Need advice on tuner card....

zoobaby

zoobaby

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Jun 7, 2004
Messages
6,179
Anyone use a TV tuner and can advise on what is good? Needs to be PCI or should I sell 6800GT and get an AIW? My current setup:

MSI NEO2 KT8
AMD 3800+
BFG 6800GT
1 Gig Twinmos
1 DVD-RW, 1 DVD
80 gig SATA, 80 gig IDE
465W PSU
19" LCD Samsung 193p+

I will most likely be adding a matching LCD as well. Basically will be watching sports on it. I plan to watch on one lcd and play games on second. When doing neither sharing the desktop. Not sure if what I want to do makes sense, so ask questions if needed. My budget is not huge but willing to shell out a few bucks.
 
so what is the tally this week for the most asked question on the board? there are links up top that can help you out, including a proven hardware list that has some nice info.

just for the record, 99.9 % are going to say the Hauppauge PVR line.
 
IDversusEGO said:
so what is the tally this week for the most asked question on the board? there are links up top that can help you out, including a proven hardware list that has some nice info.
Click to expand...

Yeah I read some of those. The few on cards I read were over a year old. I figured folks here would have an idea of what current models are better.


just for the record, 99.9 % are going to say the Hauppauge PVR line.
Click to expand...
Thanks, that is what I wanted to read, suggestions.

Also I do not have cable, I plan to use an antenna and really only will be watching sports. Just looking to see what card would be best.
 
well, slpurge and get an HD tuner then. You will find fast motion stuff like sports is only OK with any SD tuner.
 
Who is making HD tuner cards?
Do they have dual-tuner HD cards out?
I was just about to buy a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 500 MCE card this week, but may reconsider if the HD one is any good.

I've been looking around more on this topic, now I just need to figure out who the top HD tuner card makers are?
 
Hey thanks for the help. From what I have read and your inputs, I am leaning toward a DVICO FusionHDTV5 and get an antenna. Who is a reliable retailer for this card? pcalchemy.com? Shop4tech.com?

EDIT: After checking reseller ratings, kind of leary of both. Not many reviews and negative reviews respectively.

I have found a site for some basic antenna info. Anyone have experience with small indoor antennas for use in an apartment?
 
Go with PC Alchemy, they're a great place to get this kind of stuff.
 
Agree ... the Hauppauge PVR line is very good choice. Went with the pvr-350 personally.
IMhO the Hauppauge cards are about as good as it gets without going to more expensive
pro level cards.

Those AIW cards are great if you want a quick, simple solution. However, if you want top
quality the Hauppauge is definitely preferable.
If you plan to watch on HDTV I'd recommend a card with an onboard hardware encoder as
opposed to software based offerings like the AIW. If you were to watch on a regular 32" TV the difference
probably wouldn't be noticable. But on a 65" HDTV the difference can be striking.

Here is the Hauppauge WINTV-PVR comparrison page : http://www.haupauge.com/pages/compare_pvr.html
All of which have hardware encoders.

The PVR-350 has an onboard Decoder with S-Video and Composite out.
Which is nice if you want to play the video direct from your HDD back to the TV. ;)
 
Thanks again on the inputs. Basically my computer setup listed in the OP is all I have at the moment. I have no TV and doubt I will have one in the next year or two. I am using a single LCD, saving to buy a second. I rarely watch TV, I just want to be able to watch football games mainly.

Would the DVICO FusionHDTV5 be a good choice or should I go for something from Hauppauge?
 
Yeah I would just go with the Fusion then. You should also consider what you're going to do about software for it, do you want a PVR app that will let you schedule when things need to get recorded and would run in the background or an app that you open up and click the record button when you want to record something.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top