Need TV Tuner/Capture card recomendation

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
D

dave1g

Distinguished
Dec 31, 2001
16
0
18,510
I will be attending the University of Texas at Austin in the fall and I was hoping I could save alittle space in my apartment by making my computer do double duty as a tv also.

Budget: Max of $150-200 but hopefully much less ($50-125), I want the best price to performance, quality, & features ratio.

Features:
1: Full NTSC res
2: The more inputs the better (coax, RCA, s-video, etc...)
3: lets me pick the codec, or has high quality mpeg 2 encoder so it has enough quality to be converted to whatever format I choose for archival, probably divx.
4: Stereo sound would be nice (should I care about this???)
5: remote control would be cool
6: Great windows suport (works well with virtual dub and other video edit/capture applications) Linux support is not needed though may be needed in the future (I might convert someday, of course I could always dual boot...)
7: Are there any USB 2.0 solutions that have the same quality as the cards or really close?
8: Program guide to help schedule recordings. Or a website that is realy good with the TV schedule.
9: Any other important features that I should consider? Please mention.

My Computer:
Windows XP Pro
Athlon 1.2 Ghz
768 PC133 ram
ASUS A7V133 MB with KT133A chipset
SB Live! Value Sound Card
Geforce 2 GTS 32 MB
80 GB and 40 GB hard drives (120 GB total)
CD-RW
DVD
Zip

I am looking for a stand alone solution only.

Not a video card+tuner. I already have a video card...

I hope I have provided enough information to help you make a recomendation. If I have not, please ask and I will be sure to respond.

Feel free to make multiple recomendations on a per price range basis.
Such as...
~$50-100
~$100-150
~$150-200


I hear that dscaler is a good application also, but seems to only suport a few chipsets?

So I guess while we are at it, any software (preferably free) suggestions would be greatly appreciated to compliment my new hardware once purchased.

Thank you for any help you can provide.
 
D

dave1g

Distinguished
Dec 31, 2001
16
0
18,510
they have quite a few different cards, i need help selecting them.

I've read alot about the leadtek winfast 2000xp (delux) on this forum and alot of people seem to like it alot and the same number of people seem to be having sound problems.

Are those flukes?
 
T

the_Prisoner

Distinguished
Nov 17, 2002
578
0
18,980
this link should cover your Pinnacle questions.<A HREF="http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPage.asp?Product_ID=103&Langue_ID=7" target="_new">http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPage.asp?Product_ID=103&Langue_ID=7</A>

Also check out Hauppauge Cards.

the Prisoner

I'm not a number, I'm a free man! :mad:
 
M

mrtj

Distinguished
Jan 25, 2001
123
0
18,680
i bought a ati 8500 dv to replace my matrox g400. i ended up watching tv with the radeon and playing games, then building a cheapy 2nd system to put te matrox card in since the capture quality is WAY better that the ati card. i'm sticking to my G400 for the forseeable future

--
TJ
 
J

JimmyDean

Distinguished
Mar 17, 2003
326
0
18,780
I would suggest the Kworld tv tuner. At $39, its a real bargain. <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=15-100-103&refer=pricewatch" target="_new">http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=15-100-103&refer=pricewatch</A>
It comes with a remote too. It can tune FM radio, TV channels up to like 122 or something, has Compoiste and svideo in.

<b><font color=red>Remember kids, if you see a downed power line, suck on the end, candy comes out!</font color=red></b>
 
D

dave1g

Distinguished
Dec 31, 2001
16
0
18,510
wow those were some really good quality images.

That is the card I have been thinking of getting!

Thanx. I think this has fully convinced me.
 
Crashman

Crashman

Polypheme
Former Staff
Dec 31, 2007
48,594
91
66,190
It's a nice card, but <A HREF="http://www.hauppauge.com/" target="_new">Hauppauge</A> carries the BEST tuner cards!

One thing to think about is how much system power it takes to capture can compress video. Huappauge has tuners with HARDWARE MPEG2 COMPRESSION, which takes the load off the CPU completely! This means you can capture, and still have enough power to edit video simultaniously. This is so much of a "big deal" that MS REQUIRES this feature for video capture using their Media Center!

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>
 
D

dave1g

Distinguished
Dec 31, 2001
16
0
18,510
the built in mpeg encoders dont allow you to directly acces the tuner chip like the normal ones based on the bt8x8 and the new cx23...and sa71... forgot all the numbers
 
Crashman

Crashman

Polypheme
Former Staff
Dec 31, 2007
48,594
91
66,190
WTF are you talking about, it says it works with the WinTV PVR, that card has hardware encoding!

And if it didn't, so what, it's freeware. AKA junkware, like the Linux OS didn't support high end video cards for a long time because the loosers who programed it couldn't afford decent cards, etc. And finally the loosers got some cash and some degrees and fixed that to some extent.

See, the looser problem with looser freeware is that looser users write programs for looser not the best hardware, but rather looser the most common, as in stuff that they can get out of the dumpster/walmart/etc.

Oh, did you get the feeling that I've been left stranded by these open source movement before? Try and buy the most powerfull hardware and then wait years for the open source guys to catch up...

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>
 
T

tomlow

Distinguished
Aug 19, 2002
10
0
18,510
dave1g, the MPEG2 decoders are for the inputs. Not the tv tuner. The tuner is software encoding. But the card is excellent. Picture quality is great.
 
R

rguerra

Distinguished
Jul 30, 2003
1
0
18,510
Does anyone have any feelings about the Kworld KW-TVUSB7011R ? I know it's an obscure company, but the specs look pretty decent.
 
S

so9rano

Distinguished
Jun 8, 2003
8
0
18,510
I am in same boat as dave looking for good TV Turner as well, I still have no idea what to buy?? One bump and need more suggetions
 
TheGreatGrapeApe

TheGreatGrapeApe

Champion
Feb 18, 2003
20,043
0
50,960
Check Hauppauge's selection. They have alot of products in the TV tuner area.

<A HREF="http://www.hauppauge.com/" target="_new">http://www.hauppauge.com/</A>

- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! <A HREF="http://www.redgreen.com" target="_new"><font color=green>RED</font color=green> <font color=red>GREEN</font color=red></A> GA to SK :evil:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom