What is the best TV Tuner card on the market?

[Red Storm]

I'm pretty confident in myself when it comes to buying hardware.... except for tuner cards. I'm pretty much clueless in regards to them. Anyways, I'm slowly on my way with a complete system overhaul, and I've been wanting to get a tuner card for quite some time now. So can anyone here give me a list of the best cards out right now?

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

Its not quite that simple ... There are so many different cards on the market, and some may have more features than you need.

For example, do you want a single tuner card or a double tuner card? Do you want a digital card ... a card that supports hdtv? Does it have to be MCE compatible? Do you need a remote ... FM radio ... PCI, USB, PCI-E X1? I'm only scratching the surface ...

I like Hauppauge, although I don't think they offer a digital card. Simply put, they offer a good value for your money. They aren't the "best," but they fit the bill for most people very nicely. Win TV-PVR-150 series would be your budget card and the Win TV-PVR-500 would be higher end. There's also a couple "flavors" in the middle.

I think I would start by deciding what features you want and then go from there. You may decide a card by a different company better suites your needs. The "best" card for you will have the features you need at a price that fits into your budget.

 

[sjwaste]

DSF's right, it's based on what features you want.

I personally have a Hauppauge PVR-150 (the non-MCE edition, has a remote but no FM tuner) for standard TV and a Dvico FusionHDTV 5 Lite for ATSC broadcast (it can also tune unencrypted QAM, but I never use that feature). Both work well in GBPVR for me. The PVR-500 as DSF mentioned is basically two PVR-150's on the same PCI card (I believe Windows detects it as such) and is nice for being able to record one show while watching another.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

according to AT a card carrying the ati theater 650 chip will hav the best PQ (picture quality). but it won't have too much hardware encoding power. just my 0.002

 

[Iron Woode]

I use a Sapphire Theatrix with the 550pro chipset and it works great.

 

[Wellsoul2]

I have the ATI HDTV Wonder which is great if you want
Over the Air HDTV plus regular TV as well.

Works nice and comes with remote and indoor antenna for cheap money.

Has it's own media center and AVIVO works with it.

 

[videopho]

Ditto here. I was an early adoptor. That said I bought this old puppy almost two years ago and it was one hell of a ah heck to set it up. Since then many ATI drivers have rolled by so I can imagine ppl now should have some easier time to set up this puppy than I did. Pics quality is okay.

 

[Powermoloch]

Originally posted by: Iron Woode
I use a Sapphire Theatrix with the 550pro chipset and it works great.

same here

 

[Shooks]

I got the Haupaugge WinTV-PVR-500 MCE and it is awesome.

 

[IeraseU]

IMO, the best 'currently' available NTSC (standard definition) tuner card is the Nvidia Dual TV. Next on the list are the various ATI 550 theater chip based boards, and closing out the top is the Hauppauge PVR 150 (which also is the most widely supported card, software wise). The unreleased card to watch out for is definitely the ATI 650 theater chip based card.

 

[openwheelformula1]

Best analogue tuner card: Hauppauge PVR-150MCE. (or PVR-500 if you want dual tuners)

Best digital tuner card: Dvico Fusion 5-lite RT.

I base my opinion on quality/price ratio. ATI Theater 550 based cards have better image quality than Hauppauge, but the Hauppauge is proven with great driver support. IMO analogue is analogue, just get the cheapest hardware tuner. Digital tuner wise, the Dvico is no doubt the best, but it cost a bit more. Vbox's Cateye 150 is good as well. Thse are top 2 digital tuners.

 

[mastrduke]

with dual tuners can you record two tv shows at once?....i think i want the pvr 150 or 500 just trying to decide the diff between the 2...they both work well with windows media center edition?


and how much does recording with the above mentioned cards slow down my system (in sig) would i be able to play WoW and record at once?

 

[Sarphram]

From what I understand, dual tuners = record two shows at once, record one watch one, or possibly watch both.

As long as you have a hardware encoder (which the 150 and 500 both have), I don't think you should notice any slow down as most of hte work would be done on the card.

 

[nullpointerus]

Originally posted by: Sarphram
From what I understand, dual tuners = record two shows at once, record one watch one, or possibly watch both.

As long as you have a hardware encoder (which the 150 and 500 both have), I don't think you should notice any slow down as most of hte work would be done on the card.

QFT

 

[mastrduke]

ok cool thanks.....what is QFT?

 

[Sarphram]

Too bad you didn't fix my typo when you quoted me

And upon googling (as I didn't know either) QFT seems to be quoted for truth.

 

[Icepick]

Originally posted by: Sarphram
Too bad you didn't fix my typo when you quoted me

And upon googling (as I didn't know either) QFT seems to be quoted for truth.

In my demented mind it's "quit f'ing talking" .

But, yeah, around here the consensus is Qouted for Truth.

 

[mastrduke]

ok cool thanks guys....now to decide how many tuners i want

 

[openwheelformula1]

Yes dual tuners will allow you to record two simultaneously, or watch one while recording another. However, it's not recommended if your storage setup is limited. I'd recommended two hard drives at least. One for system and the other for tv recordng. Remember when you are watching, you are recording whatever you are watching live. This way you are able timeshift (pause live tv).

 

[mastrduke]

i have about 160 free gigs of space right now should i buy another drive and have that setup as my tv recording one?...if soo how big?

i plan on buying one of the cards i mentioned and xp media center 2005....and now mayb a hard drive