TV Tuner that actually works

[Nvidiaguy07]

I'm ready to give this a shot again. I've been through 2 that sucked pretty badly so far.

I have comcast at home, so its pretty straightforward. You plug the cable into something and as long as it has a tuner, you get the basic 80 or something channels. I can use an old VCR as a tuner if i wanted to.

Im looking for something that i can plug my cable into, and I'll be able to get those basic channels. I already have a media center remote, so I dont need one with an ir blaster or one that comes with a remote.

I need something that isn't buggy, or requires you to use any weird software. I'd like to use windows media center, or XBMC with it.

I'm willing to pay for quality, and want something painless. USB would be preferred, but not if its not as good.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

bump, anyone know of a tuner that works?

 

[Raduque]

A better place to ask this question would probably be avsforum.com

 

[Iron Woode]

go on ebay or some such place and get yourself an ATI 550 or 650 pro.

comes in either PCI or PCIe.

works fine for me with XP MCE2005 and Win7 MC.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

A better place to ask this question would probably be avsforum.com

searched around there a bit. theres still no consensus on a good card all around.

I wish there was just one card that is widely used and widely accepted, that will work on both PC and Linux, that works without any problems and other crap.

Even those ATI cards have many mixed reviews.

It seems like such an easy thing to do. I can use an old crappy VCR as a TV tuner, but theres not one that I can use with my PC.

 

[Synomenon]

I very much recommend the Hauppauge HVR-2250 or SiliconDust HDHomeRun HDHR3-US.

The Hauppauge HVR-2250 requires a single PCIe-1x slot and the SiliconDust HDHomeRun HDHR3-US requires only a network router to connect to.

Both are supported by almost all media center programs and both have available Linux support.

I've tried various USB TV Tuners from a Diamond Theater 750 Pro. to a Hauppauge HVR-1950 and have never gotten them to work reliably.

 

[snuuggles]

I very much recommend the Hauppauge HVR-2250 or SiliconDust HDHomeRun HDHR3-US.

The Hauppauge HVR-2250 requires a single PCIe-1x slot and the SiliconDust HDHomeRun HDHR3-US requires only a network router to connect to.

Both are supported by almost all media center programs and both have available Linux support.

I've tried various USB TV Tuners from a Diamond Theater 750 Pro. to a Hauppauge HVR-1950 and have never gotten them to work reliably.

I have the HDHomeRun. It works great with win7 and mediacenter. I used it with comcast cable and with an antenna to get local OTA HD feeds (free!)

 

[wirednuts]

op should go with the ati 550p since he needs analog tuning. i think i actually have one in the bin if OP wants to buy it ($20 shipped?)

 

[apoppin]

bump, anyone know of a tuner that works?

Yes.

http://www.diamondmm.com/AIW5000

i just don't know if it works well. We were supposed to evaluate it but got some other Diamond products instead (7.1 USB sound card/HDMI adapter)

it's new and i saw it first at CES

 

[nenforcer]

If your looking for linux support be sure to check out

http://www.linuxtv.org

then click on the V4L-DVB Wiki on the left and look for supported hardware devices.

You will generally have better luck with internal PCI / PCI-E devices than you would with an external USB decoder but there are some supported USB devices.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Hauppauge 1850 or 2250. Have both, both worked great. Was using both for analog cable and ota hd tv. Now I have att uverse so I don't use em anymore. Not for sale though sorry.

 

[lamedude]

I wouldn't bother with a non cable card tuner unless all you want is the locals. When Comcast dumps the analogs in your area you'll only be able the get the unencrypted channels (locals and maybe some basic tier channels).

 

[Synomenon]

Both the Hauppauge HVR-2250 AND SiliconDust HDHomeRun HDHR3-US can tune analog, QAM, and OTA HD.

