tv tuner

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killster1

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ok looked a bit on tv tuners and cant really decide anything
should i get a pci tuner card and use regular gfx or get a aiw and use that for gfx.. or can i use my second pcie slot for the tuner card? i have agp or pcie box to use for tv tuner so i can go either way or just use regular pci.. thanks for tips trick ideas etc! i have the hardest time deciding anything about hardware unless its zalman or ocz brand
 
Go for a Hauppage PCI tuner and get a seperate PCIe/AGP GPU...

That's what I did and it's working flawlessly for me.
 
AIW card if image quality and CPU usage are not important factors. Hauppauge PCI tuner cards if they are.

Personally, I chose the Hauppauge PVR-350 for it's onboard decoder. Essential if you want to play the captured video from the HDD back to the TV. Also works just like a TiVo.
 
ok ill get the PVR-350 sounds good i was looking for tivo like functions thanks!
 
killster1 said:
ok ill get the PVR-350 sounds good i was looking for tivo like functions thanks!
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You'll LOVE it.

I've even got their cheaper 99$ one (got it for 60$) and it was better than my old AIW 9800 pro. The AIW had some hot girl on the sticker though... :rolleyes:
 
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950 USB2.0 TV Stick Hybrid NTSC or ATSC
you recommend this one? its so small and would be cool if it didnt matter the pvr350 isnt first choice?
 
AIW card if image quality and CPU usage are not important factors. Hauppauge PCI tuner cards if they are.

Personally, I chose the Hauppauge PVR-350 for it's onboard decoder. Essential if you want to play the captured video from the HDD back to the TV. Also works just like a TiVo.
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Last I checked the pvr-350 could not display the overlay of MCE on the television. So basically, you have video and thats it. No channel, guide, etc. information.


If you have NVidia GFX PureVideo works damn well.
 
Very true. The PVR-350 will only show the source material, you will not see the on screen displays, menus, or your desktop on the TV. That is not a problem here as both my TV and PC are easily seen - and accessed from my couch with the remotes.

One could use a 3rd party application like SageTV. That requires more expenditure - about $80.
http://www.sage.tv/sagetv.html?sageSub=tv
 
Get a bundle from PCalchemy like this SageTV and Hauppauge PVR 150 for $120.

The PVR-350 is out old, really old. As mentioned, it will only output the actual video, no windows desktop, software, etc. If you have a video card that is at least equal to a ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (what I am currently using), then you should be good.

Definitely stay away from any of the AIW cards. They are all software tuners and don't give you anywhere near decent quality.

Right now, the best quality pictures seem to be coming from either the NVIDIA DualTV tuners or the VistaView Saber2020, but both of those cards a little higher price (about $160) than the Hauppauge.

Unless you are looking at wanting two tuners ;) Do you ever see yourself wanting to watch one show while recording another? How about recording two shows at the same time? If so, you will want two tuners, and in that case definitely go with the NVIDIA or VistaView cards, even if they are a little more expensive than the Hauppauge PVR-500 (Hauppauge's dual tuner card).

I have no experience with the HVR-950, but I would assume it should provide a pretty decent picture, since pretty much all of Hauppauges's products give the same picture quality.

Another note is what TV are you planning on recording? Regular cable, or OTA (Over-the-Air) HDTV? That also makes a difference on what hardware you should be looking at.
 
Susquehannock said:
PVR-150MCE = no remote - and no onboard decoder so you can play back to the TV.
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So? The PVR350 is also incredibly old hardware-wise.

The onboard TV out never worked right under XP and very few apps supported it; the drivers for the onboard MPEG2 decoder are very flaky under XP. The only time this card has ever worked properly has been under Linux.

Not to mention that the hardware encoder it uses is the same one based on the PVR250 which has already been replaced by the PVR150 series cards.

You're suggesting to the OP to spent a lot of money on a card thats going to have lower image quality then the current new cards (which they don't even compare well with other cards like those that use ATI's 550 chips), have issues due to crappy drivers (if using XP) and he won't even be able to use all of the card's features (not a lot of apps support the hardware decoder)?

