TV Tuner dilemma!!

[mamasmurf]

Hi guys,

I want to upgrade my graphics card to something in the range of a Radeon 9000 Pro or a GeForce4MX 4xx sometime in the next month.

I also wanted to be able to watch cable TV on the PC and also record from an analog source (VCR) etc.. What do you guys think I should go for? An AGP and TV Tuner as separate cards or as one card?

Also mention brands and models if you please!!!!

Pssst .... I've heard the ATI All-in-Wonder Radeon 8500 is good. But at that price I'll have to rob a bank or somethin'!!

Got any ideas?

 

[ObiDon]

I like having seperate cards for graphics and TV. When videocard upgrade time arrives, it leaves you a lot more options for your replacement 3-D card.

 

[mamasmurf]

Yeah, ok. But got any ideas on what i should buy?

 

[ed21x]

yupyup!

now let's see... most people these days go with the tried and true WinTV by hauppage
i personally like avermedia's AverTV Studio

ati's TV wonder stil has some serious driver issues

and for the graphics card...
8500LE 128 mb= current best value price/performance
Geforce 4 ti4400 can be gotten at newegg for $161 and gives you excellent performance.
Radeon 9700 if you have the money and demand the absolute best.

 

[gplracer]

The pinnacle PCTV Pro card works fine. You might need to download the winxp drivers from their site if you are using winxp. Also anand did a review of a tv tuner card that is real good. Look on the site for it. It runs around $99 and the pinnacle PCTV runs around $79 but is on sale frequently at compusa for under $50.

 

[Technonut]

ati's TV wonder stil has some serious driver issues

What issues? I have been using a PCI TV Wonder with both the 8500 and 9700 with no problems. That is with Intel & VIA chipset mobos. Picture quality is very good using DScaler.

 

[Goi]

You forgot to mention your budget and usage. Do you need time shifting capabilities? HDTV capabilities?

Also, do you play games on your system that might require better 3D acceleration, or do you just use it for normal Windows, Office and/or other non-3D graphical stuff?

Basically, if you do more than basic gaming on the system, I'd go for a separate solution and skip the Radeon 9000 Pro/GF4MX series and go for at least a Radeon 8500LE. They cost less than the Radeon 9000 Pro and run games almost always much faster. The reason for separate cards is also that if you are doing gaming, your graphics card will almost always be obsolete before your TV tuner card, which can last you for years. In that case, you'd wanna upgrade only your graphics card and leave your TV card alone. Getting an AIW would force you to upgrade both when you only wanna upgrade one.

If however, you do only very basic or no gaming at all, AND don't foresee doing any more gaming in the near future(1-2 years) then the AIW Radeon 8500 would serve you well in the years to come. I'd recommend going that route rather than the Radeon 9000 Pro or GF4MX + TV card route too, unless you need some special features like HDTV tuning or time shifting(not sure if the AIW does that) that the AIW may not be able to provide.

 

[alexruiz]

Depending on the budget, you can also get a Radeon 9000 VIVO..... it is like $75 dollars. Again, as the rest of the guys pointed out, it depends completely in your gaming needs.

 

[cliftonite]

I have an ATI 8500 AIW and i absolutely love it. I got it for around $330 or so when it first came out last January

 

[LarryJoe]

Originally posted by: Technonut

ati's TV wonder stil has some serious driver issues

What issues? I have been using a PCI TV Wonder with both the 8500 and 9700 with no problems. That is with Intel & VIA chipset mobos. Picture quality is very good using DScaler.

Are you running XP? I suspect not if you have no issues.

EDIT - also another vote for the Aver TV Studio. Great XP drivers, price, and Time Shifting capabilities.

 

[Technonut]

Originally posted by: LarryJoe

Originally posted by: Technonut

ati's TV wonder stil has some serious driver issues

What issues? I have been using a PCI TV Wonder with both the 8500 and 9700 with no problems. That is with Intel & VIA chipset mobos. Picture quality is very good using DScaler.

Are you running XP? I suspect not if you have no issues.

EDIT - also another vote for the Aver TV Studio. Great XP drivers, price, and Time Shifting capabilities.

Sure, I am running XP Pro.... No problems at all.

