TV Tuner needed

[Carpathia]

I'll be building my self a computer after laborday, and I want to get a TV tuner for it. My problem is that I know nothing about TV Tuner cards. Can anyone suggest one that can take a cable TV connection and record shows? I'll be getting a ASUS P5NSLI motherboard (most likely), and i've heard that ATI tuners have problems with nVidia chipsets. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[Schadenfroh]

I would go with an external USB TV tuner, as all of the TV tuners that I have seen that are internal are PCI and as you know, that is being replaced by PCI-E. The thing you should watch out for is software versus hardware encoders (that is if you will be using it for PVR features). Software TV tuners will eat CPU cycles alive, while hardware will let you game and what not without any problems while recording.

 

[Carpathia]

Is there a cost/quality difference between PCI/external USB? I'll definatly make sure to get hardware. Can you recommend a specific TV tuner, or family of tuners?

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: Carpathia
Is there a cost/quality difference between PCI/external USB? I'll definatly make sure to get hardware. Can you recommend a specific TV tuner, or family of tuners?

I use a WinTV-PVR-USB2 on my laptop in the dorm to watch tv. I have no complaints and the scheduling software works great as well. I dont even notice it when it records my shows while I am playing NeverWinter Nights. The remote is very well built as well. My only complaint thus far is that they dont bundle it with SageTV or BeyondTV software (manual recording software is included) and the stand to make it stand up verticle on a desk is very cheap and cheesy. But, other than that, love it!

If you have Media Center edition of windows, you could probably get the same hardware (i believe) with the media center version of the Hauppauge PVR USB. It should be close to the same thing, but works with windows media center edition software and has a lower price.

 

[Carpathia]

I know this sounds stupid, but myself being ignorant on the matter, to get a TV tuner to work with MCE, what exactly do I need? I'm leaning towards a PVR-500 or a PVR-250.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815116602

Basically, if I plug this into the system I'm going to build, will I be able to connect it directly with the cable hookup my college provides and record TV shows, with as good quality as I'd expect on a TV?

Any card i'd get would be hooked up to a 19" widescreen LCD monitor.

 

[Dainas]

Any non-HDTV tvtuner with a Conexant or ATI decoder chip(such as non topofthelines from AVerMedia, ATI or Hauppauge) are garbage in picture quality, I'd look for something with a phillips decoder on it (usualy a dirt cheap noname brand oddly enough, like Lifeview) unless your willing to spend more than ~$120.

 

[Griswold]

I suggest you have a look at some of the Tuner reviews here at AT - they definitely beat generalized opinions such as the one above.

 

[rbV5]

Originally posted by: Carpathia
I know this sounds stupid, but myself being ignorant on the matter, to get a TV tuner to work with MCE, what exactly do I need? I'm leaning towards a PVR-500 or a PVR-250.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815116602

Basically, if I plug this into the system I'm going to build, will I be able to connect it directly with the cable hookup my college provides and record TV shows, with as good quality as I'd expect on a TV?

Any card i'd get would be hooked up to a 19" widescreen LCD monitor.

For MCE pick from a variety of MCE compatable tuners. The hauppage models you suggested are decent and supported, but the PVR 150 MCE might be better/cheaper. The ATI Theater 550 cards (also available in PCIe) are decent and available from a number of vendors., and the new Theater 650 cards are starting to appear.

USB models like the one suggested are OK as well, but probably better if you don't have PCI/PCIe slots avalable like in a notebook solution.

thegreenbutton.com is a great site for everything MCE including hardware...snoop around and see what other MCE users are using. I'm using eHome wonder and Theater 550 cards myself and both work nicely in MCE using analog cable signal (they don't work with digital cable)

 

[Dainas]

Originally posted by: Griswold
I suggest you have a look at some of the Tuner reviews here at AT - they definitely beat generalized opinions such as the one above.

Hey, you show me a card with a Conexant or ATI theater chip on it for under $100 with over "average" picture quality and I'll stop generalizing. Every review that has bothered to notice the differences in quality within the same pricepoint (even within brands) said it could only be chalked up to different decoders used..

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/multimedia/display/tv-tuners_4.html

I've been through about 4 tuners, each of the respected brand.... and the only one without that crappy VHS blur(regardless of drivers) was the dirt cheap one with the phillips decoder. I'm talking about TVtuners, not video cards so don't throw your douchebag bias assumptions on me.

I didnt even realise how lacking my TV wonder pro was until it was replaced.

 

[rbV5]

Hey, you show me a card with a Conexant or ATI theater chip on it for under $100 with over "average" picture quality and I'll stop generalizing

TV tuner cards that are actually supported in MCE as the OP requests using the ATI Theater 550 chips are readily available for sub $100 and have excellent PQ. I also use a sub $50 ATI eHome wonder card using the same hardware mpeg encoder as the hauppage PVR series card and Rage Theater 200 chip, also supported in MCE with very good PQ.

The TV Wonder pro is universally regarded as crap hower, as all the TV Wonder cards for the exception of the TV Wonder Elite, which is very good, just a bit expensive compared to other similar vendor cards..