Hello,
I have been using MCE on XP for couple of years but i would like to upgrade to VistaMCE and start recording HD channels provided by my 211 HD receiver from DN. I remember back in the days it was impossible to do so because there was no card that accepted component cables so it would record HD. Did it change? Can one buy a HD tuner card for a PC and record HD staight from the satellite receiver? If so, can you recommend couple of cards that would do the trick.

 Regards and thanks for your help ;)

Hauppauge makes an external USB video capture device that can record from an HD source using component cables.  I have captured 1080i from a Playstation 3 with good results but have not attempted to make it work with MCE.  If it does, maybe 2 of those could work with 2 satellite receivers.

Unfortunately, this device is simply a capture card and does not present itself as a tuner in MediaCenter.  Therefore, it will not work in MediaCenter.  However, it will work using Hauppauge's own software.

I've been using two Hauppauge HDPVRs to record HD content from two Dish VIP211 receivers now for several months (from within 7MC) using the third party solution, DVBLink (www.dvblogic.com).  I have the component outputs from the receivers plugged into the HDPVRs for video and am using optical for audio.  My receivers are locked at 1080i output.

While not PERFECT, my system is quite stable and the picture quality is very good.

The HDPVR hardware has some quirks, and it is definitely not cheap (~$200 per 'tuner'), but is a viable alternative to CableCard for getting HD content into MediaCenter (and DRM free at that).