First I would recommend AverTV since they have support for Vista 64 which not all the others have and due to the fact that everything seems to work out of the box, though you need version 6.12 or later of their AverTV app for NZ TV, the only real problem with it is that it doesn't support hardware acceleration yet, though every channels works, both audio and video. (I got this one for about $120 http://www.avermedia.com/AVerTV/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?Id=25&device=1 )
Version 6.12 should be included with your AverTV product and if it is use that one, but if it only comes with 6.11 then get 6.12 here:
http://www.avermedia.com/avertv/Upload/Download/A577_A577A_E568R_HC81R_H788R_H788A_6.0.12.08030402_080331.exe
I got the GA-MA78GM-S2H motherboard, it has the 780G chipset which is a ATI HD3200 I-GPU, it is very good for HTPC's although I am so far sad to see that I can't create a custom resolution with CCC or Powerstrip, otherwise it it highly recommended. (cheapest way to do hardware decoding if building a new PC)
Anyway while the AverTV setup works incredibly easy (you could be watching HDTV within 10 mins of installing the card/dongle) since there is no hardware acceleration yet I had to find another solution.
First Vista's media Center doesn't tune anything in and I am pretty sure it would not work even if it did. (anyone know how to make it work?)
DVBviewer can't tune anything in with my card
I gave up on mediaportal before I was done installing all the components, it needs far more support than any other application I have ever seen.
That leaves GB-PVR version 1.2.9
And it works pretty well, the instal is easy, and then it opens up config, all you need to do is click on the playback tab and select EVR as your PVRX2 video renderer, Cyberlink
You will also need to set your MPEG-2 video decoder to something other than system default if you want any recordings to be in sync it seems, I picked Cyberlink but likely others will work.
note: Cyberlink Ultra DVD Deluxe is not free, but you only need to instal it, you do not need the registration key to use the codec.
And then also in config (copied and pasted from elsewhere):
1. Start the config app
2. Create a capture source, with the recording source set to 'Digital Recording Plugin' and the epg source set to 'DVB EPG'
3. Click the Settings button next to the Digital Recording Plugin. Select your capture device (A16AR if you have the same tuner I have), and set the country to NZ and the region to your region.
4. Click the 'Map digital channels to epg channels' button. It'll now scan for channels, and at completion should show the dozen or so Freeview channels'.
5. Tick each of the channels you want, then OK all the way out of the config app. You should be good to go now.
That's it, run PVRX2 and enjoy, note that it has both a windowed and full screen mode set in the General tab of config.
I said that that was it but not quite, sometimes the channel will be screwed up, badly! it's got to do with my drivers and only occure with ECR, the fix is simple, right click out of Live TV and left click straight back it, 9 times out of 10 that will fix it, if it doesn't just do it again until it sticks.
One thing I would very much like to get some feedback on is the lack of EPG data, it's empty with GB-PVR or AverTV, at most it shows what is on next but nothing more, anyone know how to get more?
Update: Found 2 answers, one is http://www.reven.co.nz I can only get tv 1, 2 and 3 to load into the xml and of that only TV2 actually shows in the EPG of GB-PVR for some reason. A better option might be http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=83&TopicId=20400 though seems not to work for 64-bit Windows as i can't say how well it works until a fix comes through, waiting on any other solutions.
One last note, the remote that came with my card sadly only works with AverTV and not GB-PVR, or if possible it is not clear how.
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