Ok guys, what is a good TV tuner card?

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J

JackBurton

Lifer
Jul 18, 2000
15,993
14
81
I'd like to get a nice TV tuner card and I was looking at this one. I haven't read too many review on tuner card, so let me know if this is a decent card. I want to watch and record TV shows with it and have a good quality picture. I'd also like to use it to convert my VHS tape to DVD.

Edit: I just noticed I was in the General forum. Mods, if this need to be moved to Video, let me know.
 
ViRGE

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
31,516
167
106
Originally posted by: JackBurton
Oooooo, I think I like this one better. What do you think?
Click to expand...
The 350 is a waste; all it has is an additional video decoder on top of the 250's encoder. Any modern computer with a modern video card can decode MPEG2 video at under 10% CPU usage already, so a decoder is nothing more than an expensive gimick. Get the 250.
 
J

jkresh

Platinum Member
Jun 18, 2001
2,436
0
71
before moving to an aiw I had a Hauppauge wintv pvr (250 is the newer version), hardware was great but their software support/drivers were abysmal, drivers have improved with the 250/350 since they are used in media center pc's, but I would still be cautious especially if you are planning on going 64bit anytime soon as it could take them quite some time to have 64bit drivers ready.
 
J

JackBurton

Lifer
Jul 18, 2000
15,993
14
81
Originally posted by: ViRGE
Originally posted by: JackBurton
Oooooo, I think I like this one better. What do you think?
Click to expand...
The 350 is a waste; all it has is an additional video decoder on top of the 250's encoder. Any modern computer with a modern video card can decode MPEG2 video at under 10% CPU usage already, so a decoder is nothing more than an expensive gimick. Get the 250.
Click to expand...
AWESOME man! Thanks, that saves me about $40! I think I'll get the
WinTV-PVR250MCE just incase I move to Windows Media Center 2004. ;)

Thanks for the suggestions guys. If you have any other recommendations, let me know.
 
C

cpars

Golden Member
Feb 4, 2000
1,709
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71
Cpars, is SageTV just software for Hauppauge PVR cards?
Click to expand...

No, there are several cards supported that i will list below (from their site)
But I have been looking at the avs forums and htpc forums and this seems to be one of the most popular.I am upgrading from my 8500DV with ATI software(MMC) which has been ok for awhile.



The following products and system details are required to effectively deploy SageTV. If you do not have them or have questions regarding the requirements, either contact us or take this list to your local retail location that sells and/or services PC equipment. If you need a compatible TV Tuner card, we offer SageTV bundled with a few different Hauppauge Tuner cards and devices through our Online Store.



PC Operating System: Microsoft Windows 98SE, 2000 SP3 or higher, ME or XP (Windows Media Center PCs are also supported and meet the system requirements for SageTV)
Minimum 128Mb RAM and a Recommended 256Mb RAM
Genuine Intel Pentium III 600 MHz or AMD Athlon 600 MHz or VIA 800MHz or faster
TV Tuner Card: Installed TV Tuner/MPEG-2 Encoding Card or USB device


Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-250, WinTV-PVR-250MCE, WinTV-PVR-250BTV or WinTV-PVR-350

Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-usb2 Model 941 (with version 1.4 or later)

Hauppauge Roslyn (Blackbird) card (SageTV V2 or later)

AVerMedia M150 (Blackbird) card (SageTV V2 or later)

Yuan MPG600 (SageTV V2 or later)

Prolink Pixelview PlayTV@P7000 (SageTV V2 or later)

ATI eHome Wonder (SageTV V2 or later)

Adaptec VideOh! DVD Media Center Edition PCI (version 1.4 or later)

Creative Labs Video Blaster Digital VCR - support for the DVCR is limited due to the discontinuation of the card by the manufacturer

Provideo PV259, PV258 Series, PV256C or PV256T

AVerMedia M179 (Discontinued OEM MCE Card)

Other MPEG-2 encoding cards based on the Conexant IVAC-15, IVAC-16, CX23415, CX23416 or StreamMachine 2210 Codec should function correctly but may not have been tested.
Video Card: PCI/AGP bus graphics card with overlay. NOTE: While it is recommended that your graphics card drivers support DirectX9 for optimum performance, it is not required.
Software:
MPEG-2 Software Decoder (bundled with most of the above compatible TV tuner cards): Using Dscaler with SageTV requires the Elecard MPEG-2 Decoder AND InterVideo offers a MPEG-2 Decoder with their DVD Xpack.
DirectX v9.0 or higher available freely from Microsoft.
Java Runtime Environment 1.4 or higher available freely from Sun Microsystems.
 
