Best TV tuner for PC

[Gozma]

I have my computer in my dorm... and to save room for a tv i want a TV tuner card. Whats would u reccomend as the best for the money? and is there anything i need to know or make sure of before i get one?

[Penguin4x4]

ATI TV Wonder, (which I perfer simply because of its ability to make your desktop a TV Station, and can make program window's transparent, so you can type a Word document and watch TV at the same time), or Leadtek WinTV 2000 XP

[Maximouse]

If you decide on the ATI Tv wonder card then make sure you download the Beta MMC 7.6 drivers.

The drivers that come with the card are screwy when it comes to picture sync in Windows XP.

[Malakai]

this is getting out of hand.

do a search (http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/search.php?s=) and u will find like 100 recent threads about this

[DaddyB]

There is one thing that is very important when it comes to TV tuners; make sure you dont buy a USB TV tuner. You can get a PCI or IEEE 1394 Firewire but USB just doesnt have enough bandwidth to get a high resolution picture.

[h0mersimps0n]

two words that will take you far and get you through the rest of your life:

Hauppauge WINTV

stick by the PCI version and you'll be glad you did. I got one my freshman year (4 years ago), it still works and saved TONS of room room....

good luck with school!

[jreinsma]

the ati tv wonder because it has the best software package to go with it

[CivicGSR]

ditto on the ATI TVWonder. very comprehesive and user-friendly

[cack01]

Hauppauge WINTV. They are very nice. They come in two versions WinTV GO and just WinTV. The WinTV is the best choice.

[Penguin4x4]

Doesn't the WinTV have something along the lines of "Video Desktop", that does the same thing as the ATI does, (described in first post)?

[Malakai]

i never used hauppage, i hear great things about it though.

i have used the ATi TV wonder, and my current Leadtek Winfast TV2000XP.

the 2000XP is way, way better than the ATi one. the ati one's IQ is nowhere near the leadtek, and the leadtek can record to mp3 and DivX.

just FYI

[DaddyB]

Originally posted by Malakai
the 2000XP is way, way better than the ATi one. the ati one's IQ is nowhere near the leadtek, and the leadtek can record to mp3 and DivX.

Are you talking about the PCI TV Wonder or the TV wonder USB?

any USB TV tuner device's resolution will be limited to something relativly low (320x240 or so) or it will drop a lot of frames since the USB bus isnt fast enough (1.5Mb/sec or less). The PCI version should be as good as anything else although all I have used is my AIW 8500 and it has really good image quality.

[Malakai]

Originally posted by DaddyB


Are you talking about the PCI TV Wonder or the TV wonder USB?

any USB TV tuner device's resolution will be limited to something relativly low (320x240 or so) or it will drop a lot of frames since the USB bus isnt fast enough (1.5Mb/sec or less). The PCI version should be as good as anything else although all I have used is my AIW 8500 and it has really good image quality.

i had the PCI ATi TV wonder, at sucked. nothing like the leadtek.

IMO, for 60$, u cant beat this

[Mike K]

Originally posted by cack01
Hauppauge WINTV. They are very nice. They come in two versions WinTV GO and just WinTV. The WinTV is the best choice.

Why is the WinTV the better choice over the GO?

[cack01]

Far as I know, the WIN TV GO is only mono, and does not have a remote. The regular WINTV does, and has other features probably.

[Zigma]

i have ati tv wonder VE and the tv thingy sucks for XP. cant get it to work. crashes on me. basically win9x yes winxp no, get a hauppauge better. my card does a awesome job capturing in game footage and what not but when it comes down to the tv. the software that ati coded is bad.

[lonewolf1983]

i have a lifeview 3000
FM tuner, video capture, stereo sound and remote
for about $50 US

gotta say i love it :)

[RoadWarrior]

There's an ATI and another one, maybe haupage, for sale in the classifieds, one was $30 the other was either $25 or 30.

[AmigoThree]

Yea I am really considering getting one of these too. Doesnt Hauppage make an HDTV one?

[cack01]

Yes

[Merlyn_3D]

I've had a Hauppauge WinTV-D and WinTV-theatre and I must say, the best implementation of TV on the computer that I have seen to date is on the card I have now, an ATI All-in-Wonder 8500 128MB. The quality is better than that of the hauppauge and the recording and dvr features are far superior. It's like having a TIVO. The only problem is that this isn't a stand alone TV Tuner.

[ptwearnhardtfan]

For a stand alone pci card I like the Hauppauge. They have a ton of different cards to meet your needs. Check out their website
http://www.hauppauge.com/html/selector.htm