Anyone with a Hauppauge WinTV Theater or PVR?

[GetInMyFatBelly]

I think I'm going for one of these two TV tuner cards, as they seem the best and are compatible with DScaler and SnapStream. Would like to hear experiences and opinions, don't know if I want to fork out the extra money for the hardware encoding.
Thanks...

 

[rbV5]

Just beware that the WinTV PVR is one of the lowest rated Mpeg-2 encoders for IQ, and one of the lowest rated capture cards at VCD help. This review shows good CPU utilization (10%) while capturing with a p3 750MHz thanks to the Visiontech Kfir MPEG encoder chip, but substandard IQ especially in high action scenes. When compared to standalone encoders, it handily beats them for speed, but at a cost of quality.

Looks to be a good mpeg card for a lower powered rig, and perhaps for timeshifting using it as a PVR. I would look for more reviews that look at the video quality as Hauppage may have better drivers since those articles, but I would be wary if you want quality encodings. A good software encoder beats a poor harware encoder in my book any time.