Recommendations for TV Tuners

impala101 · **Posted:** Sun Dec 23, 2007 4:53 am

Alright, so I want to take the plunge to get a tuner card and get into quality capping and video recording/editing...I would like to get the opinions of you guys here that I know use them and have seen the great work done, as opposed to reviews on various web sites by yoda only knows who.

As of right now, I will only be able to get over-the-air broadcasts. I would be looking for a PCI dual ATSC/NTSC tuner, but also (for future purposes) would like the capability of receiving digital cable and/or satellite signals as well. Apparently, not all cards can do digital cable/satellite signals? I'm also not sure if I would need to buy a nice HD antenna, or are the ones that come with them good enough?

These are my computer's specs:
-Pentium D 2.66 GHz Processor
-Windows XP MCE SP 2
-1 GB RAM
-Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Sound Card/5.1 Surround
-ATI Radeon XPress 200 Series (This was what was on-board the computer when I bought it. I don't know how much memory it has, is there a way to check? Though I'm guessing it won't be adequate for this kind of stuff...In which case, I'm open to Video Card suggestions as well

)

I would be looking to spend $100-$150 for the tuner card, but more is ok. If I need a new video card/HD antenna, so be it...Yay for Christmas money! :Victory

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this and give me some ideas. I hope to be joining the capping world soon! :mrgreen:

cody · **Joined:** Tue Nov 30, 2004 2:21 pm **Posts:** 6460

I finally got a new laptop ( toshiba p205d) and would take the plunge to cap also. Is it worth buying the tuner or just recording onto dvd in HQ mode and making caps from the dvd? Any advice would be appreciated.

Kevin77 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 26, 2007 11:22 am

I got Fusion Gold HD card, and radio shack antenna. The card works with unencrypted cable QAM signals as well.

Kevin77 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 26, 2007 11:26 am

cody wrote:

I finally got a new laptop ( toshiba p205d) and would take the plunge to cap also. Is it worth buying the tuner or just recording onto dvd in HQ mode and making caps from the dvd? Any advice would be appreciated.

With a laptop I guess you could go with a USB tuner, but I've never used one so I can't really advise on it. If you have a dvd burner already, you could make great quality caps and vids. You won't be able to get HD resolution, but for SD stuff it works great. I burn dvd's for video before I use the s-video input on my card.

ResplendentRegina · **Joined:** Sun Nov 25, 2007 6:54 pm **Posts:** 1525

I have a Hauppauge usb tv tuner. The only reason I picked it up was because Best Buy had them on sale for like 20 bucks. Works pretty good. Im actually looking into buying a new computer myself. Unfortunately most come with Vista which I hear is a resource hog. Any recommendations on what kind of processor and how much ram I should get?

Or do they make dvd recorders with hard drives? Caps off DVDs seem pretty good also. Dont want TIVO though.

Thanks guys!

cody · **Joined:** Tue Nov 30, 2004 2:21 pm **Posts:** 6460

my laptop has 2 gb ram and vista seems to run ok.

Cobra · **Joined:** Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:57 pm **Posts:** 14767

On sale this week again

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productD ... 4#proddesc

JacqueFan · **Joined:** Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:01 pm **Posts:** 4335

poppie wrote:

Or do they make dvd recorders with hard drives?

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Philips- ... tDetail.do

http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/dvr/product ... el=rd-xs35

ResplendentRegina · **Joined:** Sun Nov 25, 2007 6:54 pm **Posts:** 1525

gingerzeefan wrote:

poppie wrote:

Or do they make dvd recorders with hard drives?

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Philips- ... tDetail.do

That looks promising...

Thanks as always gingerzeefan :Kool

fitz207 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 26, 2007 8:28 pm

poppie wrote:

Any recommendations on what kind of processor and how much ram I should get?

Or do they make dvd recorders with hard drives? Caps off DVDs seem pretty good also. Dont want TIVO though.

Thanks guys!

I say get a Dual core processor, with 2G of RAM, and make sure it has expansion slots to add more memory in the future.

Yes they do make dvd recorders with hard drives. That's what i use. If you have your recorder hooked to an HDTV make sure you use an HDMI cable. This will give you the best quality even if you are recording SDTV. A good quality recorder with a good size Hard Drive should cost you around $450 or so.

P.S. If you get a recorder make sure you get the extended service plan just in case. Take it from me you won't regret it.

fitz207 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 26, 2007 8:37 pm

gingerzeefan wrote:

poppie wrote:

Or do they make dvd recorders with hard drives?

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Philips- ... tDetail.do

http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/dvr/product ... el=rd-xs35

That's a steal on the Phillips. Good size Hard Drive too. :shock:

Thanks for link GF.

ResplendentRegina · **Joined:** Sun Nov 25, 2007 6:54 pm **Posts:** 1525

fitz207 wrote:

poppie wrote:

Any recommendations on what kind of processor and how much ram I should get?

Or do they make dvd recorders with hard drives? Caps off DVDs seem pretty good also. Dont want TIVO though.

Thanks guys!

I say get a Dual core processor, with 2G of RAM, and make sure it has expansion slots to add more memory in the future.

