tv tuner?

July 16, 2006 1:55 PM

Watching Tv on the PC, tv tuner choices?

I have an ATI All-in-wonder card that i use for watching tv. However i've done some research and discovered the newer ATI cards use a tv tuner that has poorer performance compared with the older ATI cards. As a result, i am considering the purchase of a seperate tv tuner card.

What are some PCI tv tuners available that have good performance (running an AMD sempron 3400+). HDTV is not necessary. I am primarily looking for good performance, and unbulky software. Another secondary concern is that I have dual monitors, and the ATI tv tuner for some reason wont allow tv to display on the secondary monitor.

posted by EvilKenji to computers & internet (8 comments total)

I haven't used a TV tuner in a long time, but wayyyy back in the day, the 2 most highly reviewed choices out there were the ATI All-In-Wonder, and the Hauppuage line of TV tuners.

Googling for TV Tuner Roundup nets a nice load of results to read reviews/comparisons of multiple tuners..

Back in my day, I used the ATI All-In-Wonder, and it made me very happy.
posted by twiggy at 2:07 PM on July 16, 2006

Hauppage makes a good TV tuner. Check out a PVR-150, 250 or 500 (dual tuner goodness). All of those work well with Win XP MCE and standalone PVR apps like GbPVR (personal favorite) and SageTV. I've never been too fond of ATI's AIW solution, personally. Newegg sells the cards I mentioned above, as well as several other places on the web.
posted by richter_x at 2:12 PM on July 16, 2006

I use a Hauppauge PVR150 on a dual-monitor setup just fine. The included software is decent, but I really like GB-PVR - free, integrated TV guide, many plugins, healthy user community.
posted by djb at 2:12 PM on July 16, 2006

this might be tangentially related or could answer your questions (or the questions you didn't know you had). hope it helps.
posted by eebs at 3:15 PM on July 16, 2006

vcdhelp should have useful information.

Try to check compatibility with third party software! The included software for many (most?) TV-tuners can be poor, sometimes virtually useless. If the card is compatible with good software, like DScaler, it doesn't matter.

Hauppauge PVR cards seem to be the default choice, probably for good reason. However, if you are trying to do it on the cheap, find any TV tuner on ebay, and check that it is on the DScaler supported list - you can get a compatible card for less than $20 easily. The capture ability may suck, but it will be perfect for just watching some TV.
posted by Chuckles at 7:43 PM on July 16, 2006

I just swapped my Hauppauge PVR-250 for a Fusion HDTV card. The Hauppauge was nice with on board mpeg encoding... perfect for doing Tivo like stuff with your box - which is not what I was interested in hence the change. If you live in a metro area you may want to consider HDTV - it sure is a nice change from analog.
posted by wfrgms at 10:59 PM on July 16, 2006

I use Hauppauge x 3 plus SageTV on my 42" plasma set. It's wonderful.

The Hauppauge cards are PVR-500, and PVR-250.
posted by SlyBevel at 12:22 PM on July 17, 2006

Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150 is the best tuner I've ever had. I use mine with SageTV daily.

Your dual monitor problem is a separate issue. I've had many people contact me over difficulties with the ATI AIW product. My rubber-stamp reply is to get a video card with a nVidea chip that is model 5200 or better. These can be had for less than $40, some of which don't even need a GPU fan. Let's hear it for less noise!
posted by kc0dxh at 1:07 PM on July 18, 2006