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Need a TV card - any recommendations?

S

sykopath79

Senior member
I am in the market for a TV tuner/VIVO add-in card for my PC. Not looking for an AGP card (e.g. ATI's All-In-Wonder) since I already have a Radeon 9700 PRO and don't need/can't afford to upgrade it right now. I'm looking for just a PCI TV tuner and possibly some other VIVO features. If there are any that can handle an HDTV signal then that would be a definite plus. I've looked at MSI's TV Wonder but it doesn't seem to do HDTV and I've heard it pretty much only operates with mono sound. I know Hauppauge made decent cards back in the day but I don't even know if they're still around.

Recommendations anyone?
 
Have a look at the Leadtek TV 2000XP (or something like that, cant quite remember) It's pretty popular around most forums but I wouldn't know about HDTV support. You could check it out at leadtek's site.
 
If there are any that can handle an HDTV signal then that would be a definite plus
Click to expand...
The leadtek cards don't do HDTV decoding, the digital Hauppage cards are crap and not worth pursuing. I have the last gen MyHD which handles both NTSC analog (poorly) and ATSC digital (OTA DTV and HDTV broadcast) very good. AVSforums is a good place for info. Check out the HTPC and HDTV forums for an idea of what is out there. Remember its an emerging technology.
 
Well, you have to ask yourself some questions about it...

Do you need HDTV support?

Do you have a spending limit?

The price difference between a card that has HDTV support and one that doesn't have HDTV support tends to be at least $100-200 (if not more ... 😉 ).

Check out some of the aforementioned cards for ones that don't support HDTV. Here are a few that do...

http://www.digitalconnection.com/products/video/fusion.asp

http://www.digitalconnection.com/products/video/fusion2.asp

http://www.digitalconnection.com/Products/Video/mdp120.asp

... And there are lots more.

As a previous poster suggested, I would recommend the AVS HTPC Forum
 
I wonder why nobody mentioned ATI TV Wonder VE tuner card?

I am using this card and it was nice card...but it does not support digital (I might be wrong cuz I don't have cable right now). I pick this card because it is only 35.00 and have basic features that I need such as closed capitoned..but I don't need advanced features.
 
All I can say is star far, FAR away from pinnacle. Their pro stuff is a godsend, but their "PCTV" cards are some of the worst pieces of crap ever made.

-Chu
 
I have read a review on Hauupauge's PVR-250 and it looks like it is pretty solid. What I will be doing mainly is capturing TV shows for time shifting and burning tv shows and sporting events to DVD-R. Is this a good choice for me?
 
I am also looking for a a similar card. Can any of the abovementioned cards do timeshifting and/or have PVR like functionality with DirectTv?
 
Thanks for the input everyone; I ended up buying the Leadtek TV 2000XP, just placed the order at Newegg.com earlier today. It seemed like the best feature set of the cards I looked at, as far as PVR, VIVO, and video capture capability.
 
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