TV Tuner Recommendations

[OddTSi]

My ~5 year old WinTV card is slowly crapping out on me and I want to replace it. Currently I'm debating between the TV Wonder Pro and the WinFast TV2000 Expert (both 10-bit cards using the Conexant CX2388x chip), both of which would cost me roughly the same (~$50 give or take a few bucks). I'm leaning slightly towards the ATi but am not set in stone on either card. Which of the two (or perhaps some other card) would you guys recommend? Please give a reason for your recommendation. Recommendations without any reasoning behind them don't help me at all and they will be ignored.

To answer a few questions I'm sure will pop up, no I don't want/need PVR, nor do I want/need HDTV (at least not for the price the cards are going for now). I won't be using this to record anything, just to occasionally watch TV when I'm stuck at my computer, nothing fancy just a quality card that will give me a quality picture.

 

[rocketman14]

i would definitely go with the leadtek. i have the deluxe version and its absolutely great. it gives very good picture quality and i ve had no problems (no incompatibility issues, no freezing, no audio not in sync with video). and if you care, it comes with a nice remote.

 

[flamingspinach]

Leadtek. Go with it. Actually go for the Leadtek Deluxe, not Expert - you get RCA inputs. http://www.newegg.com/app/view...description=14-122-132

-fs

 

[cubby1223]

I've gone through several different tuner cards & I've been greatly dissapointed with EVERY ATi card I've had. I've worked with the TV Wonder VE, TV Wonder USB, TV Wonder PCI, AIW 9000 Pro, and all of the cards have a grainy look to the video, diagonal lines of static, and a definate unevenness of color through each of the horizontal scan lines. And the AIW 9000 Pro card had the brightness & volume level constantly pulsate which was very annoying, sent that one back for replacement.

I've now got a Hauppauge PVR250 & the clearness, crispness, and overall better quality, the difference is like night and day between Hauppauge & ATi. Don't know about Leadtek's products though.

 

[frankfan]

I've had the TV2000 Expert for about a year and love it. It DOES have S-Video and RCA- in. This would be my choice. Leadtek has been good with driver updates, too.

 

[flamingspinach]

The picture of the TV2000 XP Expert at NewEgg looks like it doesn't have RCA inputs... are their little conversion boxes you can plug into it?

-fs

 

[OddTSi]

Originally posted by: flamingspinach
The picture of the TV2000 XP Expert at NewEgg looks like it doesn't have RCA inputs... are their little conversion boxes you can plug into it?

Expert comes with what looks to be an S-Video to RCA adapter cable. You can see a picture of it on NewEgg's site.

Thanks for all the recommendations guys. I'm starting to lean towards the Leadtek now. I probably won't be ordering until the end of the week or so, so please keep the recommendations coming.

One question I have about the Leadtek card is how does it do audio? The WinTV cards have an external audio output jack and a short little cable that you connect to the audio input jack on your sound card. Some tv tuner cards that I've seen have an internal connection that goes to the auxiliary input on your sound card. But I don't see either type of cable in the pictures of the Leadtek.

 

[LED]

Look @ Hauppauges...Support and Service is topnotch IMO

 

[InlineFive]

You should either consider a Hauppage PVR-150 or an ATI eHome Wonder. Both are based on the same chipsets and have excellent video quality. There is a good bundle on pcalchemy.com with has a PVR-150 and BTV3 for $129.99.

 

[OddTSi]

LED - The Hauppauge equivalent to the two tuners (model 401, uses the same conexant chip) that I'm debating between would cost $80 from NewEgg. If it was cheaper I'd more than likely get it since my current Hauppauge card lasted almost 5 years in 4 different systems before crapping out.

PorBleemo - $130 is definately more than I'm willing to spend on this.

I've been reading reviews online and on NewEgg and it seems there's quite a few people that have problems with both the TV Wonder Pro and the WinFast TV2000. I'm wondering if it's worth just eating the extra $30 and just getting the Hauppauge I mentioned above since I haven't seen anything bad posted about it.

 

[KayKay]

I have the Leadtek Winfast TV deluxe version, it has great picture quality, with all the features you would expect, including FM tuner and live tv time-shifting. It captures at up to 720x480 resolution, and it comes with a s-video to component video cable if you are wondering. my recommendation

 

[LED]

I'd more than likely get it since my current Hauppauge card lasted almost 5 years in 4 different systems before crapping out.

...
LOL...Then get the Leadtek but I'm willing to bet if you called Hauppauge they would help you and that old card out

 

[flamingspinach]

What really is the difference between the Deluxe and the Expert versions of the TV2000 XP? I'm just guessing, but is the Expert perhaps a chipset revision? The specs look practically identical on their site...

-fs

 

[LAVAB84615]

the deluxe uses a 8-bit decoder and the expert uses a higher quality 10-bit decoder [= way better picture]...

 

[frankfan]

One question I have about the Leadtek card is how does it do audio? The WinTV cards have an external audio output jack and a short little cable that you connect to the audio input jack on your sound card. Some tv tuner cards that I've seen have an internal connection that goes to the auxiliary input on your sound card. But I don't see either type of cable in the pictures of the Leadtek.

The external cable has left and right audio IN RCA jacks. There is an internal audio connector on the TV-card (like on a CD-ROM drive) that you connect to your sound card internally. In the software you just choose which "channel" the sound is found (CD/Aux-in/etc.)...depends which internal jack you plugged the TV-card into on your sound card.