Video capture cards : is builtin hardware MPEG encoder better than using CPU??

I am thinking of purchasing a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR card (or equivalent.
I previously used ATI All in Wonder.
Recently I was informed by a so called expert that there are a number of reasons why it is better not to use hardware MPEG encoding but to use some PC based software instead and thus get by with a cheaper capture card.
Not sure if this was just his opinion or if there are hard facts to back this up.
I would welcome any inputs on this.
Thanks all.

 

If your goal is making DVDs then the hardware encoder is a good way to go. My Hauppauge PVR uses a very high quality encoder, the same one (Conexant) used in many 'Broadcast' situations. CPU usage is minimal (mine is USB and I can use as little as 8% on an Athlon 64 at 1800 MHz) and it's never dropped a frame. If you want to transfer footage to edit consider one of the DV hardware encoders as DV is better for editing.