Help deciding and setting up a tv tuner with a cable box?

Question

I'm looking to get a HD cable package which I believe comes with a cable box. I'm trying to get dual tv tuners to run two feeds to my computer and allow me to watch and record two stations at once using Windows Media Center (much like you would with TiVO). Currently I have Windows Vista 64 so I'm looking at this tv tuner model (which reviews seem to make it sound compatible):

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16815116620

My question is, what do I need to do to make this work with a cable box so I can use Media Center to change channels with me manually doing it on the cable box? I've read something about IR connections between computer and cable box. Does that work well?

Will a tv tuner setup like this work with all channels or will I have to connect the cable directly (bypass the cable box) and only get analog stations?

Answer 1

What you need is a tuner card specifically for MCE and an IR receiver and blaster, including remote control.

If you want dual capability, you will need two cable boxes.

MCE works very well as a PVR, and I love their EPG.

If you only use a single tuner, to avoid a second cable box, you can still watch a recorded show while you are recording another.