 

[postmortemIA]

I wouldn't bother with a non cable card tuner unless all you want is the locals. When Comcast dumps the analogs in your area you'll only be able the get the unencrypted channels (locals and maybe some basic tier channels).

my camble provider is dumping analogs as we speak. they are replaced with digital, QAM channels, but of same quality - 480i. Only locals are available in HD.

I use Ati 650, it is well supported by windows media center.

 

[Drsignguy]

I have the Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1800 for almost a year and it works perfectly! It uses Windows Media and it doesn't use any strange crap you just don't need. I feel that Hauppauge is a good recommendation.

 

[Vette73]

I have the Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1800 for almost a year and it works perfectly! It uses Windows Media and it doesn't use any strange crap you just don't need. I feel that Hauppauge is a good recommendation.

Yep I have the same. Here is the OEM version (No FM radio) for $28 shipped. It has digital and analog tuner onboard.
I am going to order another for backup at that price now that I know it works so well.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Hauppauge-WinTV...305?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c5b7476f1

I use over the air digital and it picks up all the channels very well that my other TVs get. Also works great with Win7 Media Center.

 

[Demo24]

I use the hauppage 2250, works great! Plugs in directly with WMC so you don't need their software unless you want it (be warned though, oem boxes won't come with it), and it tunes analog, and digital formats. Plus with 2 tuners on board you can record or watch 2 shows at once, although WMC is sorta finicky about doing this.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

So it looks like im gonna try out the 2250 or the SiliconDust HDHomeRun HDHR3-US.

Kind of leaning towards the SiliconDust HDHomeRun HDHR3-US since its the most convenient out of the 2.

The 2250 looks nice, but too much like the last one i tried. The 1800 would probably work too, but im worried about throwing out more money by buying the cheaper one. I'd rather just pay the 150 for the HDhomerun and know that I have the best one available.

 

[deimos3428]

Another vote for the 2250. Never had a problem with mine.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Yep I have the same. Here is the OEM version (No FM radio) for $28 shipped. It has digital and analog tuner onboard.
I am going to order another for backup at that price now that I know it works so well.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Hauppauge-WinTV...305?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c5b7476f1

I use over the air digital and it picks up all the channels very well that my other TVs get. Also works great with Win7 Media Center.

To you and the owners of the 1800/1850.... is there any difference between the 1800 and 1850? And what can the 2250 do that the 1850 cant?

I still think the homerun looks awesome and using it over ip seems like the best/easiest way to do it, but for less than 30 dollars i might give the 1800 a shot.

 

[Vette73]

^

The 2250 has dual tuners so you can do 2 channels at once. The 1800/1850 has 1 tuner so 1 channel at a time.

And here is the differance between the 1800 and 1850...

The WinTV-HVR-1850 board adds on-board Media Center and WinTV remote control receiver/blaster. Now you can get IR receive and blast for both Windows Media Center and the WinTV v7 application, without needing an external "beanbag". All of the other features of the WinTV-HVR-1850 remain the same as the WinTV-HVR-1800.

I just used a USB ir with my remote so the differance was not worth it, esp since I found a OEM one at eBay for $28 shipped.

 

[Jesusthewererabbit]

Been using Hauppauge cards for four years. I've never had a problem of any kind, and works great with WMC. I don't know about Linux support though, I've never really messed with it.

 

[ViRGE]

Has Comcast started or soon will be doing analog reclamation in your area? In short, everything above limited basic will be moved to encrypted digital channels in order to free up space (analog is wasteful). Unless you're in an area where they won't do this for quite some time, I would suggest not investing in a tuner. Otherwise it's going to be largely useless once the reclamation is done.

 

[Vette73]

^

Some still have limited unencrypted digital. YMMV though.

 

[Dark Shroud]

I have an old AVerMedia card that I haven't tried in awhile since I have U-verse now. It worked fine with Comcast for years.

When I upgrade later this year it will be to the AMD ATI Theater™ HD 750 PCIE card. Because I will be switching everything over to a WMC set up. I already have a Blu-ray drive with ArcSoft TotalMedia Theater 5 for play back.