if it would be worth it right now to upgrade from a infiniTV 4 PCIe to a infiniTV 6 PCIe. Does the 4 still have resale value within the community?

[barnabas1969]

So, two questions -

I have a working 4, if I upgrade to 6, is that going to render all my DVR recordings inaccessible if I don't run 'em through DVRMSToolbox first?

The tuner has nothing to do with the copy-protection scheme of your recordings. You can replace the tuner, and still watch your old recordings without doing anything special.

I can't help you much with the rest of your question. I ditched the InfiniTV when I discovered how much more I like the HD HomeRun Prime. It sounds like you really don't need more tuners, but if you like the ability to share a network-connected tuner with multiple PC's (with tuner pooling) then the InfiniTV6-ETH or HDHR Prime would be a good fit for you.

[Cutriss]

The tuner has nothing to do with the copy-protection scheme of your recordings. You can replace the tuner, and still watch your old recordings without doing anything special.

Well, there are so many components that go into it that I figured the cable card ID or possibly the tuner was part of it too.

I can't help you much with the rest of your question. I ditched the InfiniTV when I discovered how much more I like the HD HomeRun Prime.

Well, I have FiOS so they're loose (for now) on the copy control flag, but what does HDHRP get me that I don't already have with the 4? I can't really think at the moment about why I went with the 4 over the HDHRP at the time, I've only had the setup running for a year.

[richard1980]

what does HDHRP get me that I don't already have with the 4?

Both the InfiniTV and the HDHRP are good products, but the InfiniTV has a couple of issues that the HDHRP doesn't have.

You can read about the differences that I noticed here. Since writing that post I have added a 2nd HDHRP and pulled the InfiniTV (it's currently listed on eBay). Everything is still running great.

[STC]

...Everything is still running great.

What's that burning smell?

[barnabas1969]

what does HDHRP get me that I don't already have with the 4?

Both the InfiniTV and the HDHRP are good products, but the InfiniTV has a couple of issues that the HDHRP doesn't have.

You can read about the differences that I noticed here. Since writing that post I have added a 2nd HDHRP and pulled the InfiniTV (it's currently listed on eBay). Everything is still running great.

The HDHRP has been way more stable for me than the InfiniTV was, plus what Richard said... and the tuning is faster too. Several people have reported similar issues (as what RIchard mentioned) between the InfiniTV4-PCIe and the InfiniTV6-ETH. The only downside to the HDHRP was fewer tuners, so I bought a 2nd one. The extra cable card only costs me $2.95/month.

Based one what I've read here on this site, it also sounds like the HDHRP's tuner pooling works smoother than the InfiniTV6-ETH. I've read several complaints about the ETH not releasing tuners, etc. Also, there are all the reports of the ETH and pixelation when tuning more than 4 channels at the same time. Not sure if that's been fixed yet.

[barnabas1969]

The tuner has nothing to do with the copy-protection scheme of your recordings. You can replace the tuner, and still watch your old recordings without doing anything special.

Well, there are so many components that go into it that I figured the cable card ID or possibly the tuner was part of it too.

The CableCARD doesn't matter either. You can change CableCARDs and still watch your old copy-protected recordings. The copy-protection scheme in Windows DRM doesn't depend on the tuner or CableCARD once the recording has already been created.

[blueiedgod]

If your shows can be run through DVRMS tool, then they are probably not copyright protected to begin with.

When we switched from InifniTV4 to InfiniTV6, PlayReady reared its ugly head, and had to be reset because it was not updating like it should have.

Luckily, all of our recordings are not copyright protected. So, we did not lose any.

[barnabas1969]

I've read that several people have had problems with PlayReady, even if they didn't change tuners. I have changed from an InfiniTV4 to two HD HomeRun Prime's (the first one was installed a month or so before the second one). I did not have any PlayReady problems, and there were no problems accessing my previously-recorded copy-protected shows. All of my channels are copy-protected except the local (CBS/ABC/NBC/FOX/PBS/etc) channels.