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steelcity_ballin
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Tv tuner recommendations

Sun Oct 16, 2005 10:13 am

I searched around the forums, and noted a lot of the suggestions given. I came across THIS and was hoping it fit the bill, it seems like it does except for one thing which I'll get to.

I want to watch tv / listen to the radio on it. I want to recrod strait to dvd If I can, but recording to disk then to DVD is not a huge deal. I'd like ot be able to watch All the high def content that is available also, which I did not explicitly see available, and lasty, I like it to be <$100.

Can you guys (maybe you HTPC users are more in the know) throw me some suggestions beyond the card I linked? Quality then price, but try to keep it under 100. Remote is a must.
 
Joeg_7
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Sun Oct 16, 2005 10:29 am

the tuner you linked to isn't an hdtv tuner. the cheapest hdtv tuner on newegg is $95 but it looks like a crappy card. the next cheapest one is the ATI HDTV Wonder at $145 plus a $20 mail-in rebate($125).
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Taddeusz
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Sun Oct 16, 2005 10:53 am

The problem with HDTV tuners is the only hi-def signals you can currently get are broadcast over the air. There is no cable standard to get you a hi-def signal and I have yet to see an HDTV tuner with a DVI port.

For the time being standard def tuners are your only realistic option. And, sorry, If you want to do anything like an HTPC you want to stay away from the cheap tuners. They are usually not capable of working with the better PVR software out there. Namely SageTV and MCE. I personally don't like Beyond TV. It's the only one that supports the older TV tuners but is absolutely attrocious for CPU usuage when you do.

The cards I would recommend are the Hauppauge PVR cards. This is the card that I would recommend. It is the cheapest PVR card by Hauppauge. What makes those cards different is that they encode the video to MPEG 2 on-board and keep the CPU from having to do that stuff. Basically the total CPU hit while recording a video using these cards is between 5% to 15% depending on the speed of your CPU.

Sorry about the HDTV thing but you are not going to find anything compelling in that area unless you want to be stuck watching your local channels in hi-def and having to deal with everything you would with an antenna sprouting from your TV.
 
Joeg_7
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Sun Oct 16, 2005 11:14 am

if you have vivo your set.....
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Usacomp2k3
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Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:23 pm

Moved to SBA.
 
steelcity_ballin
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Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:26 pm

So If I don't have a DVI port, that Hi def quaility is lost through the analog anyhow? i don't own an LCD, I just through since the res. on a computer monitor is much greater than a tv (save for high def tvs) That'd be enough.

I just need a way to watch and record my tv with the best possible quality, my room mate just got socom3 and hasn't been to classes in a week. Also, when a sports game is on I want to watch he and my other 2 jackass roommates bitch and moan about it.
 
paco
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Sun Oct 16, 2005 6:14 pm

Is this TV tuner any good?
 
Taddeusz
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Sun Oct 16, 2005 6:39 pm

pete_roth wrote:
So If I don't have a DVI port, that Hi def quaility is lost through the analog anyhow? i don't own an LCD, I just through since the res. on a computer monitor is much greater than a tv (save for high def tvs) That'd be enough.

I just need a way to watch and record my tv with the best possible quality, my room mate just got socom3 and hasn't been to classes in a week. Also, when a sports game is on I want to watch he and my other 2 jackass roommates bitch and moan about it.


The card I recommended would do what you want. With very high quality. Much better then the one you pointed to.

As far as watching TV on a computer it looks ok. Not quite as good as HDTV would look. Like I said about HDTV tuners on computers you won't find one that is capable of pulling in HDTV cable or satillite signals since there is no common standard that governs them. Current PC HDTV tuners are ONLY capable of pulling in HDTV signals using an antenna. Although they can pull standard definition cable TV.

The way you get an HDTV picture is with cable or satillite is they provide the tuner and you hook it up via component or preferably DVI or HDMI cabling.

You didn't mention what kind of computer you have. Is it a destkop or laptop computer? If it is a desktop computer the Hauppauge PVR 150 would be perfect. They do make a USB version but it is considerably more expensive. Since it sounds like you are in college and don't have a huge budget you don't have many choices.

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