Recording or archiving SKY+ to MCE 2005

I am about to take the plunge and by MCE 2005 OEM - Mainly because the UI needs to be family friendly.

My PC currently has an ATI 9200 SE graphics card - which although not explicitly listed on the MCE compatible list I beleive works.

What would I need to make MCE capture programs from my SKY+ box (As the internal drive gets full and also I'd like to archive whole series and watch them in one sitting)? I was looking at the Black Gold card will that do the trick? I recon I probably don't need a digital tuner card? I'm quite big on quality (until proice starts to get exponentially large) Also does MCE do anything clever (like TIVO) and control the SKY box with an IR blaster? So I could set programs to record through the MCE EPG?

Also, how friendly is MCE to image improvement software like Powerstrip or Dscaler? I'd like to use it to drive my plasma through DVI or VGA - any to scale and handle frequency changes between NTSC and PAL.

Finally, what is the best solution for ripping my favourite DVDs onto the HTPC and using MCE as a media server for them? I think I've read that MCE doesn't do this out of the box but there are a few plugin solutions?

Any help would be great!

Thanks

Panny

 

The MCE remote comes with IR blasters so MCE can control your STB.

Powerstrip is fine as are frequency changes.

Dscaler is a no.

Your 9200 GFX card is fine.

My Movies is the plugin for MCE and it rocks.

I rip my DVDs with DVDshrink to a server and MCE with My Movies reads them from there.

 

Thanks John........what capture card would I need?

Also does MCE do season passes like Sky+?

 

Season passes?

I use Hauppauge PVR150 for recording

 

sorry Tivo speak.....series link....where it will automatically record all episodes in a series?

 

Season pass or Series link is possible with MCE.

Black Gold is Freeview only card so won't work with Sky+.

To record from Sky+ you would need a composite capture card which currently has to be Hauppauge MCE 150. If you want to record to DVD from MCE you need to ensure you get the Multimedia Option pack which normally is only available with the OEM 3-Pack.

 

Arrrggghhhh!

Just bought the dual Black Gold package!!! Is there no way I even archive off my sky disk onto the Black Golds?

 

I'm in exact same position, bought twin black gold card, found quality and reliablity of TV side was dreadful compared to Sky+. So will be sending them back and looking to get an analogue capture card.
Want to use MCE for everything execpt TV and to archive Sky+ recordings.

I notice that this is an old thread so wondered how you got on?

Has anybody managed to set up a decent system where MCE complements Sky+ in this way?