Leadtek DV2000, TV2000 EXPERT, MSI TV@ANYWHERE, AIW

[Cashjeney]

Re-installing win 98SE (first time in 3 years), thinking of pulling my AIW PRO 128 and using seperate video and tv tuner cards.

I have 2 systems to update:

1. p3 800 mhz, GA-6VX7-4X, 512 mb ram, apollo pro via chipset

2. amd 1.2 ghz tbird, GA-7ZX, 512 mb ram, kt133 via chipset


Looking at leadtek DV2000, TV2000 EXPERT and MSI TV@NYWHERE.

I like to watch some tv, record, and start to transfer my home videos to digital.
I do like to occasionally play games.

My very last option would be to go with a used RADEON AIW 7500, 8500 OR 9000. But I am not sure how much headaches I would get with their drivers.

Any help appreciated.

 

[Cashjeney]

Evening bump!

 

[steell]

I have the TV2000 Expert, and it works well in Linux, FreeBSD, and Win XP, never tried it with 98 so I can't help you there.
And I have no experience with the MSI card.

 

[Cashjeney]

morning bump.

 

[Blain]

Is there any better integrated PVR package than the one on the 9800 Pro AIW?
By "integrated", I mean TV/PVR/Software combo.

I'd be willing to go with a stand alone PCI card or USB option IF the PVR package was better than that of the 9800 Pro AIW.

Image quality... Video/Audio sync... Ease of PVR program use are the important items I'm looking for.

 

[Cashjeney]

lunch bump

 

[MiniQber]

I'm looking for similar answers, and thought I found them here a few days ago, but now can't find the thread despite several attempts. At any rate, I have a pc@nywhere card, and am generally pleased with the ease-of-use and installation, but am not sure the picture quality is up to par. I'm no gamer--only interested in creating my own PVR/TIVO system, so I want the quality to be as high as possible given a reasonable outlay of $.
One of the posts in the thread I can't find suggested PCI is inferior to AGP, so I'm looking for a good quality card for this TV capture function that doesn't have me wasting $ on gaming capabilities. Also, the software on my pc@nywhere doesn't allow much scheduling flexibility (every day or once a week, or one time, but not by date, etc.). Also doesn't allow scheduling of radio capture, which I'd like to do.
Any help here?

 

[HomerSapien]

I was in the same boat you are in, im not a gamer either(occasional warcraft 3 game) and i bought the wintv-pvr-250 by hauppage. My processor is a an athlon 1.33ghz and my vidcard is a geforce 2. The thing i really like about this card is the mpeg2 encoding is done by the card, not the processor. The only time it is really processor dependant is when it starts to record, other than that it is not bad.

The software by hauppage is crappy but i have been playing around with sage tv, http://www.sage.tv/ , and i really like that software. I have been really happy with this card. http://www.videohelp.com/ Is a website that has hundreds of reviews and forums dedicated to video topics



It worked fine out of the box for me. Some people reported alot of problems with an amd chip, but the new drivers from hauppage have fixed those problems. I read that through the videoforums reviews.

 

[MiniQber]

Thanks, H.S. And you recommend the resolution of the Hauppage?

I just found an article from a week ago about a new NVIDIA entry: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/11/nvidia_tv_cards/

the Personal Cinema FX 5700. Sounds like pretty much a software bundling of their prior board by that name, but I think the price point should be competitive. I just can't get a quote on it because it's so new. Even the online sites the company links to don't have the Personal Cinema line up yet.

Anyway, lemme know what you think about the picture quality of your Hauppage (Is that what "mpeg2 encoding" referred to--I'm pretty low-tech, for a guy who built his own Mini system. I've got a P4 2.6 GhZ with no video card. I wanted to stay AMD--the previous system I built--but this case is Intel-only.)

http://www.impression-brand.com/3002704.asp

 

[HomerSapien]

You will need a seperate video card for normal functions. The hauppage is an add on card that only works as a tv tuner and pvr.

The picture quality is really good on my dell 1025ht (ithink, ive had it for about 6 years) trinitron 17inch. I usually watch in windowed mode. Full screen is good, but i would not recomend it if you are sitting right in front of it at desk. For the stuff you record, you can set the recording to different modes. It depends if you want super high quality, which is about 3.2Gb per hour down to about 800 Mb per hour for vcds (video cds), it just depends on what you like and how much hard drive space you have. Mpeg 2 encoding on the card means that the card takes a lot of the load off the processor by doing most of the work. Thus freeing up the processor for other tasks while it is recording or watching something. You pay extra for it, but i think it is worth it. Your processer is fast enough you that you should be fine with any of the recorders you have mentioned.

Im still learning about these things as well. I bought mine about 3 weeks ago. If you go to the videohelp webiste, the users rate and comment on almost every tuner card there is. Click on the capture cards under the LISTS sections on the left hand side of the page to find the different models. Plus they help you learn how to chop commercials out if you want to burn anything to dvd.