TV Tuner Recommendations?

[Poyzon]

I wanna have some TV in the background while I'm playing (or working, yeah, working).

Anyone have a recommendation for a decent TV tuner card that works well with Windows7?

[Zzyzxx71]

I've heard great things about this...

Hauppauge WinTV HVR-950Q - ATSC HDTV / QAM receiver / analog TV tuner - Hi-Speed USB - External

I did a bunch of research on it a few months ago, but haven't acted on it... maybe I will now.

[Poyzon]

USB eh? Any pros/cons of USB vs. PCI?

[Zzyzxx71]

Originally Posted by Poyzon

USB eh? Any pros/cons of USB vs. PCI?

Usb 2.0 throughput cap is about 15-18mb/sec. That's waaaaay more than what's needed to display a standard TV image or even a 1080i image stream.

Look at it this way - ever played a movie off of an external USB storage device - works fine don't it?

[Poyzon]

Good points. I've never played anything off my USB drives, so I wouldn't know. I just recently started messing with Windows Media Center (came with Win7 Ultimate, so I figured I'd give it a try).

I just hate having a bunch of things all plugged in via USB (I hate rat-nests of crap behind/in front of my box). One more won't hurt, much.

[LindlineOLD]

Get something with an HDMI option just so you can have the choice.

[ollee]

Originally Posted by Zzyzxx71

Usb 2.0 throughput cap is about 15-18mb/sec. That's waaaaay more than what's needed to display a standard TV image or even a 1080i image stream.

Look at it this way - ever played a movie off of an external USB storage device - works fine don't it?

Yah, but it NEVER actually works at even 15... Personally for cap if youre jsut doing TV, pretty much anything on amazon with 4/5 or 5/5 is fine...no matter the price. read reviews. if youre gonna actually capture stuff like gaming systems and/or another computer or anything like that, go with pci-e stuff...I use a Black Magic Intensity PRO for my capturing HDMI or Component.

[burningforce]

i looked and looked but could not find a "great" tuner card. I always see posts in forums and on online stores that Newegg.com - Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Dual TV Tuner / Encoder 1229 PCI-Express x1 Interface - TV Tuners & Video Devices works well, but you would have to use a different program like GB-PVR mediacentre. TV, Music, Video, Pictures, DVD to capture/stream the signal becuase wintv = suckiness.

also the tuner card i linked may or may not work with media center. just have to go through all the jive on newegg comments to find some great advice and or problems related to the item itself not user error.

in the end I felt there was no reason to spend 100+ dollars on a tuner, i just moved my tv to were my computer is

[ollee]

I should also point out i have no use for a tuner, and my suggestions is just a capture card for devices....being as my cable company uses external tuners...

[Tim]

Originally Posted by Zzyzxx71

I've heard great things about this...

Hauppauge WinTV HVR-950Q - ATSC HDTV / QAM receiver / analog TV tuner - Hi-Speed USB - External

I did a bunch of research on it a few months ago, but haven't acted on it... maybe I will now.

I bought this exact model when I was first thinking about doing video stuff with JTV, before I knew how stuff works.

I can vouch that, for a TV tuner, the thing works like a champ!