Looking for advice on TV Tuner, opinions on Hauppauge 2250

[ekoostik]

What would you recommend for a TV tuner for my desktop? In particular looking for opinions on the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Dual TV Tuner. But I'm interested on suggestions on any card I should consider (or not consider) that you really like (or hate).

 

[ekoostik]

Thought it might be helpful to know, I have two expansion slots available. First, a PCIe x16 slot that runs at PCIe x4. Second, a PCI slot.

 

[leon2006]

The best HDTV card i had. I tried it for Vista-64 and XP-32. I can't say for other OS version. I had it for almost a year.

Its dual Hybrid TUNER. One tuner is use for watching and the other is use for recording.

It works well with Windows Media Center for both recording-HDTV, Watching TV, and playing recorded-TV. It also function as a regular PVR.

I leave my PC open 24X7 and it records the HDTV shows that i like.

It comes with its own software which also works well with Vista-64 and XP-32.

The Hauppage is better than the boards that i have tried:

ATI-650 PCIE, ATI-650PCIBuggy Software & TV Input problem on the hardware)
- The hardware is great when it works. The TV-input is sensitive to failure. ATI replaced my board 3X. After that i juts parked it and got the hauppage 2250.
- Takes a lot of work to make it work with Windows Media Center. Most of the time i use the TV software provided by ATI.

Hauppage 1800, 1600:

The hardware and software are good.
The Analog TV Reproduction is bad. Its a degraded version of what i see compare to my SD TV,

Pinnacle HDTV PCIE:
-Hardware is good and produce one of the best HDTV picture
-Software is always late for updates. No specific date for closure or fix.

 

[mindless728]

i have it and it works great, though you may want to look into a cablecard (try a company called ceton), as the only stations that the tv tuner can get from the cable company (no set top box) are ones broadcast in ClearQAM (typically local broadcast stations)

 

[ekoostik]

Thanks for the feedback. All the stations around me broadcast in digital so bad analog reception shouldn't be a problem. Also I don't have cable so don't need a cablecard. All TV shows I would watch and/or record are those broadcast over-the-air.

Thanks for the tips and advice. If you've got more suggestions or personal experience, please, keep 'em coming!

 

[leon2006]

If you are really in to using it as HD-DVR/PVR....This Tuner is great. Depending on your location get an Amplified Antenna with gain up to 30bd. Or you can place outdoor HDTV antenna to boost your HD reception.

Get a big HD-Drive. At least a 1TB. An hour of HD-DVD material is ~ 5Gbyte. Or just don't forget to erase the shows that you don't need.

 

[mindless728]

well, if only using OTA you should be very happy with that card and a good antennae, alos like said above, if you want to keep the shows long get a large drive, or start burning them to disc (DVD)

 

[DJRWolf]

For finding the best angle to put your antenna try Antennaweb.org