Best TV Tuner ??

[GT578]

I need a TV tuner and I was wondering which tuner (WinTV by Hauppauge or ATI All In Wonder 7500) has the better picture quality. I am also running winXP so that might also be a factor since I couldn't find any info about XP drivers at the Hauppauge site. I'll be using a DirectTV satellite so I guess I'll be using the S-video input.

 

[LarryJoe]

Check out the AverMedia TV Studio. I have had an ATI TV Wonder and a Hauppage 401 and like this the best under WinXP.

 

[rbV5]

My AIW 7500 is great under XP, but remember its an AIW card, not just a tuner. I don't think any of the TV tuner cards compare to the AIW 7500 in IQ or features as far as the tuner and TV-out is concerned, but it will run you around $150.

 

[GT578]

LarryJoe,

How is the tv tuner quality compared to the ATI(i.e. picture quality, full size screen quality)?

 

[LarryJoe]

Under XP, the TV Wonder sucks in terms of everything - quality and capturing. I gave up waiting for ATI to release software and drivers that equaled the Win98 performance. Even the beta MMC 7.5 is terrible. The Aver TV Studio rocks. I use PowerVCR to control it and it works perfectly. The time-shifting PVR/TVIO functions are very cool.

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

Larry, no problems at all? Seems like alot of these TV cards are fussy. I'm mainly interested in the recording TV capability.

I was looking at the 8500DV, but for 300 bucks it seems a little high. The Hauppage card that does PVR looks to be ~200 bucks or more, that one I would put out of the question. The AverMedia Studio seems to run ~77 and the one that's has no remote, no FM, but is the same, is ~50 on pricewatch. Both compete directly with the the TV-Wonder in price, and seemingly features as well. I'd be set with a new vid card, was thinking about the regular 8500 for the video out. I want to be able to watch what I recorded on TV along with Divx movies.

I haven't heard or read anything about these. I checked Tom's for a review, they didn't have one. Found one in the archives here for a different card. AverMedia TVPhone98 w/VCR Review

 

[LarryJoe]

I did a bit of research, but since I had tried the ATI TV Wonder and Haupauge cards, I figured I had nothing to lose. I am not a big fan of "All In One" cards because I tend to change my video card every 6-8 months and want my TV/Capturing card separate. Plus, ATI is really the only all-in-one offering (nVidia's theatre is anchored down by a slow GPU), and I just can't deal with their slow and painful driver developement, especially when a new OS hits the street, which seems to be annual for MS.

I did not want to spend more than $100 on this because I just wanted the ability to watch TV, record at decent resolution and sound (640x480/44bit), and have the ability to capture my home 8MM movies to mpeg/VCD. I plan on getting a Digital Video Camera and firewire card in the next month, so there really is not a need for me to spend $500 on a super-duper analog capturing card that offers no TV.

Spend the extra $$ and get the Studio version with FM and remote. I think it is well worth the money. As far as software, the AverTV software is decent if a little cluttered, but it works perfectly. I uninstalled it and use PoverVCR exclusively. The only thing PowerVCR can't do is run the FM on the card. I haven't needed the FM yet, but when I do, I will just install the Aver software. They run fine together.

For $77, you can't beat it. The Hauppauge versions with the same features are well over $100.

LJ

 

[tallest1]

AverTV is horrible. I got the pro version from Office Max last month and installed it and the company made only one set of drivers for it EVER. The site's bulletin board is full of complaints.

WinTV GO (cheap) or WinTV Radio (stereo, radio, internal audio connectors) is the way to go. No bugs, great quality, and new drivers come out all the time.

 

[LarryJoe]

<< AverTV is horrible >>



Specifics??

Last time I checked there where all sorts of drivers for every version of Windows. I also don't think your model is the higher end Studio version.

 

[FAS284]

AIW radeon 7500 is the way to go.. this tv tuner does some major stuff.. it is much smoother than my wintv 404 PCI and allows for blending in through your application seamlessly .. no lag whatsoever.. and tivo functions worked beautifully. too bad i had to sell it..

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

As far as AIW cards go, if I go that route, for me the 8500dv or the new 128mb aiw are the way to go. I don't upgrade often, and game infrequently(which could be the function of not having a good card), but I want it to look good when I do.