OP, I'd say you need to stop listening to this guy. He either doesn't know what he's talking about or he has something against you for pushing a suggest that doesn't make sense.
 
well i like the sage2020.. pcie even looking at the nvidia dualtv one now .. id really rather keep xp pro going but i guess i can switch to mce if i have to for tuner support and/or it more features
 
killster1 said:
well i like the sage2020.. pcie even looking at the nvidia dualtv one now .. id really rather keep xp pro going but i guess i can switch to mce if i have to for tuner support and/or it more features
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What? Just so you know MCE is just XP Pro with a PVR app grafted to it. Theres nothing special about MCE.

If you need a PVR app and you're not running MCE then take a look at SageTV and BeyondTV.

And you mean Saber's Vistaview 20/20, I have one but haven't had a chance to play around with it yet.
 
mdameron said:
Have they gotten around to making TV tuner cards for the little baby PCI-e slots?
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If you can find it Powercolor released a version of their 550 Pro based tuner for PCIe, Saber has their Vistaview 20/20 dual tuner for PCIe and I believe Hauppauge's new cards (their new HVR tuners) will have a PCIe version but we'll see in the month or so (they're suppose to be released along with Vista).
 
CrimandEvil said:
If you can find it Powercolor released a version of their 550 Pro based tuner for PCIe, Saber has their Vistaview 20/20 dual tuner for PCIe and I believe Hauppauge's new cards (their new HVR tuners) will have a PCIe version but we'll see in the month or so (they're suppose to be released along with Vista).
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Interesting, thank you. mATX is a pain in the arse. mATX in a full sized case is a convoluted pain in the arse :D
 
killster1 said:
well i like the sage2020.. pcie even looking at the nvidia dualtv one now .. id really rather keep xp pro going but i guess i can switch to mce if i have to for tuner support and/or it more features
Click to expand...

Both of those would be a good choice, much better than the PVR-350 :rolleyes:

Not only do they provide you with two tuners on a single card but they use the new VIXS chipset which is supposed to beat hauppauge on signal quality. Another benefit is that they only use 1 IRQ for for both tuners, while the Hauppaug PVR-500 dual tuner card uses 1 for each tuner :mad:

I've currently got a PVR-500 and two PVR-150s and would drop them for the NVIDIA or VistaView cards in a heartbeat if I had the cash (and PCI-e slots in the case of the Saber2020).

As Crim said, you don't have to have MCE, even if you get a PVR-150 MCE card. I've always thought the Hauppauge remotes blew chunks, so all three of my cards are the MCE versions and they are working flawlessly on Windows XP. You will need some sort of TV app since the software that comes with the tuner cards is usually crap. I highly recommend SageTV, some like BeyondTV, and there are a few other options out there (Mediaportal, MythTV - Linux, GBPVR).
 
Hmmmm, seems almost like someone has a beef against the PVR-350. Sorry your personal experience with them
was so bad. You have actually used one, right??

Yes, the PVR-350 is outdated. So much so that it farts dust! They never work in any WinXP system I have installed them in either. :rolleyes:

So what if the 350 uses the same encoder as the 250 or 150? Do they have onboard decoders?

The Hauppauge remotes are not all that bad. At least they have real buttons. Certainly a hell of a lot better then the remotes that come with the AIW cards.
 
Susquehannock said:
Yes, the PVR-350 is so outdated it farts dust! They never work in any WinXP system I have installed them in either. :rolleyes:
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Learn to read, I said the drivers are flaky. I never said they didn't work with XP. :rolleyes:
So what if the 350 uses the same encoder as the 250 or 150? Do they have onboard decoders?
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Get it right; the PVR150 is the new one, the PVR250/350 are the old ones. And having an onboard decoder doesn't matter if you've got a video card anywhere from ATI's 9x00 series/NV's FX series all the way up to the most recently released video cards from either camp. The only time that onboard decoder helps is if you're running one of those crappy little VIA Mini ITX systems.

