Best TV Tuner for PC

[SLR2008]

Hi I'm looking to purchase a tv tuner for my computer. I've got Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit. I only intend to use Windows Media Center. I recieve cable on all my tv's. All I would like to do is be able to watch and record tv on my computer. If possible I would like to be able to watch High defenition on my pc. Should I go with the Avermedia or the Dvico FusionHDTV? Any other brands that you can recommend? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[minmaster]

i think the cheap happuage will do for you then. the 50 dollar one, i think even circuit city sells it for 40 at times. i think it does OTA digital, i'm guessing it can do cable fed digital as well?

 

[ellisz]

I got the Avermedia combo card and I use it in Vista Media Center and also through my Xbox 360 extender. Works geat. It came with an antenna and a remote control. It was $75 after $20 MIR

 

[masterbm]

I have use two ati 650 card for last year so not much issue with them

 

[minmaster]

did u get 650's FM tuner to get recognized by vista media center? it doesn't for me.

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: minmaster
did u get 650's FM tuner to get recognized by vista media center? it doesn't for me.

I've got the 650 too. I vaguely recall reading somewhere about a possible workaround to get the 650's radio tuner to work in conjunction with Window Media Center, but I've been too lazy to really look into it.

I just run Catalyst Media Center when I need to use the radio tuner, which works fine.

 

[minmaster]

Originally posted by: AmberClad

Originally posted by: minmaster
did u get 650's FM tuner to get recognized by vista media center? it doesn't for me.

I've got the 650 too. I vaguely recall reading somewhere about a possible workaround to get the 650's radio tuner to work in conjunction with Window Media Center, but I've been too lazy to really look into it.

I just run Catalyst Media Center when I need to use the radio tuner, which works fine.

do you have a link for that? i searched on several occasions and found nothing of a workaround.

 

[Fattysharp]

Do you mean you want to watch live broadcasts of HD tv through your cable on your computer ?

Is your cable connection digital through a cable box, or is it analog with the cable going from the wall to the tv ?

As far as I know there is only one expensive box at this time by hauppage that allows HD content to be viewed and recorded by cable/sat, and it is only available to be setup that way with the beyond tv beta that is not available to the public.

There is fta HD available, depending on what is broadcasted in your area.

Digital cable will require a IR blaster, between the box and your card or you will not get the digital signal.

Someone out there can correct me if I am wrong here .. it has been a a few months since I did the research on this, so there may be a product or 2 out there that I am unaware of.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: Fattysharp
Do you mean you want to watch live broadcasts of HD tv through your cable on your computer ?

Is your cable connection digital through a cable box, or is it analog with the cable going from the wall to the tv ?

As far as I know there is only one expensive box at this time by hauppage that allows HD content to be viewed and recorded by cable/sat, and it is only available to be setup that way with the beyond tv beta that is not available to the public.

There is fta HD available, depending on what is broadcasted in your area.

Digital cable will require a IR blaster, between the box and your card or you will not get the digital signal.

Someone out there can correct me if I am wrong here .. it has been a a few months since I did the research on this, so there may be a product or 2 out there that I am unaware of.

Certain TV's and Tuners allow ClearQAM HD signals to be viewed - unencrypted channels. Mind you, most of the time this means broadcast channels and a few select cable channels, but this is completely dependent on your cable provider. I have Time Warner and I get about 10 or so HD channels over cable without a box (my TV has a QAM tuner built in).

 

[SLR2008]

The cable is connected directly through a cable box. I dont really mind if I cant watch High defenition content provided by my cable company on my pc. As long as I can recieve some channels on my pc it doent make a difference to me. I'm pretty much a newb and all this is pretty new to me.

 

[PotatoMAN]

I have a Hauppage 1600 that happens to have clear QAM support. Granted, I have a 3 year old Athlon 64 3200+, 2 gigs of RAM, and a 128 meg 6600 GT in my computer the HD content comes in choppy. If anything I would try out any PCIe versions of clear QAM cards - but I don't have such luxuries on my current rig. Being poor sucks.

 

[SLR2008]

Thanks for the responses. I've narrowed my search down to these tv tuners the Avermedia or the Dvico FusionHDTV. Which should I go with?