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TV cards

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Soldato
Joined
1 Jun 2005
Posts
5,152
Location
Kent
Can anyone who knows a bit about the TV cards that OcUK currently sell recommend which ones are good ones and which ones should be avoided please. The card im looking for should be able to run on XP Pro, so doesnt need to have vista support, but that would be nice incase of any future upgrades.

PCI, PCI-E 1x and PCI-E 4x slots are available, but im not sure if using an express slot instead of a PCI slot makes any difference, of it the express slot cards have more features.


Also, if any mods are reading this, i hope you realize its a pain to use forum search for TV Cards, because 'tv' is too small for the search, and so it searches for 'cards' :rolleyes:
 
Ok , I have used many different tv cards over the years ( 9+ ) last count.

Sadly OCuk have let things slip and do not stock any Hauppauge cards. I would recommend
a Hauppauge Nova - T (x1 tuner)http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/pages/products/data_novatpci.html
OR
Nova T 500 (x2 Tuners) http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/pages/products/data_novat500.html

I have both of these cards and they are great ( They are Freeview Only )
If you are looking for something with freeview and also video input ( for example converting some old home videos to dvd format ) then the:
HVR - 1300
http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/pages/products/data_hvr1300.html
Would be good.

I have used two compro card in the past and they are both paperweights now
the driver support was terrible and supplied software wasnt that much good either.

I use a free program called GB PVR to watch / record tv and to watch videos/music etc in windows.
 
Still using an old WinTV hauppage card from years ago. Still works great and has the video input and freeview that I wanted it for. I use a scart to 3xRCA plugs from my cable TV box, 2x audio RCA to standard audio plug converter into the line in of the TV card and the yellow video RCA into the video in of the TV card. Works perfect.
 
I'm using a compro videomate E700, dual tuner card, best I've had yet. Works with XP through to Vista 64bit. I don't use mine with supplied software though, I just use windows media centre, just in case you move to vista any time soon :)
 
I have a Nova-T and a Hauppage PVR500 dual tuner, both good cards, but be careful what software you use to view as some software will only let you use the same input signal for the dual tuner card.
ie dual tuners - one cable, one analouge - some software will only let you have both inputs as analogue or cable..
 
kylew said:
I'm using a compro videomate E700, dual tuner card, best I've had yet. Works with XP through to Vista 64bit. I don't use mine with supplied software though, I just use windows media centre, just in case you move to vista any time soon :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I second the recommendation for Compro E700 - it's my second Compro card (through an upgrade to get a dual freeview tuner from my old T300 PCI) - The E700 is PCIe and I have yet to have any problems with it. I had historically liked Hauppauge's hardware, but the software and drivers have often been pretty troublesome and clunky. The E700 with Vista Home Premium x64 (Media Centre) works a treat, though their own supplied software works ok too. The drivers are BDA so it'll work with GB-PVR I think, or also Media Portal, though I have no experience of running either since I got the E700.

And no, I'm not aware of the PCIe cards having any features or advantages over PCI, but it's always nice to give a vacant slot a good use ;)
 
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what card would be recomended if a cable set top box is wanted to be used with it? Since the cable box is able to output a standard aerial signal along with its cable signal, would it be possible to use the t500, and set 1 tuner to the cable box, and the other tuner to the aerial signal? I know that this way the computer can only change the chan of the aerial signal and not the cable box signal, but this way i can watch cable tv on my pc, as well as recording a 2nd chan (which wouldnt be possible with the set top box alone).
 
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