F

ForceCalibur

Banned
Mar 20, 2004
608
0
0
I have the 250MCE. Rocks. I listen to radio on this when I need some music, and record my favorite shows on them. My Hardrive is slowly getting filled to the brink. 100 gigabytes in 2 weeks... :)
 
J

JackBurton

Lifer
Jul 18, 2000
15,993
14
81
Originally posted by: ForceCalibur
I have the 250MCE. Rocks. I listen to radio on this when I need some music, and record my favorite shows on them. My Hardrive is slowly getting filled to the brink. 100 gigabytes in 2 weeks... :)
Click to expand...
Nice. Ok, I'm definitely ordering them now. :)
 
ViRGE

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
31,516
167
106
Originally posted by: cpars
Link to what I am considering
Click to expand...
Bundles are good(I got a similar BeyondTV bundle), but for the love of Pete, avoid any sort of Roslyn/Blackbird bundle. These use a newer, OEM only version of the 250 that's incompatible with all current software, so the only software you can use is BeyondTV, SageTV, and WindowsMCE. It's cheaper, but since you can't use WinTV or any of the freeware utilities, it's really limiting, not to mention a few kinks still need to be worked out.
 
L

luco

Member
May 4, 2004
79
0
0
Since we're on topic...
Can anyone comment on the PVR capabilities of AIW 9700 Pro?

Thanks.
 
J

JJMcKay

Member
Jun 18, 2002
93
0
0
I have the 250MCE as well. Only thing is it doesn't seem to have a video out so I can go to my TV. Does it really lack video out functionality?
 
C

Chadder007

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
7,560
0
0
Originally posted by: JackBurton
Ok guys, what is the difference between these two software packages?

SageTV Version 2.0">http://store.freytechnologies.com/M...S&amp;Product_Code=STVV2&amp;Category_Code=SS[/S</a>

SageTV Client Version 2.0
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The regular version is the one you would need first. The client version you would purchase if you wanted to use your TV tuner across a network from another computer or even from another computer on the internet. This is where BeyondTV outshines SageTV.....for it uses no special client software for network users to use the TV Tuner. You can just use internet explorer to pop up TV remotely.
 
X

xbassman

Golden Member
Feb 25, 2001
1,243
0
0
I have a PVR-250 card (non-MCE version) in my HTPC and it works very well. (Just using the WinTV app for now)
I also have the LeadTek "Expert" card refered to above in another box. It works well also, but the Hauppauge is better.

These cards don't have s-video out, you have to use you video card for that. They capture only.

Here is a link to the htpcnews forum where they are discussing the different flavors of the PVR-250.
Forum link
 
J

JackBurton

Lifer
Jul 18, 2000
15,993
14
81
Originally posted by: Chadder007
Originally posted by: JackBurton
Ok guys, what is the difference between these two software packages?

[S=http://store.freytechnologies.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&amp;Store_Code=SOS&amp;Product_Code=STVV2&amp;Category_Code=SS[/S]https://SageTV Version 2.0[/S]

SageTV Client Version 2.0
Click to expand...

The regular version is the one you would need first. The client version you would purchase if you wanted to use your TV tuner across a network from another computer or even from another computer on the internet. This is where BeyondTV outshines SageTV.....for it uses no special client software for network users to use the TV Tuner. You can just use internet explorer to pop up TV remotely.
Click to expand...
Ok, so you are saying I'll need SageTV version 2.0 AND SageTV client version to stream a TV program to a client on the network, whereas I'll only need BeyondTV to do all that?
 
C

cpars

Golden Member
Feb 4, 2000
1,709
0
71
Originally posted by: ViRGE
Originally posted by: cpars
Link to what I am considering
Click to expand...
Bundles are good(I got a similar BeyondTV bundle), but for the love of Pete, avoid any sort of Roslyn/Blackbird bundle. These use a newer, OEM only version of the 250 that's incompatible with all current software, so the only software you can use is BeyondTV, SageTV, and WindowsMCE. It's cheaper, but since you can't use WinTV or any of the freeware utilities, it's really limiting, not to mention a few kinks still need to be worked out.
Click to expand...

I have done quite a bit of research since you posted this. What I came up with was a 50/50 split on recommendations of this card. It was mentioned several times that the pictuire quality for the roslyn should be or is better because of 10 bit DAC vs the 9 bit. mostly the people that did not recommend it was due to driver issues which have been corrected.
As to freeware and linux, I am buying a "bundle" for the express purpose that I do not have to tweak freeware apps since I really do not have that much time on my hands. All my machines are running win xp or 2000 so linux is not a concern.
 
J

Josephus

Senior member
Feb 11, 2002
205
0
0
I've been quite satisfied with this Leadtek tuner for some time now. I wouldn't spen another $100 on a "better" tuner card... no way
 
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