ive narrowed down to 3 tv cards,help me decide please

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D14JEFF

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 21, 2002
Messages
201
ive narrowed my tv card down to 3 cards...VIDEOMATE TV GOLD+ by compro....VideoMate TV ULTRA also by compro (both software mpeg conversion) and the WinTV PVR 250by hauppauge (hardware mpeg conversion.
with the 250 ive read that it has serious problems with win 2000(which is my os).also..do i have to have a MEC computer to use this card?
my system quickly is abit nf7 version 2 moboard-xp 2500 at xp3200 speed-1 gig of crucial ram-radeon 9800 n/p video card.
i have regular cable and a high 8 camcorder,i want to be able to record and playback from either with no signal loss at all.id love to be able to backup my dvd's with no signal loss also (i have a liteon 812 dvd burner)
i think my system is fast enough that i dont have to have hardware mpeg encoding....but tell me if im wrong.im in the USA so the extra video tuning features on the ultra should be of some use to me.
im leaning twoards the ultra when weighing price/features but ive only seen 1 review on it and it got very good remarks..as do the pro and 250 model.i can afford a 150 buck card if its the only one that will make me happy.......but if id be more happy if i got the same results or better for 55 or 85 bucks.
im very concerned about haveing issues cause i dont have a MEC computer for the happug 250...is there a workaround for this that DOES NOT involve going into my registery?
thanks for any and all answers
 
im waiting for the HDTV Wonder... $100 and would go well with your 9800. Extremetech is supposed to have a write-up on it tomorow.
 
You will not get the same results as a 250 with that Ultra card and the other one, plain and simple. What do you mean by "MEC" ? Do you mean "Media Center Edition" ? If so you don't MCE to use a 250 nor would you need MCE for a 250MCE card. This will get you the same quality but alittle cheaper if price matters to you.
Oh the instability comes from the crappy software bundled with it but I see no reason why someone would use that POS when there are so many bettter freeware out there.
 
JScottie said:
im waiting for the HDTV Wonder... $100 and would go well with your 9800. Extremetech is supposed to have a write-up on it tomorow.
Click to expand...

Personally, right now HDTV cards seem to be almost a waste, you can read a review of the ATI HDTV Wonder over at Anandtech and see exactly why it's a waste right now.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=2089&p=1

While it is great to see someone like ATI get into the HDTV Tuner market there are several roadblocks standing in the way for a sort of mainstream adoption. I'd like to see both ATI and Hauppauge lead the way and sort of standardize the whole HDTV tuner market as well as seeing the cable companies standup to bat and fix the problems that exist on their side (nearly all of the problems are due to the cable companies). Plus the fact that it can't be used by Sage TV means that I no longer have any interest in the card myself.

Oh the HDTV Wonder is $199 ;)
 
Not sure about the others, but I have the WinTV PVR 250 and think its great.
Hardware mpeg conversion is the only way to go. Stay away from software encoding.
I am runnnig XP though.
Did have an issue with the scheduler, E'd Hauppauge help and they got back in a day with a fix. A simple change in the primary setting.
Easy install great forum for help and fun to boot. From what I understand the mce doesn't have a remote control. Right now I'm watching a Nascar race and typing this and the CPU is at 18%.
 
OPUS1 said:
Not sure about the others, but I have the WinTV PVR 250 and think its great.
Hardware mpeg conversion is the only way to go. Stay away from software encoding.
I am runnnig XP though.
Click to expand...
I have two 250MCEs sitting next to me waiting to be installed :D
Yes, hardware based is the only way to go :D
 
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