Watch TV on old system Noob questions

[TheBloodguard]

I'm going to give my niece an old computer to play games and her mother wants to know if I can set it to watch TV also. I have built several systems but I'm ignorant on the Tuner card for watching TV hardware and setup.

1) System is a Asus 4P4E with 2.4, 512 DDR, 80 gig, and Ti 4200. System capable enough? It is on Win XP Home

2) It has 4XAGP and PCI slots. Is one better than the other? I assume I would need to replace the video card with a TV tuner card. Recommendation for card? I believe they have Cox Digital and the room would just have a cable coming out of the wall.

3) I don't know what monitor they plan to hook this up to...any specific type of connectors I should look for?

Probably not enough information but any help appreciated! Thanks.

 

[dac7nco]

This: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815260032 will be fine - no need to replace the video card.

That is a REALLY old, underpowered system to do much with, IMO.

Daimon

 

[gorobei]

-system is marginal especially if you hope to do anything over 480i res (new cpu)

- agp and pci are kinda old, all the newer tuner cards are pci-e given the 1080 bandwidth. (so new motherboard) you'll need a card with QAM tuning if you want to be able to switch channels without the cable box. the tuner card is separate from the video card, you need both in most cases.

-hdmi is easier since the audio comes thru the hdmi cable. but you would need a newer video card for that. (new gpu)

to be able to have a full featured htpc would require a complete system upgrade, probably not worth it. best bet would be to look for a usb tuner and keep expectation low.

 

[TheBloodguard]

Thanks dac7nco and gorobei.
My neice is 8 years old so the expectations would be low. The system does seem to be bare minimum based on your comments though.
I'll probably get the card you suggested dac7co just for kicks to see if it would work.

 

[0roo0roo]

not worth it, and htpc is not so simple, so unless ur around when something goes wrong....its a nice dvr for folks who can maintain it themselves.

 

[Slugbait]

all the newer tuner cards are pci-e given the 1080 bandwidth. (so new motherboard) you'll need a card with QAM tuning if you want to be able to switch channels without the cable box.

Just over 33% of the tuner cards currently available at newegg are PCI. Only two of them are analog, while the rest are either hybrids or combos that support both NTSC and ATSC. I'm pretty sure you do not need QAM to switch channels w/o the cable box.

1) System is a Asus 4P4E with 2.4, 512 DDR, 80 gig, and Ti 4200. System capable enough?

My first tuner was a Matrox Marvel G200 with a PII/350. My second was a Ti200 Personal Cinema with a Pentium 4 1.6a. I then upgraded the Ti200 PS to a non-PS Ti4600, and got a dedicated Compro VideoMate Gold+...which has traveled with several upgrades, and just two weeks ago went into a lesser machine (secondary HTPC).

So yeah, your machine is capable.

2) ...Recommendation for card?

I wouldn't do a KWorld. Check craigslist for a Hauppauge PVR-150MCE, or if you're lucky you might get a 500MCE, for pretty cheap.

3) I don't know what monitor they plan to hook this up to...any specific type of connectors I should look for?

Tuners don't really have connectors, other than the coax-in. You might need a patch cable for AUDIO OUT to the AUX IN of the soundcard. I'm guessing for an 8-year-old, the monitor they likely plan to hook up is VGA...just plug it into the Ti4200.

 

[fuzzymath10]

I have a Hauppauge PVR-250 in the P4 system below. It actually works really well if you don't mind standard definition. I think decoding was software and encoding was done by the tuner card, but playing SD MPEG-2 is a piece of cake for a P4. I don't think it made a huge difference when I upgraded the old GeForce2 card to a GeForce6 either so your video card is fine. You can even burn DVDs with recordings.

 

[TheBloodguard]

Thanks guys. Good info SLugbait and Fuzzymath10!
I did a search on the local craigslist for tuner cards and didn't see much listed. I though an old AIW might work but I would rather get something newer just to make sure I get all the documentation and accessories. I'll hold off buying anything for a week to see if any a Hauppauge shows up on Craigslist or maybe Ebay.

 

[0roo0roo]

-system is marginal especially if you hope to do anything over 480i res (new cpu)

- agp and pci are kinda old, all the newer tuner cards are pci-e given the 1080 bandwidth. (so new motherboard) you'll need a card with QAM tuning if you want to be able to switch channels without the cable box. the tuner card is separate from the video card, you need both in most cases.

-hdmi is easier since the audio comes thru the hdmi cable. but you would need a newer video card for that. (new gpu)

to be able to have a full featured htpc would require a complete system upgrade, probably not worth it. best bet would be to look for a usb tuner and keep expectation low.

I see a whole lot of usb tuners for hdtv, so bandwidth of pci can't be the issue?

 

[TheBloodguard]

Bought a Hauppauge PVR-350 on craigslist for $30. The guy only had the card (no remote or software)
I was able to put it in my system and download the driver but the WinTV media software was only loadable if you had the disc. I tried loading it several differerent ways without the disc but it would still ask for a physical disc in the system. I couldn't find an ISO image anywhere reputable online and I didn't want to pay $10 from Hauppauge for a disc.
The person I bought it from was nice enough to suggest Media Portal as a third party software and after loading that and scanning the channels, everything looks fine!
Thanks for the help gentlemen.

I do have a question on the remote though. It seems like the card came with one and I'm a little confused on how it works, it is just like a TV where you can click the remote at the PC and have it change channels or do you need a cable box or something? Would you need the original WinTV software loaded for it to work?
I might try to find a used one on EBay if so. The Media Portal software is nice but a remote might be nice to have.