I thought I would share my experience with trying to get my Dell XPS 420 w/ATI Digital cable tuners set up on my system. If this helps you decide one way or another on going this route, I'm glad to help. Also, I should note, that I'm replacing an XP Media Center machine who's HD went toes up, so I already have quite some experience here. Fair warning, this is a LONG story
My setup:
Dell XPS 420 w/3Gb ram
2 ATI Digital Cable Card Tuners
ATI Radeon 2400 HD Video Card
Sony KF-60WE610 Rear Projection LCD TV
Remote:
The first thing I've noticed(like so many others) is that while the website I ordered through said a remote and IR receiver was supposed to come with my machine, none did. I called Dell support(normal, as I didn't realise there was a seperate # for XPS machines), and spoke to a spectaculary uninformed individual. I was informed of two things:
1: The website does not say that the machine comes with a remote. Silly me...I proceeded to run the individual through the website to show him that, in fact, it DOES say that it comes with the machine.
2: Since the tuners come from a third party vendor, I had to contact them, not Dell.
This was unaceptable, so I asked to speak to a manager. None was available so they asked if one could call me back. Two days later, after sending two emails, with no results, I called back and asked to speak to a manager. After being told told both of these items again by the manager, I got a bit hot under the collar, mentioned Felony Fraud(through the mail). I finally was told I could get a $50 dollar credit. Great...I ordered a remote from NewEgg, problem solved.
Audio Setup:
I'm happy to say, when I connected my RCA digital sound from the PC up to my receiver, it worked like a charm. Not one problem here, sending both normal stereo and DD whenever it's available from all sources including MP3's, DVD's on the hard drive and eventually(*spoiler!*) HD channels through my tuners.
Video:
Here we go folks. First, due to the weirdness of my TV's native resolution, I installed power strip to get my timings correct. After messing with this for several hours(mostly the TV's problem), I realized that ATI's CCC has improved QUITE a bit with handling HDTV's. I uninstalled powerstrip and used ATI's configuration for HDTV's and got my video working.
I hooked up my cable tuners and started receiving QAM channels without a problem. After being told by two people that I can pick up my cable cards at the Time Warner store, I went in, only to be told that I had to setup an appointment...of course. The completely uninformed cable guy shows up, we setup the cards, and I start getting a restricted content-device driver message. I send the cable guy away, as I know this will take some time. At this point, I do realize that it's possible my installation and removal of power strip could be the cause.
I download Cyberlink advisor and see that both my device driver and my TV are both showing red...ouch. I install the latest drivers from Dell, and from ATI, neither of which fix my problem.
At this point due to various reasons(faster performance, component output, games, fixing this problem), I decide to order a new video card from NewEgg: 8600GT 512mb. Keep in mind, I knew I might do this when I ordered the machine, but it was STILL cheaper to get it from NewEgg after.
New card comes, uninstall ATI drivers, install Nvidia drivers, and BAM, no more driver OR TV problem from Cyberlink advisor. I am finally receiving digital HD channels...but wait...It seems that I'm not receiving any pay channels. Another call to Time Warner, and this time after being told to turn off my TV and turn it back on several times(Pal, my cards are NOT in my TV), I'm told they will have to send out a technician to my house. This doesn't fly as I KNOW he's just going to call into support to get my cards updated. Ask for a manager, he has a bit more of a clue...moved to a real tech, who finally sends an update to my cards for the premium channels. I have to leave my house at this point, so I can't totally check things out.
It now turns out that my highest level channels are not coming in well enough(lots of pixelation), plus some other signal problems. I go purchase a Motorola Power Booster(drop amp), install it, and fix the signal problems I was having.
Finally I notice sometimes I can't tune to premium channels, and determine that one card is updated, the other isn't. Another call to TW...you know the drill at this point...finally I have reached Meca!
A few thoughts:
There is no way I could have fixed all this without all the information I found on this site.
It's possible to get this stuff to work, but it can take ALOT of effort.
Also, some people might point out that I should have tried restoring from the backup before ordering a new card. I considered this, but I kinda wanted a bigger card and that would have removed all the effort I went through seting up the rest of media center. It was a judgement call. If the new card didn't work, I would have restored and tried the AT again to see if the PS install was the problem.
Hope this helps someone!