I'm considering buying a tv-tuner card for my pc, but I haven't made my mind up and I was wondering if anybody could answer some questions for me. I've got Time Warner Cable, the cable comes out of the wall and is then split one way to my cable modem, and the other way to my cable box, which then runs to my tv via the regular Cable In/Antenna connector. I was about to run out and buy a card, but realized that I probably won't be able to record one channel while watching another, since I have to go through the cable box, right? I couldn't, for example, split the cable before it gets to the box and still be able to record the digital cable channels on my pc? Is there anyway to do this? Would buying an actual DVR like a TiVo (WAY out of my price range!) do the job?
Well since nobody replied I went ahead and got the ATI TV Wonder Pro, which apparently was a big mistake. I think the tuner itself works fine, but the software wouldn't install off the installation cd, so I got it off the website. Then I find out the picture is pure crap, though I'm sure I can find some way to make it better, just haven't had time to figure it out yet, with all the other junk ATI's thrown my way. And then, the ulitmate kicker, is that the scheduler doesn't work. So if you want to record something you have to A.) leave the TV going on your computer while you're gone (which wouldn't be that big of a deal) and B.) actually be sitting there to press the record button when you want to start recording! Sigh... something tell's me this card is going back to Best Buy unless I can find 3rd party software that will let me use this card in a useful way, because right now, it's pretty close to useless!
You may want to give TV-Cards a try. http://www.tv-cards.com/apps.php I'm a little behind you in that my card is in my new system but XP SP2 did not like my AV software so I've reformat my HD rebuild my system. (God I hate MS)
might be worth checking if your card is upported by showshifter. Showshifter is a great program IMO for a HTPC type app.
might be worth checking if your card is upported by showshifter. Showshifter is a great program IMO for a HTPC type app.
Well for a TV-Tuner i would go with the Compro VideoMate DVB-T300. Here is the site with specs. http://new.compro.com.tw/en/product/vmt300.html
I use the ATI AIW 9000 Tuner card and it works perfectly. I normally run the monitor at 1024x768 for normal channels and at 1600x1200 for HD channels. It looks good enough, people who have the little sat dish think my normal channels are HD. Recheck your settings, make sure recording is done in the highest mode (High DVD Quality). You can still get 3 hours on a dvd by using DVD Shrink and the result is prefectly smooth. The ONLY thing I don't like about the card is the lack of support for Linux, however with Win2kPro, I have NO complaints at all.
