Hauppauge HD-PVR Fixed, and Early!

You know how I said two days ago that the culprit to my Hauppauge HD-PVR malfunctioning was the power supply? Well, I was absolutely right!

Earlier, I checked the shipment status of the replacement power supply I ordered October 9th on eBay. To my dismay, it still hasn't shipped—even though the seller clearly states that they always ship the same day of payment... Pfft...

Just as a shot in the dark, I additionally wrote a nice e-mail to Hauppauge themselves about the failing power supply and if they could send me a new one (keep in mind I'm nearly 3 years pass the warranty). Now, I've been very pleased with Hauppauge's customer support over the years I've own the HD-PVR. At one time (still pass the warranty), I requested a replacement driver/software CD because I lost my original one. Hauppauge asked no questions at all and immediately sent the latest CD out when they confirmed my shipping address.

Sure enough, the prompt response e-mail regarding the power supply simply said "Please give me your full name and address so we can ship out a new power supply.". Brilliant, not even a mention of a serial number to check warranty status! Either Hauppauge has outstanding customer service or they already knew something fishy was up with the NetBit power supplies shipped with the original HD-PVR.

Anyways, I didn't want to wait a week plus to get my HD-PVR working again, so I dug around the house to see if I have a similar power supply I could use for the time being. Low and behold, I found a power supply to my old D-Link router which fits the specifications of the HD-PVR's power supply almost perfectly (5V DC 2.5 Amp Output). So I removed the nasty NetBit power supply and plugged in the D-Link power supply to my HD-PVR and presto... everything back to normal! 

But now I have sort of a minor dilemna, I have two extra power supplies being shipped to me that's going to be of no use at the moment. One cost me $13 and the other free. I will probably be keeping both for backup, as you would never know if one could fail on you.

To summarize: YouTube videos will be back online today or tomorrow. Also, expect the Musou Orochi 2 Ultimate review and 100% game save very soon! Also, if you happen to have similar problems with your HD-PVR like mine, try replacing the power supply before declaring it dead. If you can't find a replacement power supply, e-mail Hauppauge and I'm sure they'll send you a new one even if out of warranty.

Thanks for reading and always checking back for updates! :)

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Fix for Slowdown Issue with DW8 on Xbox 360?

Earlier this morning, I received a message from one of my YouTube viewers Xenith Eyes. He alerted me of a possible fix for the atrocious slowdown issue apparent exclusively in the Xbox 360 version of Dynasty Warriors 8. My eyes lit up but were abrupt to die down again, after he quickly followed up with a response basically stating it doesn't work after all (he attempted it himself).

Yet, I still have found posts of other players online claiming this method does actually work, but you need to select the correct resolution (1280 x 1024) and turn widescreen off. More specifically, this post from GameFAQs.

So, being the curious self I am, I decided to attempt this method myself. What's there to lose?

What I found unfortunately was what Xenith Eyes has last declared—no difference whatsoever. Or if there was a difference, it was way too minor to be noticeable. I actually found at often times the default 720p settings (1280 x 720 with widescreen on) on my HDMI was smoother.

One thing I forgot to mention in that video I posted on YouTube about this issue was that the slowdown was much more prominent in certain stages. A few stages suffers no slowdown at all until you get in a semi-large group of enemies—which given this is a Warriors game, can happen a significant amount of time in all stages.

Chibi is the worst case of slowdowns. The frame rate of the game dwindles to non-existent nearly the entire time on the stage, even if you're fighting a single officer with no enemies around.

If you don't believe me that this method did not make a difference with my tests, check out these videos I recorded: the top with default 720p widescreen on and the bottom 1280 x 1024 resolution with widescreen off.

And I apologize for the low quality of the videos. I used my Canon EOS Rebel T3i (which is a mighty fine camera) to record the footage, as I'm too lazy to take out my HD capture device.

If you're wondering about lower resolutions such as 480p, that doesn't make a difference either.

Just so I don't end up calling a lot of people liars attempting to justify their purchases, I have to also throw out that I'm using an older non-slim Xbox 360 with the Jasper chipset. Newer slim Xbox 360s have better performance, so the slowdown may be less noticeable, and this method may work better. That I won't know for sure as I don't have a slim Xbox 360 to test.

To finalize: lowering the resolution and turning off widescreen doesn't seem to work. If you are finding the game unplayable due to the slowdown, there isn't going to be a good fix until KOEI releases one themselves.

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