looking for a t.v. tuner card...

[{CLR}geneSW]

Ok, so i'm looking for a decent (but cheap) t.v. tuner/recorder card for my computer so I can start recording shows on t.v. without having to get a silly dvr box. Budget is about $40 max (including shipping).... i've got no idea where to start with these, so any help is appreciated.

[juneau]

Analogue or digital? Does it need to handle HD?

[{CLR}geneSW]

doesn't need to handle HD... i'm just recording programs from the t.v. and playing them back at a later point in time...

Guess while i'm at it, I might as well ask for a good brand of external harddrive (either 250gb or 500gb). within a decent price range.

[juneau]

doesn't need to handle HD... i'm just recording programs from the t.v. and playing them back at a later point in time...

Guess while i'm at it, I might as well ask for a good brand of external harddrive (either 250gb or 500gb). within a decent price range.

I would only use external HDD's as a backup of a backup or for easy transportation from one PC to another. If you really do need one make sure it's either gor Firewire or eSata interfaces as USB is awfully slow. WD and Seagate are good choices as usual.

[WalkinTarget]

What OS are you using ? I use Windows MCE2005, but it does not natively support my ATI HDTV Wonder without a driver hack known as Krams MCE.
The ATI HDTV is a hybrid, offering both SD and HD, but will not record to both at the same time, but again, MCE doesn't support it without some tweaking.
Hauppauge makes some affordable cards, but I cannot comment on the image quality of their newer cards. I have the older PVR150MCE card as well. Its image quality was a bit lacking.

[{CLR}geneSW]

This card will be going into my main rig as I do not have enough cash to build a MCE box. Here's the complete specs of my main rig.

cpu: AMD 2x 6000+ (3.0ghz)
ram: 2x1gb corsair XMS2 DDR2 800
harddrive(s): 1x WS raptor 10,000 rpm (Boot drive), 1x 500gb WD caviar 7,200rpm
Motherboard: Gigabyte board (can't remember model off the top of my head), has amd/ati chipsets.
video card: BFGtech nvidia 8800gts (640mb) @ standard clocks w/ fan running at 80% all the time via riva-tuner.
PSU: thermaltake toughpower 700W, all rails hold up just fine with no fluctuations in voltage's.
Case: thermaltake Aguila.
OS: WindowsXP MCE w/ sp3, no registry cracks.

Note: Only thing going onto the raptor HD is the O.S., a few key programs (like AVG) and CoD4. All other programs are ran off of the 500gb HD. 500gb HD is split up into 3 partitions, 1 200gb partition, 1 150gb shared partition across the network, and 1 150gb back-up partition (needed untill I can get an external to throw the back-up's on),

[juneau]

Are you buying that GFX card? Or is it one you currently have? Cause it's overkill for a MCE/HTPC type computer.

[{CLR}geneSW]

Are you buying that GFX card? Or is it one you currently have? Cause it's overkill for a MCE/HTPC type computer.

I already have that 8800gts... it's in my main rig, which is running on windows xp MCE.

[K PhaNTOM]

Pls do NOT get an external one, it is soooooooo hard to get signal, much harder than internal. That is my only advise..

[Goz]

I've used a WinTV card for years. I've used it under Debian, Ubuntu and FreeBSD without trouble.

Hauppauge Computer Works

-Goz

[{CLR}geneSW]

wow, looks like i'll be spending at least $80 for a card then...

[Goz]

geneSW imho its well worth it. I have 157 or so channels at my finger tips, remote control. all I need is a mini fridge next to my comp. and I'm set

-Goz

[{CLR}geneSW]

geneSW imho its well worth it. I have 157 or so channels at my finger tips, remote control. all I need is a mini fridge next to my comp. and I'm set

-Goz

i'll have 300+ soon, but for when the sat goes down it's nice to have something that can simply record to the comp. Doesn't even need to play back because I can get a cable to run from the 8800gts to the TV.

K, i've narrowed it down to 2 cards...
Newegg.com - Leadtek TV2000XP RM Tuner Card with Remote Control PCI Interface - TV Tuners & Video Devices
Newegg.com - MSI Tuner Card TV@nywhere Plus PCI Interface - TV Tuners & Video Devices

So, which one of those two would you all choose? Keep in mind that I now know i'm going analog and certinally don't need HD.

[juneau]

Tbh i'd go for a Hauppauge card. You can really tell the difference when you go cheaper.

This is what one of the newegg reviews says,

Cons: The card does not filter the tv signal like most tv's do now adays. Therefore you get this fuzzy static looking picture. It's decent, but you can see a difference.

And that's the main problem with cheap TV cards. Unless you spend that little extra, i don't think you'll be happy.

[WalkinTarget]

Hauppauge HVR 1800 ... check it out. Thats the card that I would upgrade to if my PVR were still being used.
Switching from digital cable to Dish sat. has eliminated any easy PVR setup for me, and I haven't gotten back to futz around with it. Based on the less than 5 hours of TV I watch a week, its just not a high priority.