 

[GT578]

I just bought the WinTV-FM at office max today to see how it is. I used to have a Hauppauge winTV like 3 years ago and I hated it. Well, it seems like the the TV quality hasn't improved much.........the remote is offered via mail-in coupon which pissed me off. I was looking for the AverTV Studio around town and couldn't find one....only other ones I found was the cheaper WinTV models and the ATI TV Wonder VE.......

I'm like 50/50 on whether I should return that and go get an All In WOnder 7500.......that means I'd be paying like $90 more. I currently have a Radeon LE@191/191 so I'm wondering how much of a speed increase I'll get as well.

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

Its my day off tomorrow, so I think I'm gonna try Fry's or Comp USA and see if they have the AverTV Studio and give it a shot. It still seems like a crapshoot. I'll report back if I find one.

 

[rbV5]

<< I currently have a Radeon LE@191/191 so I'm wondering how much of a speed increase I'll get as well. >>



I upgraded from my SE VIVO @230/230 and the AIW 7500 is much faster.

 

[LoneWolf1]

<< Its my day off tomorrow, so I think I'm gonna try Fry's or Comp USA and see if they have the AverTV Studio and give it a shot. It still seems like a crapshoot. I'll report back if I find one. >>

I just got back from fry's(Fremont) with my AVerTV Studio in hand. There was about a dozen of them in stock, but for some reason, all of the boxes have that open box warranty sticker on them. I 'll post an update later after I get it (AVerTV Studio) set up.

 

[rbV5]

<< but for some reason, all of the boxes have that open box warranty sticker on them >>



The reason is they are all returned units.

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

<<

<< Its my day off tomorrow, so I think I'm gonna try Fry's or Comp USA and see if they have the AverTV Studio and give it a shot. It still seems like a crapshoot. I'll report back if I find one. >>

I just got back from fry's(Fremont) with my AVerTV Studio in hand. There was about a dozen of them in stock, but for some reason, all of the boxes have that open box warranty sticker on them. I 'll post an update later after I get it (AVerTV Studio) set up. >>



How much was it at Fry's? Let us know what OS you're using if you get it up successfully. Thanks.

 

[Illogic]

The quality on the Matrox G450eTV is excellent. But who the hell wants to use a Matrox card if you're a gamer?

 

[LoneWolf1]

<< How much was it at Fry's? >>

$79.99


<< Let us know what OS you're using if you get it up successfully. Thanks. >>

I'm trying to get it set up under W98se. The drivers install no problem with no conflicts anywhere. Although, when I try to install the AVerMedia Utility software, I get an information box popping up that says: Please make sure your Driver is installed properly. That's as far as I've been able to get so far. I"ve tried using both the CD-ROM and downloaded software from Avermedia's sight.

Specs:
Asus P3V4X
Voodoo 5 5500
Philips Acoustic Edge

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

I just got back from Fry's. It was the same price for me. I haven't installed it yet, I have a friend d/l'ing something, gonna try and wait till he's done, but the new hardware shakes might get to me. Same price for me. I'm running:

1.2 duron with XP.
ecs k7s5a
voodoo3 3000
soundblaster live value

I'll report back after I get installed.

 

[GT578]

I just got my DirectTV hooked up using the WInTV tuner via S-video. Full screen is fine if nothing is moving fast....but when things move fast......I can clearly see some jagged lines......I'm using Dscalar and it got a little better......maybe I should have found an ATI TV Wonder .....

 

[LoneWolf1]

I finally got everything working right. The CD has both W98 and W98se drivers on it. I had to use the W98 drivers to get everything working. Everything seems to be stable and operating correctly.

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

So I installed the card, drivers and software successfully, I rebooted it to be on the safe side before I started to use it, and it never came back up. I tried 3 different video cards, 5 different sticks of RAM. Nothing worked. The beep codes pointed at either mobo or memory. I tried clearing the CMOS too. So I'm gonna RMA it tomorrow. Needless to say, the card is going back until I get a working mobo.

 

[LarryJoe]

Weird. Is this a mobo problem?

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

<< Weird. Is this a mobo problem? >>



seems like it. I need to talk to ECS about getting an RMA. I don't think it had anything to do with the card, unless there was some static discharge when I plugged in the coax after I shut it down. But I fried my PCI-2 on my old board with static, but the card was fine, so was the board.