Yes they do make dvd recorders with hard drives. That's what i use. If you have your recorder hooked to an HDTV make sure you use an HDMI cable. This will give you the best quality even if you are recording SDTV. A good quality recorder with a good size Hard Drive should cost you around $450 or so.

P.S. If you get a recorder make sure you get the extended service plan just in case. Take it from me you won't regret it.

Sounds like it may cost me the same either way. Just gotta decide which one. So you record for a dvd recorder then rip it off the dvd to an avi file right?

rocky741 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 26, 2007 10:54 pm

poppie wrote:

fitz207 wrote:

poppie wrote:

Any recommendations on what kind of processor and how much ram I should get?

Or do they make dvd recorders with hard drives? Caps off DVDs seem pretty good also. Dont want TIVO though.

Thanks guys!

I say get a Dual core processor, with 2G of RAM, and make sure it has expansion slots to add more memory in the future.

Yes they do make dvd recorders with hard drives. That's what i use. If you have your recorder hooked to an HDTV make sure you use an HDMI cable. This will give you the best quality even if you are recording SDTV. A good quality recorder with a good size Hard Drive should cost you around $450 or so.

P.S. If you get a recorder make sure you get the extended service plan just in case. Take it from me you won't regret it.

Sounds like it may cost me the same either way. Just gotta decide which one. So you record for a dvd recorder then rip it off the dvd to an avi file right?

I just get my caps from DVD. I haven't gotten a good handle on ripping easily the DVD to make avi or wmv clips.

ResplendentRegina · **Joined:** Sun Nov 25, 2007 6:54 pm **Posts:** 1525

rocky741 wrote:

poppie wrote:

fitz207 wrote:

poppie wrote:

Any recommendations on what kind of processor and how much ram I should get?

Or do they make dvd recorders with hard drives? Caps off DVDs seem pretty good also. Dont want TIVO though.

Thanks guys!

I say get a Dual core processor, with 2G of RAM, and make sure it has expansion slots to add more memory in the future.

Yes they do make dvd recorders with hard drives. That's what i use. If you have your recorder hooked to an HDTV make sure you use an HDMI cable. This will give you the best quality even if you are recording SDTV. A good quality recorder with a good size Hard Drive should cost you around $450 or so.

P.S. If you get a recorder make sure you get the extended service plan just in case. Take it from me you won't regret it.

Sounds like it may cost me the same either way. Just gotta decide which one. So you record for a dvd recorder then rip it off the dvd to an avi file right?

I just get my caps from DVD. I haven't gotten a good handle on ripping easily the DVD to make avi or wmv clips.

Thats okay Im still learning how to make great caps and vids.

fitz207 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 26, 2007 11:26 pm

poppie wrote:

Sounds like it may cost me the same either way. Just gotta decide which one. So you record for a dvd recorder then rip it off the dvd to an avi file right?

Yes. I rip the vob file from the dvd and convert it to xvid/avi.

rocky741 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 26, 2007 11:30 pm

fitz207 wrote:

poppie wrote:

Sounds like it may cost me the same either way. Just gotta decide which one. So you record for a dvd recorder then rip it off the dvd to an avi file right?

Yes. I rip the vob file from the dvd and convert it to xvid/avi.

Which program do you use? :hum

fitz207 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 26, 2007 11:35 pm

rocky741 wrote:

fitz207 wrote:

poppie wrote:

Sounds like it may cost me the same either way. Just gotta decide which one. So you record for a dvd recorder then rip it off the dvd to an avi file right?

Yes. I rip the vob file from the dvd and convert it to xvid/avi.

Which program do you use? :hum

To rip i use DVD Decypter and Virtual Dub Mod to convert.

Kevin77 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 27, 2007 1:58 pm

poppie wrote:

I have a Hauppauge usb tv tuner. The only reason I picked it up was because Best Buy had them on sale for like 20 bucks. Works pretty good. Im actually looking into buying a new computer myself. Unfortunately most come with Vista which I hear is a resource hog. Any recommendations on what kind of processor and how much ram I should get?

Or do they make dvd recorders with hard drives? Caps off DVDs seem pretty good also. Dont want TIVO though.

Thanks guys!

You can still get PC's with XP. :Kool

gingerzeefan wrote:

poppie wrote:

Or do they make dvd recorders with hard drives?

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Philips- ... tDetail.do

http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/dvr/product ... el=rd-xs35

The Phillips model is great. I have the one without a hard drive, and it's been kicking for over 4 years now. It's about as a basic as you can get, but it has a key feature that's great for capping, you can pause while recording. I even bought the new model because they stopped doing firmware upgrades for the old one so it doesn't work with the new 16x speed discs.

ResplendentRegina · **Joined:** Sun Nov 25, 2007 6:54 pm **Posts:** 1525

Well i just got a pretty good credit with Dell and they have some good specials going on so thats what Im looking to get my computer from.

DeadZone · **Joined:** Sat Sep 24, 2005 1:28 pm **Posts:** 2437

Woot.com on 12/27: Sony Vaio laptop with vista ultimate and with external HD tuner/recorder for 1355.00

Wide World of Women

Recommendations for TV Tuners

Who is online