[Chris @ Oct 25th 2007 11:52AM]

Sorry guys, but you will not be able to use this.

I was Velocity Micro's Director of Product Development, and I deployed CableCARDs for them.

1) You need an OEM activation BIOS with the proper OSFR ACPI table not only present, but populated with vendor specific information.

2) You need a special copy of Vista with digital cable tuner activation PID. You will not be able to purchase this unless you are a direct OEM with MS and have signed a DTOS.

3) You need to sign a conformance letter with Cable Labs and they store the information from #1 in this list on central servers, and that information is checked every 90 days to ensure compliance.

4) If at any time it is found that the information has been compromised, Cable Labs need merely to flip a switch and you will cease to receive premium cable content.

[Ryan P @ Oct 25th 2007 12:12PM]

Why is cable card such a miserable experience? I can get OTA HD and no one cares, but as soon as I want something on cable I'm committing a heist.

This had a lot of potential.

[Ryan Worrell @ Oct 25th 2007 12:49PM]

Roger that. CableLABS ruins everything for the rest of us. As the cost of fiber implementation comes down more and more I believe we will see a big shift. Companies like Verizon will start to take over. It's faster, better, more affordable, and not a monopoly like cable. Sadly, at the moment Verizon is about 5 years ahead of the time.

[Jon Tate @ Dec 27th 2007 7:42PM]

Hi Chris,

I'm just a bonehead consumer but if you have just a second, I sure would apreciate your advice. My cable company stinks so I signed up with DirectTV when I bought a new Sony XBR4 (1080P) Television (Circuit City gave me $300 off on the TV).

I also just bought a new HP M9000T media PC. The PC came with the ATI TV WONDER Digital Cable Tuner. When I talked to the guys at HP, I told them I wanted to be able to record HD content on my new BlueRay R/W that came with the machine. They told me I needed to buy this particular TV tuner because it had to be configured at the factory with Vista tweaks and internal card etc.

Can I use the ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner with Direct TV to view and record HD content from Windows Vista Home Premium ("tweaked by HP")?

[Chris @ Dec 27th 2007 7:51PM]

Hi Jon...

You will not be able to record DirecTV HD content with an OCUR system. You can only watch premium cable content, not satellite. The rumor mill is alive with speculation about satellite support, but if it's true you're looking at a ways out in my opinion.

Sounds like your reps at HP just don't understand the technology and gave you bad info.

You also will not be able to burn "playable" Blu-ray disks with digital cable content on them. You can back up the data files, but you cannot create a Blu-ray movie, so to speak.