Other then that the onboard decoder is useless when paired with even onboard video.

The Hauppauge remotes are not all that bad. At least they have real buttons. Certainly a hell of a lot better then the remotes that come with the AIW cards.
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Thats the only part of your post that makes any sense, the AIW remotes suck even when compared with the Hauppauge remote. Regardless, since the guy has XP Pro, I'd recommend this one instead: http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_in...trol-for-windows-xp-mce/cName/remote-controls
 
CrimandEvil said:
Learn to read, I said the drivers are flaky. I never said they didn't work with XP. :rolleyes:
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I read just fine thank you very much. Seems you do not even remember what you posted.
CrimandEvil said:
The only time this card has ever worked properly has been under Linux.
Click to expand...
Guess the XP systems I have worked with are the exception rather than the norm huh?

CrimandEvil said:
Get it right; the PVR150 is the new one, the PVR250/350 are the old ones. And having an onboard decoder doesn't matter if you've got a video card anywhere from ATI's 9x00 series/NV's FX series all the way up to the most recently released video cards from either camp. The only time that onboard decoder helps is if you're running one of those crappy little VIA Mini ITX systems.

Other then that the onboard decoder is useless when paired with even onboard video.


Thats the only part of your post that makes any sense, the AIW remotes suck even when compared with the Hauppauge remote. Regardless, since the guy has XP Pro, I'd recommend this one instead: http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_in...trol-for-windows-xp-mce/cName/remote-controls
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:rolleyes: indeed. Everyone is an expert.

Sorry your personal experience with the 350 was so bad. You have actually used one, right??
 
Susquehannock said:
I read just fine thank you very much. Seems you do not even remember what you posted.
Guess the XP systems I have worked with are the exception rather than the norm huh?
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Okay, so you're reading comprehension needs work. When did "flaky under XP, fine under Linux" turn into "doesn't work in XP, works in Linux" in your pretty little head?
:rolleyes: indeed. Everyone is an expert.
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I have no idea what thats suppose to mean. Are you trying to say that video cards really don't have any sort of TV out circuitry intergrated into them? Are you trying to say that DXVA doesn't work and video cards don't do any sort of hardware acceleration? What are you trying to say?

Or are you saying you actually don't know WTF your talking about cause, right now, thats the only thing that actually makes any sense. :rolleyes:
Sorry your personal experience with the 350 was so bad. You have actually used one, right??
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Look, I'm glad you love your PVR350 so much but you can't argue with the facts and it's pretty clear you can't do that based on the last few posts you've made.
 
Sigh ..... sometimes wonder why I even bother. Everyone is an expert. And those who do not agree with you aren't. Very typical :eek:

Next stop - the unsubscribe button. This back & forth crap is getting old, is rather trite, and does the OP no good.

Have a good one all. :D
 
Susquehannock said:
Sigh ..... sometimes wonder why I even bother. Everyone is an expert. :eek: :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Look, I'll never claim to be an expert about anything. There is always somethig to learn, even if it is that what works for one person isn't always the best option :p I personally have no experience with the PVR-350 (though I do have experience with the PVR-150, the PVR-250, PVR-500, HDHomeRun, and PVR-USB2).

What I do know is that the PVR-350 will only output the actual video, meaning that you still have to have a video card to get the Windows screen and any PVR software on the TV/Monitor. Considering any ATI card equal to or better than a 9x00, or an NVIDIA card equal to or better than a FX5200 will be able to provide as good or better output for the video, plus the added benefit of displaying the OS on your system.

So, what? Buy a new PVR-350 today and spend almost as much for a single tuner card as you would to get the PVR-500 (dual tuner), all for the benefit of an onboard decoder that any of the modern video cards (especially the Nvidia 6x00 series cards) are equal too or better than?

