<£50 USB 2.0 TV Tuner for MCE 2005

[marshahu]

I only have about £50 to spend on a USB 2.0 TV Tuner to complete my MCE 2005 upgrade. So far I'm adding an extra hard drive rack to accommodate my extra 300GB Hard Disk, Windows Media Center 2005 and Remote Control, a long corded Logitech Media Desktop Keyboard for playing games on the couch without worrying about people getting in the way or the batteries dying half way through a killing spree!

Despite the Analogue's days being numbered thanks to the Digital Switchover here in England, I'm not too fussed about having a Freeview/DVB Tuner but if that can be fitted in that would be good. Besides my PVR is Digital Cable so I already am prepared for the switchover Same with Dual Tuners as this will let me fully use MCE 2005's multi tuner recording feature but if it causes me to go above budget then I'll wait until I do a complete system overhaul.

Basically I'm looking for a tuner with the following

* RF Aerial Input to watch analogue or digital TV
* S-Video Camcorder inputs to connect my PVR using S-Video and Audio Connectors
* USB 2.0 Connection
* MCE 2005 compatible
* Ability to use with other programmes (e.g. Movie Maker or Video Editing applications to edit out commercials from PVR recordings or edit them in other ways, MSN Messenger to broadcast programmes to my friends or show them an onscreen view of my PC)

However, these are second priority features, which would be ideal to have but they aren't a priority to the above features:

* Listen and Record FM radio
* Contain two tuners to enable me to record one channel while watching another in MCE 2005 (would be great if they were both digital but if they are one analogue and one digital thats fine as long as I can utlilize the dual tuner feature in MCE 2005)
* Contain a standard PVR features like Time Shift, Media Guide, Scheduling etc.
* Contain a component video input - this will enable my PVR to use its best connection, and a Digital Optical input so my PVR can send 5.1 sound signals to the PC - ideal for archiving episodes of "24" :twisted:

Any ideas for under £50 - please let me know

Thanks guys for your help

 

[BigRat]

I got a dvb-t tuner from ebay for £31 but you'll need a wideband roof antenna to get the best of it. The antenna they supplied is rather weak. I did manage to get it to work from the 7th floor of my uni library and the quality was great but at home I'm using an old roof antenna so I'm getting only BBC 1, 2, 3, News and CBBC.

Unfortunately its a simple usb tuner and doesn't have the other input you're looking for.

 

[marshahu]

Hmmm, thanks for your suggestion but if it doesnt have connections for my PVR then its no good. I really don't fancy using my PVR through the Aerial connection - although this is possible and the picture quality is comparable to Composite, the audio is only mono - while I could almost halve my video file sizes by encoding in mono, this will make my episodes of 24 sound awful especially if played through a Pro Logic IIX decoder :lol:

Any other suggestions?? Is my type of TV card really like trying to find a needle in a haystack!!?! 8O