Looking for a Dual Tuner card for HTPC

[lasergecko]

Going to be building an HTPC and looking at dual tuner options. I'll be using Vista 64 VMC I'm currently considering (in order of interest):
1) Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 PCIe
2) ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo PCI Express
3) AVerTV Bravo Hybrid PCI-E

My Questions are:
1) What is the most compatible with Vista 64 VMC?
2) Can dual turner cards record an SD signal while watching a HD signal?
3) Does any one know specifically how well the cards work with comcast in Santa Clara county, CA (e.g., santa clara and san jose) areas? What if any clear QAM stations can I get?


Thanks in Advance.

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: lasergecko
2) Can dual turner cards record an SD signal while watching a HD signal?

99% of them cannot, which is why most people wind up with a pair of analog tuners and a pair of digital tuners.

3) Does any one know specifically how well the cards work with comcast in Santa Clara county, CA (e.g., santa clara and san jose) areas? What if any clear QAM stations can I get?

The only clear QAM stations you can ever rely on getting are the ATSC OTA broadcast stations. Everything else is a bonus, and can disappear at any time.

 

[zzuupp]

2) Make sure it is truly dual tuner. "hybrid" implies that it is not

 

[SunnyD]

VMC doesn't support QAM iirc.

 

[kalrith]

I'd add the Silicon Dust HDHomerun to your list. It has ATSC/QAM tuners and just needs to be connected to your network to be accessed from any computer on your network. You can also connect it directly to a second NIC on your computer if you're worried about the network traffic. It does PID filtering, which really cuts down on the traffic. PID filtering means that it only transfers the info for the channel your watching (i.e. 3-1) rather than the info for all the subchannels (i.e. 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4, and 3-5).

 

[erwos]

Ditto on the HDHomeRun suggestion. As for a dual analog tuner solution, I was quite partial to my Adaptec AVC-3610.

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: erwos
Ditto on the HDHomeRun suggestion. As for a dual analog tuner solution, I was quite partial to my Adaptec AVC-3610.

Keep in mind that analog tuners will be obsolete in two months.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: kalrith

Originally posted by: erwos
Ditto on the HDHomeRun suggestion. As for a dual analog tuner solution, I was quite partial to my Adaptec AVC-3610.

Keep in mind that analog tuners will be obsolete in two months.

For OTA broadcasts yes. Not for SD cable.

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: SunnyD

Originally posted by: kalrith

Originally posted by: erwos
Ditto on the HDHomeRun suggestion. As for a dual analog tuner solution, I was quite partial to my Adaptec AVC-3610.

Keep in mind that analog tuners will be obsolete in two months.

For OTA broadcasts yes. Not for SD cable.

Oh, my bad. I thought QAM was all that was needed for cable.