Look, I'll concede that the PVR-350 may be a better choice IF you plan on putting it on a system that only has a Riva TNT 16MB video card (or onboard video other than an NVIDIA 6100, 6150, or Intel GMA 3000). Heck, I've ran an HTPC with an Nvidia MX440 video card and had no issues playing standard def TV. Anything with even a low end modern card (Nvidia 6200 even) would be better off using the video card and system processor to do the decoding.
 
well do some learning then because misconceptions abound on all sides here

no one tv tuner card are best for all situations . yet some hang to irrelevant like which card is older , or has this or that

thread starter not even give specifics for use of card . how can one give advice without
 
CrimandEvil said:
Only some, most of us are more then willing to learn from one another.
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If it wasn't for this forum and the HTPCNEWS forums, I would never have gotten into the whole HTPC thing ;) In fact, I would probably still be stuck recording everything on 2 VCRs and wouldn't have hours and hours of TV that I probably won't ever get caught up on :p Of course, it is really nice to not have 20-30 VCR tapes lying around, unmarked, and having t go through them to figure out what was recorded where.
 
i just assumed the 350 was the later model.. looks like ima go with ati 550 or nvidia dual tuner the nvidia dual tuner comes with a ton of stuff now i just gotta decide if i wanta reinstall to mce.. will i get the tv guide deal and be able to record shows in the future like a vcr or only live recording on the channel its set to.. prob really stupid question..
 
killster1 said:
i just assumed the 350 was the later model.. looks like ima go with ati 550 or nvidia dual tuner the nvidia dual tuner comes with a ton of stuff now i just gotta decide if i wanta reinstall to mce.. will i get the tv guide deal and be able to record shows in the future like a vcr or only live recording on the channel its set to.. prob really stupid question..
Click to expand...

First, let me say that I haven't used MCE. As I've mentioned before, I am still using Windows XP with SageTV for all my PVR function.

My understanding is that MCE includes access to a TV Guide. With a tuner installed, MCE will allow you to go through the guide and select what you want to record, real similar to TIVO (if you are familiar with it). Gone are the days of looking at a TV Guide and then telling the VCR to record from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM on channel 13. Instead, you simply hit the record button on the show and it will record it for you when it comes on. The software will change the channel for you.

Do you have a license for MCE? If not, it would be cheaper to pick up SageTV (or BeyondTV) and just stick with the Windows OS that you already have.
 
lenape said:
well do some learning then because misconceptions abound on all sides here
Click to expand...
Point one out then.
no one tv tuner card are best for all situations . yet some hang to irrelevant like which card is older , or has this or that
Click to expand...
Uh, last I checked most wouldn't want to spend more money on an outdated tuner when ones with better image quality are around and cost less. You have no point here.
thread starter not even give specifics for use of card . how can one give advice without
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The guy is asking for a TV tuner, I would have assumed he'd want to use it to, you know, tune TV channels. Or is that such a grand leap of conclusions?

:rolleyes:

Now if he was asking about building an HTPC and what parts he should use then yeah you have a point.
 
lenape said:
no waste time

thread starter already decided on card so not matter any more
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Oooookay :confused: For future reference, why bother posting to say that someone doesn't know what they are talking about without providing information to back it up? That doesn't help anyone. Not the OP and not the ones that are supposedly wrong and would like to learn. Pretty much just a waste of forum "space".
 
farscapesg1 said:
Oooookay :confused: For future reference, why bother posting to say that someone doesn't know what they are talking about without providing information to back it up? That doesn't help anyone. Not the OP and not the ones that are supposedly wrong and would like to learn. Pretty much just a waste of forum "space".
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God, each day it's become more and more apparent that I should just stop visiting this part of the forum; with all of the new stupidly belligerent noobs around here it's just getting harder and harder to help those that actually want/need help without having to swim through all of the misinformation and BS that they tend to spew.
 
waste of space is argue

was about to post opinion on tv cards then read thread . saw how is place for chip on shoulder not share opinion so waste of time

how sad for thread starter
 
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