Tv turner card for around $150

[Pixle]

Hey i would like to watch tv on my computer i have a pci and agp. I havnt kept track of the hardware, should i buy ati heppeng or something else... better to go with a video card all in wonder? i have a x1900 xt but its sort of broken, works fine just not intense game
thank you

 

[Slugbait]

ATi and something else has always kinda sucked. Hauppauge is consistently decent. This is your card.

 

[daw123]

As Slugbait says, I would go with Hauppauge. I've owned two of their products now and I like them both. The only problem is that the software could be better.

 

[masteryoda34]

Originally posted by: Slugbait
Hauppauge is consistently decent.

I had major 64bit driver problems with their HVR-2250. Most people appear not to have problems though.

 

[Pixle]

What tv guide programs are good? im fairly lost

 

[masteryoda34]

Windows Media Center is the best software to use that I have seen. It is included with Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows Vista Home Premium, and Windows Vista Ultimate.

 

[Pixle]

Windows xp pro

 

[masteryoda34]

TV cards often come with piece of software you can use. They are usually pretty bad, but they work on any version of windows.

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: Pixle
What tv guide programs are good? im fairly lost

If you're only watching, not recording, TV Guide is excellent. You can configure it to show only the channels you're interested in.

 

[Synomenon]

Has Hauppauge fixed their problems w/ systems that have more than 4GB of RAM? Got my Theater 650 Combo PCIe over the HVR2250 because of that issue.

 

[vailr]

Do you require "standard definition" or HD?
If HD, then I'd recommend the Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1800, which would require upgrading to a PCIe slot motherboard. Their similar featured HVR-1600 does work with PCI slots; however, the PCI bus can get overwhelmed when recording HD material.
There's a cheap ATI TV Wonder Pro for sale, if you only need "standard definition" (see sig).

 

[Svnla]

Ok guys what about a USB type external for my laptop?

I only want to watch OTA HD channels..nothing fancy..TIA.

 

[erple2]

Originally posted by: Pixle
Hey i would like to watch tv on my computer i have a pci and agp. I havnt kept track of the hardware, should i buy ati heppeng or something else... better to go with a video card all in wonder? i have a x1900 xt but its sort of broken, works fine just not intense game
thank you

I think that one thing people are missing is how do you plan on getting your TV signal? Is it going to be OTA, or are you using a digital cable/FIOS/DirecTV signal?

I have yet to see any reliable CableCARD TV Tuners available yet from any vendor, so if you're trying to watch that (almost every currently available non-network broadcast HD channels), you may have issues.

Also, AGP is going to limit what's available (as is PCI - but really only if you want to watch HD content).

Do you have analogue cable? Digital Cable?

 

[Pixle]

Originally posted by: erple2

Originally posted by: Pixle
Hey i would like to watch tv on my computer i have a pci and agp. I havnt kept track of the hardware, should i buy ati heppeng or something else... better to go with a video card all in wonder? i have a x1900 xt but its sort of broken, works fine just not intense game
thank you

I think that one thing people are missing is how do you plan on getting your TV signal? Is it going to be OTA, or are you using a digital cable/FIOS/DirecTV signal?

I have yet to see any reliable CableCARD TV Tuners available yet from any vendor, so if you're trying to watch that (almost every currently available non-network broadcast HD channels), you may have issues.

Also, AGP is going to limit what's available (as is PCI - but really only if you want to watch HD content).

Do you have analogue cable? Digital Cable?

Im going to use the regular cable from the tv, we have regular cable channels. If we do buy digital channels can I just use the regular cable and skip the digital receiver boxxx?

 

[Pixle]

Originally posted by: vailr
Do you require "standard definition" or HD?
If HD, then I'd recommend the Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1800, which would require upgrading to a PCIe slot motherboard. Their similar featured HVR-1600 does work with PCI slots; however, the PCI bus can get overwhelmed when recording HD material.
There's a cheap ATI TV Wonder Pro for sale, if you only need "standard definition" (see sig).

Will I be able to record Hd? I might nt have that but wondering.

Dell 32 inch lcd
Asus Mobo
Dual Core 6600 2.4ghz
2 gb ram
Ati x1900xt video card
160gb raptor

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: erple2
I have yet to see any reliable CableCARD TV Tuners available yet from any vendor...

Correction: all CableCARDs are reliable, and no vendor carries them.

In addition, there is an installation fee and a monthly fee associated with the CableCARD.

If we do buy digital channels can I just use the regular cable and skip the digital receiver boxxx?

AFAIK, yes. The Hauppauge linked above is an ATSC/ClearQAM tuner, so it should allow viewing of unencrypted digital channels on most cable systems. YMWV on channels that you can get, primarily dependent on your service provider.

Will I be able to record Hd?

AFAIK, no. Your mobo does not have PCI-e, so you cannot install a card that can capture HD.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: Pixle
Will I be able to record Hd? I might nt have that but wondering.

There is no reason HD video can not be captured/recorded via PCI capture card, just be sure to download the latest drivers from the card vendor. In your price range, high performance capture cards with hardware encoders should not be a problem. Its the ones under $60 that are kind of iffy because they're mostly software driven. Until no more than one year ago, the vast majority of HD tuner and capture cards were PCI.

Realistic effective bandwidth over PCI bus should be not less than 80 MByte/sec worst case scenario, excepting some crappy BIOS programming, multiple demanding PCI devices, or crappy drivers. That's well in excess of the 50 MByte/sec MAX offered by Firewire 400, which is widely used for HD A/V interface.