Agustus wrote: "...I think I’ll be going with BeyondTV 4.8.2 though because I already have a BeyondTV v3.7 SE license that came with a VisionteK 550 Pro. So it would only cost me about ~$45 to upgrade the license. "
Hey Agustus, does that still apply today (now). I own (3) TV wonder 650's, not 550's, but I was wondering if that BeyondTV v3.7 SE license came right on the ATI's CMC installation disk? If that's the case can you post the Version numbers of the ATI disk. Because if the UPGRADe still works...IE ~ ~$19 for a CD from ATI + $45 upgrade would still be cheaper than $99 from Snapstream outright. I just found the Install CD for the 550 listed as 180-V01121-100 is that what yours is. Is that the CD that has the Beyond TV v3.7 SE license on it or did it come on a seperate CD?
Thank you.
Sorry I don’t think that will work for you.
The Visiontek Xtasy Theater Pro 550 TV tuner card I was referring to earlier can be found here (scroll all the way down):
http://www.visiontek.com/products/theater/theater.html
It was one of the few ATI Theater cards that came with a Snapstream BeyondTV v3.7 SE license and a Snapstream Beyond Media license too. It was also bundled with an official Media Center Edition 2005 remote rather then an ATI remote which was an additional plus IMO.
It did not come with “PowerCinema” or the presumably relabeled “Catalyst Media Center”. The install disc is quite different then any ATI disc and I wouldn’t think that it is something that one could easily obtain.
Since Snapstream has moved on to BeyondTV 4.9.1 the upgrade price has moved upward due to the inclusion of H.264 support and the burn to DVD feature (I think, these were previously pay for plug-ins).
However, due to the Hauppauge HD PVR 1212 coming with a 10% off coupon for BeyondTV I think the upgrade price from 3.7SE is approximately the same for me. So I’m guessing it will cost me about ~$50. The Hauppauge HD PVR 1212 also came with Arcsoft TotalMedia Extreme OEM (with TotalMedia Theater) which is upgradeable to the retail version for ~$39.99 (plays Blu-Ray and HD DVD discs). With the OEM version you can burn and play AVCHD discs (DL DVD 8.5GB, SL DVD 4.7GB) which are seen as Blu-Ray but you cannot burn and play Blu-Ray and HD DVD discs.
***edit***
I don’t remember if the OEM BeyondTV 3.7 SE install required a user installed key on the outside of the CD sleeve or if it was an auto key install. Some OEM software install the key automatically and some don't. As I have heard, the upgrade process likely requires the installation of the older version be present first.
I think I only used the OEM BeyondTV 3.7 SE once for about 30 days as the guide data was only useable for that period of time (you had to pay for the guide in this version beyond that). I have heard that the BeyondTV 4.0 SE version didn’t have that limitation. Anyway the limited use of the product is probably what made it so hard to remember much about it. I do remember liking it though and wondering why ATI didn’t make a deal with Snapstream for their great software instead of Cyberlink with their marginal at best software.
