[Solved] Looking for advice on TV Tuner, opinions on Hauppauge 2250

Forum Graphics & Displays : TV Tuner Cards [Solved] Looking for advice on TV Tuner, opinions on Hauppauge 2250

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).

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.

Message edited by ekoostik on 11-26-2009 at 04:58:55 PM

Best answer

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.

Reply to leon2006

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)

Reply to mindless728

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!

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.

Reply to leon2006

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)

Reply to mindless728

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

Reply to DJRWolf

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