I’ve just gotten rid of my huge CRT tv, to free up space in my bedroom, with the plan of watching tv through my computer on my new 24" monitor. Unfortunately I’ve run into a slight problem in that I know absolutely nothing about TV tuner cards.
So far I’ve decided that I want an internal card, not a USB stick, and it needs to connect to the digital aerial that runs into my room. I’ve been looking at Hauppauge’s cards, as they’re the only brand I’d heard of, and they seem to range from £30 for a basic model to £100 for a more advanced one, unfortunately all I can tell about the more expensive ones is that they have more acronyms
Is there anyone who can explain to me what does what and help me decide what I need?
I’ve had really good luck with the Hauppage Cards. Both 150’s though so they won’t tune digital OTA (Over the Air). Ive heard good things about the 350’s supposedly they tune digital OTA. But at the same time where I used to work the “tv techies” raved about the ati-all in wonder line. I think they’re also worth looking at. You also might be able to get some good info from custom pvr crowd (schedulesdirect, mythtv, gbpvr). There seems to be a lot of people really devoted to getting the best experience watching television on their computers.
I’d read a few online reviews of the products in question to gain a sense of what you’re dealing with. Some reviews are very thorough and you will learn plenty about the general technolgy and the specific products which have raised your interest.
Maybe you should link to the cards you’ve been looking at, and tell us which acronyms you’re confused by. There are plenty of Dopers who are willing to write a dissertation on almost any subject, but it’s a bit much to ask a question that can ONLY be answered that way.
Well, I’ve been searching the internet for comparisons/reviews of TV cards and can’t find much that’s recent. I have however found a few good reviews for this card, the “Hauppauge WinTV Nova-TD 500”.
As far as I can tell, that will give me:-
2x digital (i.e. Freeview) tuners, allowing me to watch one channel whilst recording another, or record two channels at the same time.
Software that includes an EPG so that I can schedule recordings, although according to this pdf I only get a 30 day trial, then I assume I have to pay a subscription. Unfortunately the site they send you to, tvtv, doesn’t show the cost until you’ve registered, does anyone know how much that sort of service is?
I have noticed however that many of the reviews say that the software provided is rubbish and that it’s better used with Windows media centre (XP or Vista). As I only have XP Home edition, is there any similar (preferably cheap) software I could use instead, I don’t fancy having to change OS just to watch TV.
It seems like the more expensive cards just add support for analogue tuners (which is shutting off in the next few weeks) and digital satellite (which I’ve never even heard of, and am therefore not bothered about).
Does that all sound right? Or have I missed something?
