I have an XPS 420 on the way and would like to buy a CableCard tuner (or two). If anyone has one they would like to sell, please let me know.

 

 

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Just wondering, why did you buy them with the XPS 420?  Dell sells them for half the price of anyone else (~180/each).  The only other place to buy online is SonySytle.com, they are $300/each there.  Most individuals that put them up for sale do it around $300 also.

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Chris Lanier
The Green Button Forum Moderator

I bought it from the Dell Outlet so it's refurbished (I've bought two in the past and have had excellent luck). Besides, I got a $1300 PC for $779! It came with an E6850 processor and 8800GT 512MB video card.

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Are you sure it is ocur ready version of vista and bios?

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Dell xps420 w/ dual ATI cable cards
Hdhomerun for QAM
Panasonic 50" Plasma fed by xbox 360
Panasonic 42" plama fed by xbox 360
3TB in storage and counting

It better be! I read something on Chris Lanier's blog that said all XPS 420 shipped with the necessary BIOS so I am really depending on that. I'm still a little nervous though...

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I just noticed not of them mention vista for ocurs in the outlet like they do in the orignal shop.

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Dell xps420 w/ dual ATI cable cards
Hdhomerun for QAM
Panasonic 50" Plasma fed by xbox 360
Panasonic 42" plama fed by xbox 360
3TB in storage and counting

I noticed that as well but I am mainly trusting what Chris posted. For what it's worth, I called Dell and was told that I would be able to add the CableCard tuners to the system if I didn't order them with it. I guess I will just have to wait until I get it. I will update this thread saying whether or not it has the Digital Cable key that is required.

BTW...here's the post I'm talking about where Chris mentions that all are capable of CableCard: http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/archive/2007/12/07/1385290.aspx

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PLUCKYHD:

I just noticed not of them mention vista for ocurs in the outlet like they do in the orignal shop.

I must say, you got me really paranoid that it might not have the right BIOS so I've been doing some research. I dug down into my order confirmation and looked through the parts listing and came across this:

1    YN974    Module,Software,VHP32 Dimension,English,DAO,Open Cable Uni-directional Receiver

I'm going to consider this confirmation that it's there but I am still going to let you know for sure when it actually comes.

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Just in case you or anyone else on here is thinking about going the same route as me, I think I've figured out how to tell if the PC has CableCard capabilities. First of all, I looked at the item number that I posted above. It is YN974. I'm pretty sure any XPS 420 that's in the outlet right now and only has 2GB of RAM is NOT capable of doing CableCard. I added one of these with 2GB of RAM and another with 3GB of RAM. The item number for Vista on the one with 3GB of RAM is YN974 (just like the one I ordered) and the item number for Vista on the one with 2GB is DT012. Also, Vista is listed further down in the list when it DOES have CableCard capabilities.

So, as far as I can tell, in order to determine if one can do CableCard you have to add it to your cart and then click on "Detail View" to look at the parts list and look for item number YN974.

Again, I will confirm this when I receive mine which should be Thursday or Friday.

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The OCUR BIOS check utility here will let you know.  My Dell 420 purchased without ATI DCT has an OCUR enabled BIOS.

http://www.dougknox.com/xpmce/index.htm

The real refurbished question is if it is a pre-CableCARD XPS 420 or a post-CableCARD XPS 420.  They sold the XPS 420 for 2-3 months before they added CableCARD.  All those pre-CableCARD ones don't have the OCUR BIOS.

Now, given the above information it would look like it does indeed have the OCUR BIOS.

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Chris Lanier
The Green Button Forum Moderator

why couldn't you just flash to the new BIOS?

Just wanted to let everyone know that my XPS does in fact have the digital cable product key on it so if anyone wants to go the same route and would like more info, just PM me with your email address and I can send you more info on how I went about finding one.

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CONGRATS,

   

now you just have to find the tuners :) I got dell to get me on with 8800gt and dual cable cards qaud core for $1420 I am happy.

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Dell xps420 w/ dual ATI cable cards
Hdhomerun for QAM
Panasonic 50" Plasma fed by xbox 360
Panasonic 42" plama fed by xbox 360
3TB in storage and counting

Thanks! Congrats to you as well! I actually already found one tuner on eBay brand new for $165 shipped so I was VERY happy about that! I also have another one lined up for $215 shipped but I just have to save up a little more money :)

Right now, my price is up to $944 ($779 for the PC and $165 for the tuner) and it will be up to $1159 with the other tuner so I'm pretty happy about the price I'm getting it all for.

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