PC Mag got their hands on a pre-release Dell coupled with two of those ATI CableCARD decoders I spotted at CES (and a Blu-ray drive). Though the article is extensive (we’re talking screens and screens), I didn’t see much on how CableCARD content is protected. The author was able to view HD content streamed to his Xbox 360, but no word if/how we can access the raw recordings. I’ll go out on a limb here (ha!) and say they’re locked down.
There was no mention of price, though it can’t be cheap – which brings me to…
Niveus’ imminent $1500 dual CableCARD decoder. While it’s certainly sleeker than the ATI solution (x2), I have to agree that it’s “insanely expensive” – realizing one still must buy a paired PC. Ouch. Maybe that $800 (MSRP) TiVo Series3 isn’t as expensive as we thought?
(Thanks Glenn and Kevin!)