Register Forums Today's Posts Reviews Gallery Video Vault Downloads Resources Shopping
Go Back   Mobility Site > General Forums > Water Fountain

Water Fountain General Chit/Chat

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 12-01-05, 04:16 PM   #1 (permalink)
Aximsite All Star

 
forkyfork's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 954
Location: Orlando, FL
PDA: Axim x50v & Palm IIIxe
iTrader Rating: (4)
TV Tuners: Christmas Edition

I'm getting a new computer (3.0gz dual core - Dell package) and I'm probably going to get a TV Tuner to go with it. A similar discussion took place around August, but I thought I would start it up again incase times have changed.

What's a good TV tuner? I'm shooting for around 50, but will spend more if necessary.

Also, what's good software? I've heard BeyondTV and SageTV, but is it worth it to buy it? Isn't there something free?

Please share your current TV tuner setups, if you have them.

Thank you

Reviewer Medal 

forkyfork is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
sponsor links


Old 12-01-05, 04:46 PM   #2 (permalink)
Aximsite Veteran
 
J-roc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,372
Location: South Western Ontario
PDA: Dell Axim X5, Palm m100
Phone: Kyocera
Carrier: Bell Canada
Laptop: Compaq Presario 900
PMP: iTunes
iTrader Rating: (0)
View MyPDA
MythTV is a great free piece of software, but it's only for linux. So Make sure you get a card that works with Linux.

If you want something cheap, the ATI ones are usually pretty cheap. I'm not sure about your prices down there, they are around 100 up here in Canada. Also the ATI's should work with Linux.
Definition Time!
Upload: When a powerful computer downloads data from a less powerful computer.
Download:When a less powerful computer downloads data from a more powerful computer.
The more you know
J-roc is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-05, 04:53 PM   #3 (permalink)
Aximsite All Star
 
YodaEXE's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 517
Location: Cell Block D, Padded Cell 13
PDA: Dell Axim X30 High
Phone: Motorola V220
Carrier: Cellular One
PMP: TCPMP
iTrader Rating: (0)
View MyPDA
Just look around on Newegg.com at some of the TV tuners.
Dell Axim X30 High
2 Kingston 256MB SD Cards
Kingston 512MB SD Card
Dell Foldable Keyboard
Rhinoskin Hard Case
Atari Retro Card
YodaEXE is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-05, 05:12 PM   #4 (permalink)
Aximsite Major League
 
darundal's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 349
PDA: Toshiba e755
iTrader Rating: (0)
Don't have one, but generally Happauge cards are good. If you want a solution with a graphics card, ATI recently released an x1800 with a tuner in it, and if that is too rich for your blood they also have an x800 and an x600. Only thing is they use Theater Pro 200 chips as opposed to the newer Theater Pro 500 that they use in their dedicated tuner line.
"Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think."
--Jean de la Bruyere
darundal is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-05, 08:59 PM   #5 (permalink)
Aximsite Hall of Fame

 
Grentz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 8,144
Location: Midwest, USA
PDA: X50v
Phone: Blackjack
Carrier: AT&T
Laptop: Thinkpad T61
PMP: iPod Touch 32gb
iTrader Rating: (15)
View MyPDA
make sure it works with regular xp (if thats what you are getting), but the tuners listed here:

http://www.windowsmarketplace.com/Re...aspx?collID=98

are some of the best ones out there

50$ is on the low end for a tv tuner, just keep that in mind


http://www.windowsmarketplace.com/pr...1207757&stext=
this is one of the best out there IMO, with dual tuners and good quality, but it is more expensive

Top Notch MyPDA Aximsite Active Silver Member Moderator Medal Bronze Poster 

Grentz is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-05, 11:05 PM   #6 (permalink)
Aximsite All Star

 
forkyfork's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 954
Location: Orlando, FL
PDA: Axim x50v & Palm IIIxe
iTrader Rating: (4)
Thanks for the links, Grentz.

I was looking at the HD tuners. The ATI one you can get for about $100. Is it worth the splurge?

Also, this is my 900th post!

