Need TV Tuner advice

[GoldenTiger]

I'm looking to buy 2 TV tuners for a couple of my computers. I intend to just use them to view TV, and capture to record things to CDR/CDRW discs as a VCR since they are so cheap, and take much less space than a VHS tape (using a slimline jewel case). I need the card to be able to capture well, and possibly have some sort of compression. If someone could point me out a couple of good cards, or an article or two about some TV tuner cards in general I would appreciate it a lot! Thanks for your time in advance to all who respond.

 

[konichiwa]

ATI TV-Wonder, meet GoldenTiger.

 

[GoldenTiger]

Looks good, and inexpensive . Dankees!

 

[Budman]

Yes i agree ATI makes a very nice tuner card.

 

[Mule]

I would recommend the Win TV 401 from Haupauge, you get a remote control and dbx stereo sound, and FM radio also. However the capture is limited to only 320x240, but it's image quality is unsurpassed.

If you're into capturing then I gotta recommend the Tuner I have which is AverMedia TV98 with remote, my model is the older one which doesn't support Win2K, but I can CAPTURE straight in DIVX format, that's right DIVX!!!

I haven't seen any other TV Tuner that can do that so far, it's a great feature that saves tons of HD space. However the image quality is average not superior by any means.

I would avoid the TV Wonder, I got the VE(value edition) and it outright sucked. Even compared to my amature AverMedia TV98.

 

[Jonny]

I would hate to add a to all the ...but, I have a ATI TV Tuner, and I have been really UNimpressed.

Its buggy, annoying, and crashes all the time. Especially the beta win2k drivers (but they are beta...so I guess I cannot complain?)

This is just the expience I have had...I have tired it with multiple OS, video cards, motherboards and processors.

I sold it a couple days ago.

It was handy in some ways, but just plain annoying in others.

Sorry dude...I didnt help you with finding one that you buying, but I can tell you what you avoid...the ATI TV Tuner.

Or mabye all TV Tuners are like that? Who knows...this is the only one I have tried. I guess it was kinda alright for just watching TV, but capturing was a royal pain in the arse.

 

[sygyzy]

Here is your solution. Get the Hauppage (sp?) Media Theatre. Notice that the cheapest you'll find it is about $120 from Buy.com give or take a few dollars. Buy has free shipping. Go to staples.com and find it. It's a special order, it will take them 3-5 days to get it to you. They sell it for about $235. Price match and use a 30 off 100 coupon. You have yourself a top of the line tv tuner AND FM radio. I might post this as a hot deal cuz I think it is.

 

[GoldenTiger]

Heh, I need it to be under $140 for BOTH cards including shipping... I use Win98 first edition... note that they are BETA drivers for win2k. I've had a couple of tuners in the past when they first came out, and they've always been finicky; I'm not worried about the ATI in particular being buggy personally. Thanks for the info/critique, everyone!

 

[dcdomain]

Hauppauge!!! Great driver support, great tech support, great cards!!!

 

[GoldenTiger]

What card in particular of Happauge??

 

[Hekana]

tv tuners are an imperfection. They have interlacing when you use the standard software that comes with it so you get these nasty horizontal lines when the screen scrolls horizontally. Use Deinterlace TV which is better s/w.

 

[GoldenTiger]

The software's name is "Deinterlace TV"?? I'll see what it's like when I get the tuners... I never had interlacing problems with my past ones, though...

 

[Mixxen]

Haupagge works well. Use it with this deinterlace software and the input display is AWESOME!

http://deinterlace.sourceforge.net/

Also you can capture at 640x480 with this software.

http://www.geocities.com/virtualdub/

Great deal for all it's uses...WinTV Go! is about 50 bucks.

 

[GoldenTiger]

What exact Happauge card though? Is it better than the ATI?? I've never heard of anyone having interlacing problems before, personally. One more thing: Does the 640x480 capture just double the image size? I only have a normal RF input that also goes in as a composite (yellowplug) cable, but I thought those were only 320x240, or am I wrong? Can the ATI TVWonder to the same things or more than the Happauge card? Where can I find Happauge's website so I can see its featurelist and find reviews?

 

[dcdomain]

Hauppauge

I have the WinTV Theatre (used to be their top of the line). You can get that for around $100 these days I think. Two of my friends just picked them up from Buy.com

I think their WinTV Go is their least expensive version... not sure what the differences are, but after hearing of ATI's driver problems I'm definitely a Hauppauge fan. I had a problem last night after upgraded IE to 5.5, installing EDualhead and reinstalling the drivers and program for my Matrox G400 card. I sent them an email, and they got back to me today on how to fix the proble. Great support!

I heard on some other video cards, they won't display on the second output, but Hauppauge works flawlessly on my second monitor.

 

[BassDominator]

How about the Avermedia TV98? I picked mine up at Mwave for only $45. Great card. I think there's even a version with a remote.

 

[GoldenTiger]

Hauppage WinTV Go: $53:

PCI
Video inputs Cable coax
Video outputs None
Audio capture Yes
Video standards supported NTSC
Resolutions supported 160 x 120
Colors supported 256

No thanks ... very low colors... very low resolution... no outputs, no composite/svideo in or out, and only a scrap cheaper than the ATI TV-Wonder that has all of those.

 

[Mixxen]

Well capturing .avi video at 640x480 is definately better than 320x240. Hauppauge cards max capture resolution is 320x240 on the website, but virtualdub captures at 640x480 with no problem on my setup.

 

[GoldenTiger]

Avermedia TV98 looks pretty good... gotta look for reviews on it and decide between the two cards. $97 shipped vs. $140 shipped (for 2 cards) is a big difference as well (TV98 vs. TV Wonder).

 

[Sohcan]

<< Does the 640x480 capture just double the image size? >>

Nope, NTSC's native resolution is roughly 640x480.

If you're not using Win2K, the ATI TV Wonder VE is a good deal. It has coax and composite input, as well as full 640x480 support. Pricewatch has it listed for as low as $43. I've never liked ATI's software, but you can use Deinterlace TV for your viewing needs and Virtual Dub for your capturing needs. Virtual Dub will let you compress to DivX while you capture, as well as crop the video, cut out commercials, and apply filters.

 

[GoldenTiger]

Hauppage is good, but too expensive... $248 shipped for 2 cards = too much for me.

 

[Mixxen]

GoldenTiger,

Where did you get those specs??? They are definitely wrong

 

[GoldenTiger]

I got them from mwave.com's specs page (which is a copyandpaste of the manufacturer's specs).

 

[GoldenTiger]

I looked thru Hauppage's site, and they only have specs for their old cards... so the only thing I have to go on is mwave.com's specs.

 

[GoldenTiger]

Does the TV98 have Stereo audio (the one on the mwave.com site)?