Questions about TV tuner

E

eamonn

New Member
Hello all first off I would like to say that I am new to this forum, so I say hello to all of you!

I recently built a new computer with windows7, I have read and heard that windows media center is a good (free) software to use to make your computer into a PVR. With this is mind I am anxious to order a tv tuner card.

So I have a few noob questions:

1. While recording a show are you still able to watch TV on your actual television? I can't imagine your physical TV will be affected but I don't want to spend money on one before I actually know the answer to this.

2. While recording a show how bogged down is your computer? (obviously dependant on specs, I have a dual core amd II athlon 3.0ghz, 4gb ddr3 1600 pc 12800 ram, 1 gb radeon hd 4670).

thank you in advance for any help I receive on this issue!
 
If you want to record a show and watch a different show at the same time then you will need a tv card with multiple tuners AND multiple cable lines in the room with your HTPC just like you would if you used a Tivo or traditional DVR. As far as specs, you really dont need a super high end computer but dont expect to be doing a whole lot of intensive applications on your pc while its recording because in my experience you can get some glitches in your recordings if your doing a lot of other stuff (like gaming or photoshop, not typical internet usage or office apps)
 
I cannot help you with the recording funtion too much because use my TV DVR for that but I have two comps with two diff TV tunners.

My diamond 650 is a good bang fro the buck 2 true tunner card. I say true because most have only one input but are 2 tunner. In this case you cannot watch TV while you record, like with the HP2250 whhich is a top of the line 2 tunner card.

The best price for feature IMHO is the HP1250 at $55, it is 2 tuner but 1 input so you cannot watch TV while you record. But unlike the diamond the software is great and it has a remote! The remote cannot be underestimated unless you plan to buy a remote, then add that cost in.

Both of these cards work sepperately from your current TV tunner. So for example. I have Comcast, it has nothing to do with my computer and my computer has nothing to do with it.
 
Im using AverMedia / usb. works fine. quality is good and with windows media center yes i can record one channel and watch the news on another. thats about all i use it for. the specs on your computer will not be a problem. Mine is less than that. I surf mostly here and post, read the newspaper on line etc.
 
I also currently use a Avermedia Volar USB TV tuner...its quite good,Although their software has been a bit dodgy lately,It wouldnt work in Vista at all no matter how i tried....then when windows 7 came out it took around 3-4 months for them to make a working software version for that OS...but finally now it works flawless.

Id still recommend getting an Internal Pci Tuner over a USB one though because Media centre would not work with my tuner as it could never find it!
 
Gabe63 said:
I cannot help you with the recording funtion too much because use my TV DVR for that but I have two comps with two diff TV tunners.

My diamond 650 is a good bang fro the buck 2 true tunner card. I say true because most have only one input but are 2 tunner. In this case you cannot watch TV while you record, like with the HP2250 whhich is a top of the line 2 tunner card.

The best price for feature IMHO is the HP1250 at $55, it is 2 tuner but 1 input so you cannot watch TV while you record. But unlike the diamond the software is great and it has a remote! The remote cannot be underestimated unless you plan to buy a remote, then add that cost in.

Both of these cards work sepperately from your current TV tunner. So for example. I have Comcast, it has nothing to do with my computer and my computer has nothing to do with it.
Click to expand...

so just to clarify when you are talking about dual tuner cards and watching tv at the same time, you are talking about recording and watching tv at the same time BOTH on your computer? As best I understand your response you are saying that even with a 1 Tuner card my TV will be totally unaffected whether I am recording or not.
 
Assuming where talking about normal cable TV:

PC TV Tuners are just like Normal TVs.

"Normal" TVs are not affected by each other or "PC TV Tuners".

A Single PC TV Tuner can record and watch one channel at a time. While dual PC TV Tuners can record one channel while watching another channel (I think some can also record two channels).
 
the card works better no doubt. Mine was older but wanted for a laptop and portability only. My post was for conversation only. get the card. it will do a better nicer and better job.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top