Need a USB TV Tuner

[Ruptga]

I tripped over my cable just the other day, and it seems I've killed it, I don't get any signal or anything. It was a real cheap thing from Tigerdirect, maybe $30, but it worked. I might buy another just like it, but I thought I'd ask for recommendations first.

 

[Mem]

Digital or analog?..Anyway this is a good one for DTV,Link.

Analog series .

 

[zig3695]

why dont they make any dual tuner cards? why do we have to resort to buying two cards just to record one show and watch another at the same time? i find using a pc as a tivo box much more frustrating when you still have to work around using only one tuner. i currently have a pvr500mce but they simply have too many problems. mine works ok usually but i regularly need to 'remind' media center there are two tuners on the pc.

 

[Smartazz]

Originally posted by: zig3695
why dont they make any dual tuner cards? why do we have to resort to buying two cards just to record one show and watch another at the same time? i find using a pc as a tivo box much more frustrating when you still have to work around using only one tuner. i currently have a pvr500mce but they simply have too many problems. mine works ok usually but i regularly need to 'remind' media center there are two tuners on the pc.

I think there are dual tv tuners actually.

 

[Ruptga]

Heh, all I need is analog, I'm getting TV from my university in the school year, and from my apartment in the summer, and I'm pretty sure neither of them sprung for DTV since I'm sure it's more expensive. I just want something cheap and reliable, I really don't need anything fancy at all.

 

[Trevante]

Originally posted by: zig3695
why dont they make any dual tuner cards? why do we have to resort to buying two cards just to record one show and watch another at the same time? i find using a pc as a tivo box much more frustrating when you still have to work around using only one tuner. i currently have a pvr500mce but they simply have too many problems. mine works ok usually but i regularly need to 'remind' media center there are two tuners on the pc.

Lol where you been man? Dual TV Tuners have been out for a while.

Nvidia DualTV
Hauppauge PVR-500MCE
VistaView Saber 2020 (PCI-E)
Hauppauge HVR1600 (Hybrid ATSC/NTSC)

I'm sure Avermedia has some too.

To the OP, if you just need something cheap, take a look at the Hauppauge WinTV tuners.

 

[zig3695]

i said i have the hauppauge 500mce. it cant really count as it doesnt work correctly. its actually ok for me because i can work around the bugs, but for someone that doesnt want to mess with anything it would be a bad choice.

the hauppauge 1600 isnt a dual-tuner. its a hybrid digital + analog, meaning both cannot be used both simultaneously. you have to use one or the other, and even though there are tricks to allow media center to use both, the hack cripples the program guide's ability to discern what tuner is in use and whats not- not to mention the fact that either way, its only one analog and one digital (no recording two cable shows at once).

what we really need is a quad-tuner pci card. two DTV tuners and two ANALOG tuners. that way we could use regular cable with a rooftop antenna, and never really worry about scheduling conflicts or times in situations where recording a show inhibits the ability to watch any other desired channel.

 

[Trevante]

Just because you can't get it to work doesn't mean it's not an option. How do we know it's not just something with your configuration?

I don't think quad TV tuners are possible though, they'd be too big, and probably end up taking 2 PCI slots, in which case you might as well have two dual tuners of each kind.

 

[esquared]

There a real cheap one I posted in Hot Deals here
It's free after 30.00 MIR. It's a Kworld USB analog tuner , model PVR-TV 305U.

 

[zig3695]

Originally posted by: Trevante
Just because you can't get it to work doesn't mean it's not an option. How do we know it's not just something with your configuration?

I don't think quad TV tuners are possible though, they'd be too big, and probably end up taking 2 PCI slots, in which case you might as well have two dual tuners of each kind.

:disgust: there are numerous well-known problems with the 500mce. google it

 

[zig3695]

Originally posted by: esquared
There a real cheap one I posted in Hot Deals here
It's free after 30.00 MIR. It's a Kworld USB analog tuner , model PVR-TV 305U.

i want to try a kworld sometime. i have always been scared of them because i generally dislike crappy hardware, but they seem to sell a lot of tuners with the kworld name on them.

 

[Trevante]

Originally posted by: zig3695

Originally posted by: esquared
There a real cheap one I posted in Hot Deals here
It's free after 30.00 MIR. It's a Kworld USB analog tuner , model PVR-TV 305U.

i want to try a kworld sometime. i have always been scared of them because i generally dislike crappy hardware, but they seem to sell a lot of tuners with the kworld name on them.

Don't do it. My friend bought a hybrid Kworld TV tuner and the picture quality was horrible. My old Avermedia PCI-350 (bought it for $10 used a long time ago) had much better picture quality on the same cable connection, and the quality on my 350 isn't that great (not horrible though). When it comes to TV tuners, it's better to spend more money on something good than less money on something not known to be as good.

 

[Ruptga]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/app...pNo=1961041&CatId=1428

That's what I had before I killed it, heard anything about Sabrent?

 

[acityDweller]

Consider these as well:

Pinnacle ontv Hybrid
Onair GT... (this is the one i am considering at the moment for my new lenovo x61s.)