I just got a new Computer from dell and i order mine with [bold]Windows media center Edition 2005[/bold] but i didn't order mine with a tv tuner card .. i was wondering if any PCI Tv tuner card would work with my new computer... and what recommendations do you guys suggest on what Tv card to buy.. thanks
I also am running mce 05 on my pc. I purchased an NVTV tuner card. It was $70 CND from my local store. Basically it is the cheapest card I could get that had on board Mpeg2 encoding/decoding. I recomend you look for something similar or the same. Most people strongly recomend the Hauppage (sp?) tuner cards. If you go that route you can get the 150 model (being the cheapest) as it is designed for mce 05. You do NOT need a full out PVR card since they simply replace the functions already found on mce. basically you want something with onboard mpeg2 encoding.
i bought the Hauppage 150 model and the Aver media tv tuner cards both where MCE 05 but i couldn't get a clear channel the only one i would get was an asian station...and those where very clear from the others.. the one you bought for your MCE 05 compatible from your media center icon to watch tv... where did you get it...what brand and model? and what type of antenna did you get? to get clear channels..i'm pretty sure i did the set up correctly.. help me out... thanks
I bought mine from here http://142.59.19.164/Itemdesc.asp?CartId={E12EF2BB-6121-4E82-AC60-F786E67CC4F8}&ic=VIDEVG-NVTV16&Tp= I was checking around and MSRP on it is $100. SO I guess $70 isnt a bad deal. I am running mine through coax cable. I bought 30 feet of it and ran it off a splitter in my basement. Cut a hole in the wall by the pc and then drilled with a long bit through the floor. Then just ran the sable through it. I used screw on cable ends on both end. I bought the indurstrial crade coax for it (the middle wire is thicker). At first I was having some clearity issues so I bought a 10 db booster. It worked pretty good, but wasnt perfect. SO I went to both ends of my cable cord and re-screwed on the ends. Now without the booster my signal is as clear as anywhere else on any other TV, with the booster on it is crystal clear! I had no problems setting it up. I simply installed the card, rebooted the pc and windows picked up on it. When I loaded into media center I no longer got the tuner card error and it opened the options up to watch TV. It ran through a setup for the channels and asked my loaction to get the correct tv guide listings and I was off to the races. Now I just need to figure out a way to get this signal piped into my TV in the living room.
what do you mean by "the booster signal" i bought cable and ran it under my house to my room and it wasn't clear...i also bought this phillips antenna.. but the signal wasn't clear...
Then get something like this http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=73384&item=5749465712&rd=1 Mine only has 1 line in and 1 line out though, this one boost 4 signales. Put it right beside the PC and then get a 1' coax cord to run into the pc. Your picture will be more clear than you ever thought it could be.
here is a quick lesson in electronics. As you run power through a wire it loses strength (power) over a longer distance. When you take that same power and split it up 4 or 5 times first it gets even weaker. Your tv signal IS power. And I bet you have a few other TV's hooked up in the house. By splitting that signal you have weakened it to ALL the TV's. But your TV runs at a resolution of 320 by 240 (I think) so you dont see the fuzz. You are trying to run a clear picture on a monitor running at (prolly) 1024 x 756 (ish???) so it has to expand that tv picture to fill the screen. This makes the fuzzyness look EVEN WORSE than before. If you dont beleive me then switch to windowed view. Then minimize it as small as it will go and see how clear it is. Anyway, now that you know how you LOSE signal power let me tell you how you gain it..........BY PUTTING IN THE SIGNAL AMPLIFIER that I just pointed you to. This will take the weak signal and clean it up and boost it. Think of it as a car amp for your sterio. If you have a 300 WATT sub in the trunk and you run it off the 10 watts your deck spits out how loud does it go??? NOT VERY!! Now add a 300 W amp to that 10w signal and how loud does it go? The neighbors start to complain. The problem is not with your video card or your tuner card, it is the signal coming in. Put the booster in and stop complaining.
so i can get this product like at a radio shack or a Fry's electronic store.....so what your saying it wasn't the two tv cards i return...i'll to the store and buy the product you recomemded but which tv card should i get of the two i return.. Aver Media or the Hauppage 150 model?
the hauppage 150 is supposed to have really good compatibility with mce 05. But I say whatever card is cheapest. Just as long as both cards have a built in mpeg2 decoder/encoder Yes any store with an electronics section will have the signal booster. a 10db one will be fine, but you can always grab a 32db one to be sure. I got mine at walmart.
i got an antenna last night with 45db and my 10 db but i didn't get good enough signal..what else do you recommend?
hook up a TV at the PC end if you can and see how clear the picture is on that. I suspect its a cable issue.
MCE is just not worth it for me. It costs too much for what little it offers. MCE was just too much of a hassle and the video quality sucked with a WinTV PRV-500. If you must have a HTPC, then I would suggest MythTV (linux) or some other PVR program, such as BeyondTV or SageTV.
