USB Freeview Tuners (spec me up)
- Thread starter banja
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If you want my advice you will buy a pci express one as they are better, The usb ones dont get a great signal in my past expeirance but hey that was just me perhaps 
Thanks 
Currently I am still AGP, till summer at least. I have a USB analogue tuner which has served me well for a couple of years, but I get a slightly fuzzy picture, only five main channels, and the audio goes out of sync when it records. Thought it was time I moved into this century
Currently I am still AGP, till summer at least. I have a USB analogue tuner which has served me well for a couple of years, but I get a slightly fuzzy picture, only five main channels, and the audio goes out of sync when it records. Thought it was time I moved into this century
Soldato
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- 18 Oct 2002
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I'm using a Freecom one without any problems that I got for £30 ages ago.
The supplied mini ariel is utterly useless (where I live) and couldn't pick up a single thing. Luckily you can connect a roof top ariel and once I did I was able to get every single channel.
Picture quality is ok for me. In a window the quality is excellent but go full screen and it does suffer some loss. This is purely down to the fact that digital broadcasts are quite low in resolution (around 5xx x 4xx or something similar) and my display has a native resolution of 1650x1050. The image isn't upscaled but stretched, hence the loss in quality.
Make sure whatever one you get it has BDA drivers! If not, then you're stuck with using the supplied software. BDA drivers allow the device to work with 3rd party programs like Windows Media Centre and other open source alternatives.
A PCI card is the better option but I have a small Shuttle case with the PCI slot occupied by a sound card. I only wanted something just so I could watch a bit of TV now and again as theres no space for a TV in my room. For that purpose, this USB tuner has been fine.
The added bonus is I can I can use the tuner on my laptop and PC.
The supplied mini ariel is utterly useless (where I live) and couldn't pick up a single thing. Luckily you can connect a roof top ariel and once I did I was able to get every single channel.
Picture quality is ok for me. In a window the quality is excellent but go full screen and it does suffer some loss. This is purely down to the fact that digital broadcasts are quite low in resolution (around 5xx x 4xx or something similar) and my display has a native resolution of 1650x1050. The image isn't upscaled but stretched, hence the loss in quality.
Make sure whatever one you get it has BDA drivers! If not, then you're stuck with using the supplied software. BDA drivers allow the device to work with 3rd party programs like Windows Media Centre and other open source alternatives.
A PCI card is the better option but I have a small Shuttle case with the PCI slot occupied by a sound card. I only wanted something just so I could watch a bit of TV now and again as theres no space for a TV in my room. For that purpose, this USB tuner has been fine.
The added bonus is I can I can use the tuner on my laptop and PC.
GuruJockStrap said:I'm using a Freecom one without any problems that I got for £30 ages ago.
The supplied mini ariel is utterly useless (where I live) and couldn't pick up a single thing. Luckily you can connect a roof top ariel and once I did I was able to get every single channel.
Picture quality is ok for me. In a window the quality is excellent but go full screen and it does suffer some loss. This is purely down to the fact that digital broadcasts are quite low in resolution (around 5xx x 4xx or something similar) and my display has a native resolution of 1650x1050. The image isn't upscaled but stretched, hence the loss in quality.
Make sure whatever one you get it has BDA drivers! If not, then you're stuck with using the supplied software. BDA drivers allow the device to work with 3rd party programs like Windows Media Centre and other open source alternatives.
A PCI card is the better option but I have a small Shuttle case with the PCI slot occupied by a sound card. I only wanted something just so I could watch a bit of TV now and again as theres no space for a TV in my room. For that purpose, this USB tuner has been fine.
The added bonus is I can I can use the tuner on my laptop and PC.
Thanks for this info. Can you explain what BDA drivers are? Would I have to research this regrading a specific tuner before I bought it?
Soldato
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- 18 Oct 2002
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- 9,383
BDA drivers simply allow the device to work with Windows Media Centre. If you use non BDA drivers and then try to get the device working with Media Centre (or other 3rd party app), the program won't recognise the hardware and you'll be stuck using the software that comes with the device.
All you'd need to do is go the tuners device website and read up on the product description. If it mentions compatability with Windows Media Centre, the drivers are BDA. Failing that, check out the driver download section and it might mention it there.
I've had a quick look on OCUK and the Leadtek one looks to be fine: http://www.leadtek.com/uk/tv_tuner/overview.asp?lineid=6&pronameid=231
All you'd need to do is go the tuners device website and read up on the product description. If it mentions compatability with Windows Media Centre, the drivers are BDA. Failing that, check out the driver download section and it might mention it there.
I've had a quick look on OCUK and the Leadtek one looks to be fine: http://www.leadtek.com/uk/tv_tuner/overview.asp?lineid=6&pronameid=231
Associate
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- 25 Jul 2006
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- 276
yeh them £20 dvb-t usb tuners are excellent! just get a splitter for your home ariel and run a feed to your computer mine works great with media centre