What TV Card?

ubern00b

ubern00b

ubern00b

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25 Nov 2004
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In the market for a TV card but have no idea what to get. Would like it to be PCI-e, doesnt have to have dual tuners but not aversed to dual tuners, has to be DVB-T (FreeView). Must have excellent visual quality (as far as I know some have better visual quality than others, based of course on signal strength) and work with Vista Media Center.

Been looking at the Compro range, especially the E700 or E800. Not sure I need the E800 (only difference being hardware mpeg2?) as I dont record and I have a C2D @ 3.5ghz so it has grunt. Also not sure about the F models, T750F or E800F?

Talking in circles here so Ill let you lot tell me your experiances and recommendations :) Thanks in advance!
 
Terratec Cinergy 2400i (has twin tuners) if you just want freeview

Works with MCE, but I prefer GB-PVR as I have two in my machine
 
Have a nebula TV card in one PC which i've had for about 2 years now which has worked great never had any problems with but does seem a little over priced these day with what some of the new cards have ie twin tuners and have a huappage Nova-T 500 dual freeview coming today fingers crossed
 
Must say I have a Nebula USB at the moment and the only reason I will be getting rid of it is because I want everything internal, and they are VERY overpriced considering what is out there. Having had a look at the Terratec I think Im sold. Just one question that I cant seem to find the answer for, does it support HD? Thanks Andre and EYEREX.
 
did a google search with these words; Terratec Cinergy 2400i reviews

one review said;

At £90 the TerraTec Cinergy 2400i DT isn't cheap - the MCE version is £15 cheaper - but it is currently the only product of its kind. The picture quality is first rate and TerraTec has beaten its competitors to the PCI Express market, but sadly the remote control and software let the overall package down. However, if you're using Windows MCE, these issues are of no concern.

also link for product;

http://tven.terratec.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=240
 
Think so as my nebula which is about 2 year does also just had a read about the Nova-T 500 and it does support standard and high-definition broadcasts
 
With the freeview cards its quite hard for the hardware to screw up the image quality as its all digital mpeg stuff. The software decoder or graphics driver is more improtant and relaibility bringing the PC in or out of standby in media centre.

I have the cinergy dual and its good but had trouble with drivers that took ages to get fixed and still not reliable re standby.

dual leadtek pci freeview cards DTV1000 on the other hand have been faultless in all respects and had good driver and software support.

pros and cons to all the software applications most of which can be avoided if you use the limited but very functional media centre interace and pick our own software decoder.
 
I dont use standby or any power features so besides that, how do you rate the Cinergy now that the drivers are sorted out?

Will investigate the DTV1000, thanks for the heads up.
 
I have a Nebula PCI tuner card that I have been very happy with but I may have to ditch it in the near future if I go for a 64bit OS. It does not seem likely to me that the 64bit PCI drivers from Nebula will ever see the light of day.

I have been looking at alternatives and tried a couple on my other PC but have not yet found anything that satisfies me like the Nebula together with its DigiTV application.

Of the three mentioned in this thread (Terratec Cinergy 2400i, Hauppauge Nova-T 500, Leadtek DTV1000S) do any of them all the following features?

1. The recording of DVD compatible mpeg files which I can drop into DVD authoring software without the need for a prior conversion step.

2. Full screen AND windowed viewing.

3. Viewing software with a built-in EPG that uses the over-the-air Freeview EPG transmission and from which I can easily set timed recordings. No having to download EPG data from the net.
 
Lots of people with nebula cards in this thread....

Any of you want to confirm that they can bring up BBC Interactive? You know, the red button menu etc...

(sorry for mini hijack)
 
I vaguely remmeber pressing the red button by mistake a few times, PITA.. I always pressed the exit (I think) button to stop it. It came up with some crap which I never actually read or took any notice to.

Nebula PCI cards dont even support Vista 64. Which has been out for a very long time yet nebula say "our programmers are working on it" - must be on there to do list after they have finished programming their new software which you have to pay for. Wish I hadn't got one now, waste of £100.
 
fobose said:
Wish I hadn't got one now, waste of £100.
Click to expand...
Yes, the 64bit thing sucks. But what to replace it with? I find the Nebula card with Nebula's software a hard act to follow. I wish I could find something else that works as well and provides the functions I mentioned in my previous post.
 
I wonder why Overclockers don't stock Terratec or Hauppauge because those are the only two countless of people have recommended me to get. And from browsing on here people seem to despise Overclockers current stock pile of tv cards.
 
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