Anyone using a TV tuner card in their PC?

Joel

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Hi Ya'll:
I'm thinking of purchasing a TV tuner card for my PC so that I can watch cable TV on my computer monitor. My computer is in the same room as my exercise equipment and I thought it would be nice to watch TV while I exercise without going out and purchasing another TV. Does anyone have any experience with any of these cards or do you think I should just go out and buy a cheap TV?

Thanks!
Joel
 

was_jlh

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Joel, I have a Hauppauge WinTV card, it's great. You can capture images, record video, even setup a low cost PVR system with them. I would recommend one.

Another fun thing that I have done in messing with mine is to use it as a temporary low cost security system. Took an old camcorder whose tape mechanism was broken but could still produce an image, hooked it to the TV card, pointed it at my driveway, and told the computer to capture the image every X minutes and load it to a web server. I could then be away from the house, go to a web browser on any computer, and look at a picture of my driveway. Fun.

Joe
 

kongfuchicken

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I got a usb2 version of these cards. It works great on laptops.
It's more expensive than buying a small tv but is well worth it if you don't have (or don't want to make) the space for one like me.
 

PhotonWrangler

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I've used the Radeon TV-Wonder and Creative Labs' Video Blaster, but I'm not terribly i mpressed with the video quality. It's supposed to be MPEG-2 "PVR Quality" but it doesn't seem to live up to the claims.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif
 

Zelandeth

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One thing to note. MAKE SURE if you're running XP, that it states that it's compatible. I've found that finding XP compatible drivers for several cards has been a total PAIN. As a result, I've got two older Avermedia cards sitting around here, and I can't get drivers for them. (Or at least couldn't three months ago when I last checked).
 

K A

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I have an older ATI All in Wonder 128 Pro AGP Card myself. Works fine for watching TV. I like the Gemstar TV Guide software it comes with, as it will pop up whats currently playing as I switch channels. Though their update software is a pain. It has to open the TV and display the whole guide even if you want to update the listings (have to do it weekly)
 

gessner17

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I have always used any of the ATI allinwonder cards. I am running an allinwonder 8500dv and it works very nicely. The allinwonders are little easier to work with due to not having to deal with video card incompatibilities.
 

Lynx_Arc

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I thought about doing this years back but at that time the cost and hassle of getting a tv card working on a computer was not worth it... you could buy a small tv set cheaper and watch tv AND use computer at the same time.
 

geepondy

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With TV's so cheap now, I don't think it's worth the hassle of adding a card, if you just want to watch TV. Of course recording the TV to the hard drive is a nice feature. Off the subject a bit, I found my set-top DVD recorder does a better job at recording TV video then the computer TV card.
 

gessner17

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As far as recording to you computer that is all relevant to your hard drive and processor. I have 2 rather fast (15k RPM) drives I use for AV editing and I set mine to time record and it is better than any TIVO or top set recorder, but dvd recorders are nice and fairly easy to use.
 

TrueBlue

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I use an ATI AllInWonder video card (8500 AIW, 128meg video memory) in my computer and I enjoy it. It can watch/record off TV (cable) and I can hook up a VCR/DVD and record directly. It does have a weekly "TV Guide" update that is slow to process but that is only once a week. It also has a nice video capture. I would say if you want to watch TV and use the computer you need a computer with some processing power and lots of dynamic memory. The video card is a "gas (processor) hog". If I have a browser or two running and email checking the picture can get a bit choppy. I'm using a 2.4 GHz Pentium with 512 meg memory.

And let me add I don't think ATI software is the best. Every once in while (about 3 months) the software hangs up and the XO system always tells me to load the most recent catalyst driver. "We are sorry for the inconvience...". It is the standard XP answer. I try to reload the driver from ATI but the same software problem monster eventually rises again. I think it is the XP and ATI software both fighting to be top dog in my computer but you know computers never give specific answers.

All in all, I enjoy the computer/TV option.
 

raggie33

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the nicer aiw cards have a very good media chip i forget name. but they capture very fast and corect.i always wanted to have it so i can put tv shows on my pc. but hect for 149 bucks ya can get a dvd recorder thats works as a vcr for ya tv..i dont have a vcr so it will be nice.
 

Lynx_Arc

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there is some out I think that will even do HDTV and some that are coming out that may not allow you to record programs using them I have heard.
 

raggie33

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hey is there any that will act as a digital card?i mean i have digital cable it would be cool to just skip the anlog process enteirly:?
 

Lynx_Arc

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I know of no DTV tv card out there, I am not sure there is even a standard for digital cable, it may vary widely from satellite to even multiple types for cable services and would have to have a built in mpeg2 decoder and possibly software to talk to the cable company to tell the tuner chip it can use the signal or descramble it for premium channels.
 

Joel

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Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I purchased the Hauppauge WinTV-GO TV for $20. I figure if it doesn't work I can just toss the thing. I have a nice 20" Viewsonic color monitor that will probably work nicely with the TV card. Worst case scenario is that I wait until after the holidays and get a really cheap TV if the card doesn't work out. I'll update this thread when I install the card.

Thanks!
Joel
 

legtu

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[ QUOTE ]
Zelandeth said:
One thing to note. MAKE SURE if you're running XP, that it states that it's compatible. I've found that finding XP compatible drivers for several cards has been a total PAIN. As a result, I've got two older Avermedia cards sitting around here, and I can't get drivers for them. (Or at least couldn't three months ago when I last checked).

[/ QUOTE ]

You might want to check this site. I've always had good results using their drivers on old tuner cards. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

Flatscan

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I got one of the original AiW Pro several years back, and it served me well for capture from VHS. Didn't really use the TV tuner as I didn't have cable and antenna reception was quite poor. The integrated DVD decoding hardware is a nice plus for the ATI cards.

[ QUOTE ]
haveblue said:
And let me add I don't think ATI software is the best. Every once in while (about 3 months) the software hangs up and the XO system always tells me to load the most recent catalyst driver. "We are sorry for the inconvience...". It is the standard XP answer. I try to reload the driver from ATI but the same software problem monster eventually rises again. I think it is the XP and ATI software both fighting to be top dog in my computer but you know computers never give specific answers.

[/ QUOTE ]
I had an interesting experience running an ATI chipset (7500, I think) on W2K. I had been using the DVD hardware off and on, and one day, the ATI player refused to recognize my hardware. I tried different commercial/trial packages, and the only one that worked was WinDVD 5. I watched my DVD and left it at that. A few weeks or a month later, I wanted to watch another DVD. The trial period had run out by this point, so I tried my old player, which worked. The only substantial system change I had made in the interim was a Windows Update (I had run an Update between my last DVD viewings as well). Draw your own conclusions. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
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