Can't find decent HDTV tuner card

[reichter]

(I think this is the right forum for this)

My old tv tuner card crapped out and I've been trying to find a replacement. Would like to have HD capabilities (through cable, not antenna) and be reasonably priced with decent DVR software. So far the only one I found was at Newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815100140
The price is right but I'm not particularly liking the reviews. Lots of people having software issues. Can anyone reccomend anything for me? I'd be willing to pay a little more if the quality is there.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Options for cable HDTV on the PC are somewhat limited, due to no tuner currently supporting encrypted QAM. The card you linked only supports 8VSB, so you'd only be able to get OTA HDTV channels. A few tuners (including the one I own) support unencrypted QAM, which lets you pick up whatever digital/HD channels that the cable company doesn't encrypt. This is usually limited to the local HD channels, though rarely you might get lucky and find something else unencrypted.

In any case, if you're looking to get full cable HDTV support, it just isn't there yet. Supposedly it's coming with Windows Vista and CableCard tuners, but that's still many many months off, and we're still not even sure if the hardware will be available for purchase by end users (instead of just complete systems including such tuners).

I'd probably recommend the FusionHDTV 5 card, the Lite version of which is $99 or so. The software isn't perfect, but it does support timeshifting (though not over cable). It also supports unencrypted QAM.

 

[reichter]

Thanks for the info. Must admit I know very little about tv tuner cards. I like the one you reccomended. Think I might pick this one up.

 

[reichter]

BTW, does the Lite version have s-video input? It looks like it does but I saw some versions that didn.t

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: reichter
BTW, does the Lite version have s-video input? It looks like it does but I saw some versions that didn.t

I think the input is still on the board (and I believe I've read about people getting it to work), but it's covered by the slot bracket so you can't access it. You'd have to drill a hole in it or something to uncover the opening...

 

[jgallup04]

The only cards out that really supports QAM today are the DVICO FusionHDTV line of cards(other cards support QAM unofficially but there is no software to utilize it). The only problem is that they only support it in their software which is included with their cards. If you plan on using MCE, Sage, Beyond or anything like that, the only HD content that you can receive will be Over the air and must be on a separate card than your analog TV.

If you are looking for a card to do both analog and digital tv with the software that is included with the card, then the DVICO cards could work for you. The software is not the best (compared to MCE, Sage, etc) but will do. Here is a link to the manufacturer's site and a place to get them. Their cards do work with the other software if you ever upgrade.

DVICO

PCAlchemy

 

[Todd33]

The FusionHDTV software blows chunks. Don't bother. HDTV in a HTPC is wayyy behind and needs serious help.