TV Tuners

B

Bobo

banned
OK, I need a TV tuner card to do the following:
1. Record TV programs (manual and automatically, if possible)
2. Put VHS onto DVD

I really won't be watching much TV. I picked out the following cards:

Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500MCE 253 Dual TV Recorder Tuner Card with Media Center Remote Control - Retail at Newegg.com

KWORLD Video Magician Video Editing Kit - Retail at Newegg.com

VisionTek VTK-THMCE550P Video Device - Retail at Newegg.com

Hauppauge WINTV401 TV/FM Tuner Card - Retail at Newegg.com

The first one was by far my favorite, but does it really only support MCE? I only have Home SP2.

I love all the cabling and the front panel jacks that the Kworld card has, but it doesn't seem to be the best quality

The VisionTek seems to have the best ratings from users.

So what do you guys think of these? Any other recommendations are fine, but I would like to keep the price under $150

And one question: Do the remote controls only work with MCE? What functions are limited by not having MCE?
 
I have a Winfast TV2000 XP Expert (From Leadtek). I think it's fine, could have better video quality, but it can record ok. I think it has automatic recording. As for putting VHS into DVD, it's possible as long as you have a program to burn Videos to DVDs. It cost me around 80$ CAD @ Tigerdirect.ca.

However that's my only TV Tuner I owned so far, so I have nothing to compare to.
 
sniperchang said:
could have better video quality,
Click to expand...
As in how bad? I want as high quality as I can have within reason....:rolleyes:
As for putting VHS into DVD, it's possible as long as you have a program to burn Videos to DVDs.
Click to expand...
Well i can just record to my HDD and use Nero, so that isn't a problem
 
Kworld cards are very cheap. That one might be fine, but I'd stay away from the brand in genreal... Personally, I'd go with Hauppauge. I have a WinTV PVR 150 MCE and it's been very good. The quality is perfect, and there's no noticable quality loss. Now, I might be wrong but I don't think that one has a MPEG2 encoder... I'd strongly suggest getting one of those, particually if you plan to convert to DVD. It'll save you LOADS of time.

My card was technically made for MCE, but I have no clue what I would gain by using it. I mean, as long as you have drivers, the remotes would work on any OS. As for software, I use 3rd party... I don't know what MCE has to capture with, but I never cared for any of Microsoft's video software...




And one question: Do the remote controls only work with MCE? What functions are limited by not having MCE?
 
The_Other_One said:
Kworld cards are very cheap. That one might be fine, but I'd stay away from the brand in genreal...
Click to expand...
That is what I seemed to be seeing, but that card had great reviews and lots of functionality....
Personally, I'd go with Hauppauge. I have a WinTV PVR 150 MCE and it's been very good. The quality is perfect, and there's no noticable quality loss. Now, I might be wrong but I don't think that one has a MPEG2 encoder... I'd strongly suggest getting one of those, particually if you plan to convert to DVD. It'll save you LOADS of time.
Click to expand...
Save me time in what?
My card was technically made for MCE, but I have no clue what I would gain by using it. I mean, as long as you have drivers, the remotes would work on any OS. As for software, I use 3rd party... I don't know what MCE has to capture with, but I never cared for any of Microsoft's video software...
Click to expand...
Does the card come with drivers for the remote? Or is that something to be found online?

I'm a bit of a noob at this stuff....:rolleyes:


oh one more thing
on this card:
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500MCE 253 Dual TV Recorder Tuner Card with Media Center Remote Control - Retail at Newegg.com
Is it true that I can only have Windows MCE for it? Because I don't know if I want to spend $109 to get MCE (although it is something that I have seriously considered)


edit: The_Other_One; I had looked at the card that you have, but I didn't put it on the list, because it didn't have a remote or an FM tuner.
edit #2: now I see 2 Hauppauge 150s, one is $54, the other is $84.

edit #3: OK screw all that. Which one of these is the best for the money?
  1. Hauppauge WINTV401 TV/FM Tuner Card - Retail at Newegg.com
  2. Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 500 MCE White box Tuner Card - Retail at Newegg.com
  3. Hauppauge WINTV-PVR-150 Tuner Card - Retail at Newegg.com
 
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Depends on what you need. I would go with the 150, but if you have the money, and plan on watching tv while recording, get the 500.
 
Well I can scratch the 500, because it doesn't work with Geforce 7xxx series.

So either the 150 or the 401? What are the differences?
 
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