HDTV Tuner Card

[heelside23]

I'm looking around at various hdtv tuner cards, and I read several threads on the matter, but was unable to reach a consensus.

I also have pci-e, but im not sure if that makes a difference. Aren't PCI cards compatible with the pci-e slots?

Anyway, I've found several that look good.

1.FusionHDTV5
2.DTA-150
3. POWERCOLOR T55E-P03
4. HDTV Wonder

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[acegazda]

I've heard that all hdtv pc tuners are crap. I've heard several people say that the ATI tv wonder elite has the best picture quality of any tv tuner. The HDTV wonder doesn't look bad if you can get some positive feedback.

 

[krotchy]

Heres another one to throw in the mix that I cant find any reviews of from MSI if you dont mind me piggybacking your post:
http://msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=Digital@nywhere-ATSC&class=vga

Given that MSI is generally a good company, im wondering if the Digital Anywhere is a good ATSC+NTSC tuner

 

[SynthDude2001]

The Fusion 5 is probably the best inexpensive solution. Uses software decoding, but that shouldn't be an issue on any reasonably modern PC. My brother and a friend of mine both have the Lite version, and it works well for them. Also supports QAM for unencrypted digital/HD channels over cable...

I'm 99% sure that the Powercolor you linked is not an HDTV card, only analog/NTSC. I have no direct experience with the DTA-150 or the HDTV Wonder, though I have read in the past that the HDTV Wonder used to have software issues. I do not know if this is still the case or not. The MSI card that the poster above me linked is interesting, but I've heard nothing about it. There is also one coming out that interests me, the 164e (from the same company that makes the 150 that you linked). Has dual ATSC/NTSC tuners, and while it doesn't look to support QAM initially, if that isn't important to you and dual tuners interest you at all, I'd recommend looking into that one. A little info is here.

I personally use the MyHD MDP-130 with DVI daughtercard. It's probably the most expensive HDTV tuner on the market, but it's worked very well for me. No problems with picking up HD channels over the air or cable (assuming the signal strength is good), timeshifting/recording/everything else works well. But as I said, it's pretty expensive, and I'd be more inclined to recommend the Fusion 5 as a starting point. The Lite version is only about $100, and it'll get you many of the important features that I have in my tuner...

 

[randym431]

The hdtv wonder, which I have, could be a good card " if " ati would get their act together with drivers. The card is basically two cards, one analog and one digital HD. In the past, ati's drivers were in two parts, the analog tv and digital tv. They worked fair, kinda. Now the latest ati drivers combine analog with digital software. I have had terrible problems with the latest drivers. I had to go back to the older drivers where analog and digital is in two parts. Recording with the hd digital is another problem. Often the playback freezes or plays jittery. it looks like the hdtv wonder is on its way out, if not already, with ati. I think they know its just a big mess and cant seem to get it to go the way it was intended.

 

[heelside23]

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
The Fusion 5 is probably the best inexpensive solution. Uses software decoding, but that shouldn't be an issue on any reasonably modern PC. My brother and a friend of mine both have the Lite version, and it works well for them. Also supports QAM for unencrypted digital/HD channels over cable...

I'm 99% sure that the Powercolor you linked is not an HDTV card, only analog/NTSC. I have no direct experience with the DTA-150 or the HDTV Wonder, though I have read in the past that the HDTV Wonder used to have software issues. I do not know if this is still the case or not. The MSI card that the poster above me linked is interesting, but I've heard nothing about it. There is also one coming out that interests me, the 164e (from the same company that makes the 150 that you linked). Has dual ATSC/NTSC tuners, and while it doesn't look to support QAM initially, if that isn't important to you and dual tuners interest you at all, I'd recommend looking into that one. A little info is here.

I personally use the MyHD MDP-130 with DVI daughtercard. It's probably the most expensive HDTV tuner on the market, but it's worked very well for me. No problems with picking up HD channels over the air or cable (assuming the signal strength is good), timeshifting/recording/everything else works well. But as I said, it's pretty expensive, and I'd be more inclined to recommend the Fusion 5 as a starting point. The Lite version is only about $100, and it'll get you many of the important features that I have in my tuner...

Thanks a lot for the excellent response! I really appreciate your help. I don't believe the Powercooler is hdtv, so I was mistaken for puting it in the mix.

One thing I have learned is the HDTV Wonder card seems to have conflicting issues with nvidia cards. Since I'm using a 6800, I don't think going that direction is such a great choice anymore. However, the Fusion5 seems to be a great choice.

 

[JetBlack69]

I just got the Fusion5 USB HDTV turner. When I first installed it, I used the latest software from the dvico website. It installed the 1.1.6.0 driver, which was old and giving me blue screens of death stop errors when changing channels. I ran Windows Update and it got the 3.4.1.0 driver installed and all of the problems are fixed (I assume those are the latest drivers.) Actually, I can't get the remote working, but that's not a big problem for me since I don't plan on using it. I'm using it for over-the-air HDTV and it works great.

 

[alpha88]

I have a HDTV Wonder. It worked great when I had a 9800Pro.

When I tried to stick it in a new system with a nVidia 6600GT, it didn't work right. I just took it out.

 

[Bateluer]

I ended up removing my HDTV Wonder as well, never got it to work very reliably with my 6800GT.

I may stick it back in now that I have a Radeon X1900XT, but at the moment I don't have any TV service and the OTA channels here are just local news and weather.