Hauppage DEC 2000t

Slightly against my better judgement I bought a DEC 2000t (£110 at John Lewis,
Solihull). Even though the Nebula is rated better amongst the august and
knowledgable contributors to this ng, the ability to act as a Freeview box as
well as a DTV PC device won the day.

The software is crappish but bearable, and I look forward to replaying recorded
material back through the box via the USB and SCART to the TV (when is this
going to happen - the button in the software for TV playback is greyed out so I
assume it will happen some day).

I tried the digital Teletext download but it completely f*cked up the Hauppage
USB driver and I had to do a WinXP restore.

I have noticed the box lock up a couple of times (with a constant orange LED)
and also the ntl digital PACE remote causes the DEC 2000t's LED to flash orange
also, although the PACE remote does not alter anything on the DEC.

A couple of gripes:

16:9 widescreen setting does not autoswitch the TV (or PC) as I surf through
channels. All I get is non-morphed anamorphic picture in 4:3 with everyone
looking anorexic. Could it be that the cheapo SCART lead supplied lacks this
feature or is it a "feature" of the box firmware. I tried an off air box
firmware update but it seemed to be stuck on an October date last year, and no
updates were forthcoming.

No subtitles - why not?

No proper programme guide?

No interactive (BBCi etc)?

Hauppage seem to think you are going to locate your expensive widescreen telly
about 3 feet away from your PC, judging by the length of the leads supplied.
Anyway, I bought a 5 metre USB lead which seems to work ok.

I was quite surprised by the approx 250mS delay between TV and PC pictures,
though.

Any other user's thoughts on this box would be welcomed, especially if there is
any alternative software avail bale.

Many thanks

JPG

On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 13:03:39 +0100, JPG <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

Deliberate top-posting:

Sorry, wrong newsgroup, although you can reply if you wish.

JPG


>Slightly against my better judgement I bought a DEC 2000t (£110 at John Lewis,
>Solihull). Even though the Nebula is rated better amongst the august and
>knowledgable contributors to this ng, the ability to act as a Freeview box as
>well as a DTV PC device won the day.
>
>The software is crappish but bearable, and I look forward to replaying recorded
>material back through the box via the USB and SCART to the TV (when is this
>going to happen - the button in the software for TV playback is greyed out so I
>assume it will happen some day).
>
>I tried the digital Teletext download but it completely f*cked up the Hauppage
>USB driver and I had to do a WinXP restore.
>
>I have noticed the box lock up a couple of times (with a constant orange LED)
>and also the ntl digital PACE remote causes the DEC 2000t's LED to flash orange
>also, although the PACE remote does not alter anything on the DEC.
>
>A couple of gripes:
>
>16:9 widescreen setting does not autoswitch the TV (or PC) as I surf through
>channels. All I get is non-morphed anamorphic picture in 4:3 with everyone
>looking anorexic. Could it be that the cheapo SCART lead supplied lacks this
>feature or is it a "feature" of the box firmware. I tried an off air box
>firmware update but it seemed to be stuck on an October date last year, and no
>updates were forthcoming.
>
>No subtitles - why not?
>
>No proper programme guide?
>
>No interactive (BBCi etc)?
>
>Hauppage seem to think you are going to locate your expensive widescreen telly
>about 3 feet away from your PC, judging by the length of the leads supplied.
>Anyway, I bought a 5 metre USB lead which seems to work ok.
>
>I was quite surprised by the approx 250mS delay between TV and PC pictures,
>though.
>
>Any other user's thoughts on this box would be welcomed, especially if there is
>any alternative software avail bale.
>
>Many thanks
>
>JPG