TV Tuner PCI-E Card

[marshmallow905]

Well I used to have a Samsung 24' T240HD, now I downgraded to a 22' LCD. I kinda miss having the television lol. I am considering Diamond TV Wonder 650 Theater PCI-E TV Tuner Card ATSC NTSC HDTV FM.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=28023

I tried to google TV Tuner cards, not a lot of the subject or I used the wrong keyword for it. I am just curious if anyone can recommend a decent ATSC + NTSC TV Tuner from any Canadian sites, the image quality on my T240HD was amazing, just wondering if there are any tuner out there on par with it.

Thanks in advance,

marshmallow

 

[konenavi]

Well I used to have a Samsung 24' T240HD, now I downgraded to a 22' LCD. I kinda miss having the television lol. I am considering Diamond TV Wonder 650 Theater PCI-E TV Tuner Card ATSC NTSC HDTV FM.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=28023

I tried to google TV Tuner cards, not a lot of the subject or I used the wrong keyword for it. I am just curious if anyone can recommend a decent ATSC + NTSC TV Tuner from any Canadian sites, the image quality on my T240HD was amazing, just wondering if there are any tuner out there on par with it.

Thanks in advance,

marshmallow

I have heard ATi tuners are terrible from a driver stand point. From personal experience, so is Pinnacle. I personally have a Hauppage HVR-1250 and love it. Use it for Windows Media Center, watching recorded shows and even live TV on my Xbox 360. It all goes over the network with no real performance hit to my desktop. Just make sure if you want to record you have plenty of HDD space. http://ncix.com/products/?sku=33762&vpn=1201&manufacture=HAUPPAUGE there is a link, they also have a HVR-2250 with dual tuners and a media center remote if you are interested.

 

[leon2006]

Read this post pertaining to HDTV Tuner and Hauppage 2250..

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/275057-33-looking-advice-tuner-opinions-hauppauge-2250

 

[huron]

Another +1 for the Hauppauge 2250 - great card.

 

[DJRWolf]

ASUS My Cinema-PE9400
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250
Compro E900F

With those cards and XP Media Center Edition, Vista, or Win7 you can not only watch but also record like a DVR with Windows Media Center. Most of the reviews I've read say that it is better then the bundled software but I wont know personally until I get the computer I plan to use for this together.

Also be sure to look into getting a signal amplifier for the incoming signal to improve quality. You should be able to find those at a local RadioShack, Best Buy, or other electronics store. Such amplifiers also work for cable modems from what I hear. I do plan on getting one soon.

Another feature to look for is a "IR Blaster" that lets your computer send the same commands as your remote to do things like turn on/off or change channel at a specific time even when your not home to your cable/satellite box.

One feature I liked with the Compro is that it has a pass though for your cases power button so you can turn your system on and off with the included remote.