 

[LarryJoe]

What is the highest rez you can capture at? If it is less than 640x480, then there is still a driver issue IMO.

 

[Pauli]

Hey Technonut,

You mentioned that you are using Dscaler with your ATI PCI TV card. I also have this card and tried Dscaler but I can't get the sound to work very well. Is your sound Ok? Mine is really, really, staticy. Also, when I use ATI's player, I get no sound unless I plug the audio out of the TV card into the MICROPHONE input on my Audigy. If I plug it into the AUX input of the Audigy, I get some sound, but the Volume and Mute controls don't work on the ATI player. Do you have this problem?

 

[Technonut]

What is the highest rez you can capture at? If it is less than 640x480, then there is still a driver issue IMO.

I just use it to watch cable TV..... I have not tried any capture functions yet, but am now curious to try.

 

[LarryJoe]

Originally posted by: Pauli
Hey Technonut,

You mentioned that you are using Dscaler with your ATI PCI TV card. I also have this card and tried Dscaler but I can't get the sound to work very well. Is your sound Ok? Mine is really, really, staticy. Also, when I use ATI's player, I get no sound unless I plug the audio out of the TV card into the MICROPHONE input on my Audigy. If I plug it into the AUX input of the Audigy, I get some sound, but the Volume and Mute controls don't work on the ATI player. Do you have this problem?

A very common problem when using the TV Wonder with third-party software. The TV Wonder is very proprietary.

 

[Technonut]

Originally posted by: Pauli
Hey Technonut,

You mentioned that you are using Dscaler with your ATI PCI TV card. I also have this card and tried Dscaler but I can't get the sound to work very well. Is your sound Ok? Mine is really, really, staticy. Also, when I use ATI's player, I get no sound unless I plug the audio out of the TV card into the MICROPHONE input on my Audigy. If I plug it into the AUX input of the Audigy, I get some sound, but the Volume and Mute controls don't work on the ATI player. Do you have this problem?

I use the Acoustic Edge...It sounds great.

EDIT: I do not have any of the ATi player software installed at all. Just the TV Wonder drivers.

 

[LarryJoe]

Originally posted by: Technonut

What is the highest rez you can capture at? If it is less than 640x480, then there is still a driver issue IMO.

I just use it to watch cable TV..... I have not tried any capture functions yet, but am now curious to try.

I loved my TV Wonder under 98 and used it for capturing. When I went to XP and waited and waited for drivers from ATI that returned the TV Wonder to the same full functionality and quality it had under 98, I lost patience and moved on to the Avermedia. From what I understand, ATI still hasn't released bug free and capable drivers yet.

 

[UncleWai]

for the tv tuner, I am waiting out for the new ASUS tv tuner.
It claims to use the new 10bit connexant chip and be able to do stereo unlike its cousins @nywhere and tv2000xp.
Don't know when the card will come to US though, the seaport crisis probably slowed the shipment down.

 

[sinunbeso]

I would suggest you go with the All-In-Wonder Radeon. It saves you a slot and the new 8500 AIW comes with a great remote as well. I have a GeForce 4 MX video card with ATI TV Wonder PCI. It had huge capability issues. But the new released beta driver from ATI seems to fix this problem quite smoothly.

 

[ObiDon]

Originally posted by: sinunbeso
I would suggest you go with the All-In-Wonder Radeon. It saves you a slot and the new 8500 AIW comes with a great remote as well. I have a GeForce 4 MX video card with ATI TV Wonder PCI. It had huge capability issues. But the new released beta driver from ATI seems to fix this problem quite smoothly.

Which problems?

Since I switched to WinXP, I haven't been able to capture at anything bigger than 720x240 in the AVI format. And, to be able to do that in MPEG-1 I have to hack the registry to get past x240. I don't recall it being a problem in WinME.

I haven't tried the new beta drivers though. I didn't even know there were any. Maybe I'll try them out tonight and report back tomorrow.

I've been using the Radeon 8500 MMC software set.

Also, I've used Dscaler with an SBLive OEM, the ATI TV Wonder PCI, and the KT133A chipset and my sound works perfectly. I must have gotten lucky on that one!