Asus TV Tuner at Newegg

[BG4533]

I am considering purchasing this Asus TV Tuner from newegg. The card says it has a Connexant chip, but I have heard from some it is Philips now, is this true? Is this card as good as the older model, the tv880 or whatever, that was out? Is it compatible with dscaler, virtual dub, and other major programs?
I plan on running it with:
Asus a7n8x deluxe
XP1700 hopefully at 2ghz+
512MB Corsair PC3500
MSI GF4 MX440 VTP
WD Raptop
WD 40gb 5400rpm hd.
win xp

Anyone know of any compatibility issues or anything I should be aware of? Sorry if this post is like some of the others around already.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[Banana]

Good question! Anyone answer this? The picture at NewEgg shows the word "Philips" very clearly, so I assume it's no longer Conexant. Is Philips not as good?

edit: Oops--my ignorance. Looks like the TUNER may be made by Philips, but the video decoder may be by Conexant. Still need confirmation . . .

 

[Fallen Kell]

Well, that chip is well over 1 1/2 years old in design. To be honest, I would look for something newer...

 

[Banana]

OK--and you suggest . . . ?

 

[Fallen Kell]

Well... that is the problem isn't it. There are newer chip designs out there, but just not in consumer devices yet. ATI is expected to release their new chips on a consumer device within the next month or so (Early June from what I have been able to gather). Basically they are replacing the current line of their TV cards with this new chip (which is why there was all the speculation that ATI was stopping production of their existing TV Wonder products, and the rumors about them completely dropping the TV Wonder line. But ATI has announced in reply to those rumors that they were making BIG changes to the line of products, but are in no means dopping the line, but in fact have lots of plans for this line of products). But that doesn't solve your problem of getting a card now, but if you can wait a month or three, a whole new generation of PC TV cards appears to be in the works from almost all the major chip-makers in response to the market demand for PRV devices in a PC.

 

[Banana]

Ah-ha! That explains why ATi has a rebate for the TV Tuner. Probably to help move the remaining stock. Yes, I'm not in a hurry.

 

[propellerhead]

If you plan to simply watch TV, any card will be ok.

If you plan to capture video from a VHS or camcorder, then you want one that has better capture features. Some cards will capture to MPEG-2 directly.

Check dvdrhelp.com for more details on capture cards.