TVSquad

The upcoming Hauppauge HD-PVR is probably the most anticipated piece of PVR hardware since... well, I don't know. But it's certainly a sexy piece of hardware that a lot of folks have been hoping to get their hands on. The HD-PVR can record HDTV video from analog component sources. In other words, you don't need a CableCard tuner, HDMI, or other fancy tricks to record HDTV on your computer. You just need to run some cables from this set top box to your cable or satellite box. The HD-PVR will then do all the heavy lifting and compress your video using the H.264 codec.

But there does appear to be at least one downside (aside from the fact that analog recordings are inherently lower quality than digital recordings). Chris Lanier points out that Hauppauge will not officially support dual tuner setups for now. That means, if you were hoping to pick up two boxes and record two HDTV shows as the same time, you may be out of luck.

Apparently the drivers for the HD-PVR do support multiple tuner setups. But Hauppauge has not yet tested this configuration, so the company won't officially support this option. That would seem to indicate that Hauppauge could add support when the product is a bit more mature and the company's had more time to kick the tires. On the other hand, it's wholly possible that third party software PVR applications like BeyondTV, SageTV, and GB-PVR could add multi-tuner support before Hauppauge gets around to it.

It's been nearly two years since Microsoft announced plans to let DirecTV customers watch and record programs using Windows Vista Media Center. I wouldn't blame you if you'd kind of forgotten about the whole thing or thought that the two companies had given up on the idea. But Chris Lanier uncovered a Microsoft job listing that would seem to indicate that the companies are still working together.

This is a job posting, not a press release, so we have to read between the lines to figure out the details. But Microsoft is looking for a software design engineer to work with "newly developed dual-tuner TV receiver devices." In addition to the dual-tuner tidbit, it appears that the devices will support Pay-Per-View and H.264 HD video.

Of course, there's still no word on when you'll actually be able to get a tuner from DirecTV or how much it will cost.