So, I’m looking at getting a TV-tuner card for my computer, since we get cable TV service in our dorm rooms. Any recommendations on on at a reasonable price? Preferably $100 or less, but not over $200.
What OS are you running? (It can make a big difference as to the type of tuner.) And what’s the specs on your machine?
(This really should be in IMHO, BTW.)
Hmm, if it should be in IMHO, then could a Mod please move it?
Anyhow, I’ve got a 2.4GHz Core 2 quad-core PC running Windows XP SP2 with 3.25 gigs of RAM, according to the System info.
You might consider a Sling Box - it has inputs from AV devices including cable box, DVR, DVD, etc. It then sends the broadcast thru your router to the computer. The computer can control the AV devices remotely.
If you have basic cable, you’ll need the Pro version as it has a tuner.
Here is the link
I’ve got WINtv on my PC. It’s available in card or USB. I paid about $50 for it on Ebay and it works great. I simply split the signal from my cable modem to get al the cable channels on it.
OK, this is gonna sound lazy, especially given the easy-access design on my computer case, but is there a way to find out if I have PCI or PCI-E in my computer without having to open the case?
What’s the make and model of your PC?
Seconded. I use it to pick up HD over the air, but you can use it for cable or analog OTA (until 2009, anyway). Even works on my Mac, using EyeTV.
IMHO, a USB tuner will work just as well as PCI tuner, and is much easier to set up.
No, USB tuners will not work just as well as a PCI or PCI Ex tuner. The bandwidth is different for one (though now a days the USB models are mostly USB 2.0 - just make sure this is true if you do decide ot go USB), but the most important difference will be preprocessing of the video image. Most internal tuner cards will feature powerful comb filters and video chipsets that will give you a better image. If this is not important to you, then USB will likely be cheaper. My recommendation will be to go with Hauppauge. Their line of tuners are affordably priced and give you a lot for the money. ATI would be my second choice. Also, consider a Hybrid tuner. You’ll be able to pick up your analog cable signal and free over the air HDTV.
I’ve got an ATI All-In-Wonder PCI card (which combines a TV tuner card and a video card). It comes with software that will let you record TV programs on your PC. The least expensive model is the ATI-TV Wonder 200, which is about $40.
This is basically irrelevant, now that most TV stations have switched to digital broadcasting (and the remainder will have to switch by 2009). Digital TV does not require preprocessing on the tuner card - it is decoded by the processor, just as it would be if you were watching a DVD.
Tuned to a digital station, you will see absolutely no difference in picture quality between a PCI tuner and a USB 2.0 tuner.
True, but since the OP is asking about a dorm supplied cable tv signal, I seriously doubt it is digital. And with the weak/noisy signal he/she is likely to encounter in that environment, an internal card with good filtering and processing features will make a huge difference in picture quality.
Exactly. USB would be just fine for free over the air HDTV (assuming proper bandwidth), but not for an analog cable or over the air signal. Now if you had a USB tuner with Clear QAM capability, go for it! As far as I know, however, there aren’t any. Clear QAM is only supported by some internal tuners.
Ah, yeah, I didn’t read the OP carefully.
There are a number of Clear QAM USB tuners - here’s one of them:
http://elgato.com/elgato/na/mainmenu/products/hybrid/product1.en.html
It is Mac-only, though.
I can’t speak to why, but in at least some circumstances, USB tuners are not necessarily just as good. I have three tuners: two PCI and one USB, and the USB tuner can’t pick up half the over-the-air HDTV (ATSC) channels the PCI tuners can, even when using the exact same cable (to eliminate the possibility of a bad cable end somewhere in there).
I suspect that the super-compact tuners just aren’t as good for whatever reason. Otherwise, why would the PCI cards have that big honkin’ shielded box on it that makes the card barely fit in the slot?
I did exactly the same thing as the OP back in 2002. I got the Hauppauge WinTV-Radio. I don’t know if they’ve made any real changes since 2002. If you’ve got the money I would probably go with something with better PVR capacity (assuming you’ve got hard drive room to spare) than the analog WinTV boards. I could never get those programs to work; neither the ones from Hauppauge nor the other freeware ones out there. I would definitely go with an internal card as well. Or maybe the new ones with the built-in digital tuners for about $130 (I believe I paid about that much for my card 5 years ago.)
I ended up ordering this one, do I need any special cables or antenna for the FM tuner or ATSC stuff, just in case they have started broadcasting over-the-air-HDTV or FM radio in central CA? 
You’ll be able to pick up broadcasts over-the-air in HD easily enough. Depending on what it’s like in your dorm room, you might need a highly-directional amplified antenna.
Here’s what you’ll want to do. Plug the cable provided by the school into the NTSC tuner. Get an antenna (I use a Terk HDTVa to get the signal from about 40 miles away in El Paso) and plug that into the ATSC tuner. The AVS Forum is a good place to go looking for help in your area. Any basic FM antenna with a coaxial terminal will work (it might ship with one; my WinTV-Radio did.) If you’ve got a game system you’d like to plug into the card, you will need an S-Video to phono adapter if you are going to go with the simple composite video input. Again, that might ship with the card (again, mine did.)
It used to be that you had to run a short patch cable from the audio out on the card to the line-in (or microphone, but line-in works better) of your sound card. I don’t know if they’ve changed that in the latest models.
You do have a PCI-E slot, right?
Yeah, I opened up my case and checked. Three PCI-E slots, one 1x (which I can’t use becaues the heatsink for the videocard, nearly as big as my head, covers it up), a 16x that the video card is plugged into, and a 16x (4x power), whatever that means, which is a few slots over and vacant.