Reviewer Medal 


Last edited by forkyfork; 12-13-05 at 09:43 AM..
forkyfork is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-05, 11:28 PM   #7 (permalink)
Aximsite Hall of Fame

 
Grentz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 8,144
Location: Midwest, USA
PDA: X50v
Phone: Blackjack
Carrier: AT&T
Laptop: Thinkpad T61
PMP: iPod Touch 32gb
iTrader Rating: (15)
View MyPDA
Yes, if you have an HD antenna at your house....

some of those HD ones though cannot receive regular non HD channels very well (when using a off air antenna)

If you really just want all the channels you can get on your normal TV, i would say just get one of the normal ones, (Non-HD)

Top Notch MyPDA Aximsite Active Silver Member Moderator Medal Bronze Poster 

Grentz is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-05, 07:25 AM   #8 (permalink)
Aximsite All Star
 
ironhelix's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 769
Location: -=matrix , near toronto , canada =-
PDA: axim X30
iTrader Rating: (0)
SageTV

ati 9950, 128/256 meg, HDTV

my ownz setup is based on a cheap avermedia pci, with a remote.

my tv aint hdtv...

Aximsite Active Bronze Member 

ironhelix is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-05, 08:17 AM   #9 (permalink)
Banned from Site
 
reese's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 4,311
iTrader Rating: (1)
I reccommend a hauppage... I have tested about every TV tuner you can imagine. The ATi All in Wonders are nice, but only if you also need a new video card. You could opt for the TV wonder, which is an ATi TV tuner without the video card functions.

Hauppage makes some very nice cards, as does ATi... Anything else is subpar!
reese is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-05, 03:09 PM   #10 (permalink)
Aximsite Veteran
 
star882's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,861
PDA: 624MHz Axim X30
iTrader Rating: (0)
Quote:
some of those HD ones though cannot receive regular non HD channels very well (when using a off air antenna)
Actually, EDTV (480p) is about 1/4 or 1/2 the bitrate of HDTV (1080i or 720p). If it could handle HDTV, EDTV would be a piece of cake.
Note that the cheap cards (at least those that actually use a hardware DSP) can attain the same quality as more expensive cards. All the cards do is take data from the signal and decode it. A more expensive card may fare better with a weak signal, use less CPU, or not drop packets as frequently, but that may or may not be important, depending on what you want.
Do, however, stay away from the really cheap cards. More often than not, they're little more than a RF front end and an A/D converter on a card, without a DSP. In other words, they use the CPU as the DSP, and it works very poorly at that. (Remember those winmodems?) They're great for experimenters who want to play around with high speed A/Ds connected to their PCs, but not very good for the intended purpose.

TCPA would take your freedom! Say NO! http://www.againsttcpa.com/
HDTV the way it should be: http://www.mariposahd.tv
Quote:
Originally Posted by A friend of mine who has a Linux kernel named after his girlfriend.
If I was VirtualBox, I could load my virtualization module into Hannah and boot up another kernel in the same address space.

Aximsite Active Bronze Member 

star882 is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-05, 03:25 PM   #11 (permalink)
Aximsite All Star
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 631
iTrader Rating: (0)
im looking for one too
vincentnyc is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-05, 03:27 PM   #12 (permalink)
Aximsite Hall of Fame

 
Grentz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 8,144
Location: Midwest, USA
PDA: X50v
Phone: Blackjack
Carrier: AT&T
Laptop: Thinkpad T61
PMP: iPod Touch 32gb
iTrader Rating: (15)
View MyPDA
[QUOTE=star882]Actually, EDTV (480p) is about 1/4 or 1/2 the bitrate of HDTV (1080i or 720p). If it could handle HDTV, EDTV would be a piece of cake.
[QUOTE]

hehehe, star its ATSC vs NTSC tuners.....its not having to do with quality or bitrates

Avermedia makes some very good cards as well, i dont love the ATI tuners, i think avermedia and hauppage have better quality

Top Notch MyPDA Aximsite Active Silver Member Moderator Medal Bronze Poster 

Grentz is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-05, 07:03 PM   #13 (permalink)
Aximsite Elite
 
Tankman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 3,524
Location: Pennsylvania
PDA: Dell Axim X50v
iTrader Rating: (0)
TV Tuner

Quote:
Originally Posted by darundal
Don't have one, but generally Happauge cards are good. If you want a solution with a graphics card, ATI recently released an x1800 with a tuner in it, and if that is too rich for your blood they also have an x800 and an x600. Only thing is they use Theater Pro 200 chips as opposed to the newer Theater Pro 500 that they use in their dedicated tuner line.
My ATI card works great. Looks great on the LCDTV/Monitor!

Aximsite Active Bronze Member 

Tankman is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 12-03-05, 12:22 PM   #14 (permalink)
Aximsite All Star
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 631
iTrader Rating: (0)
quick question...let say you are watching one show...can you record another show while you watching that show? multiple channel recording at the same time? is this possible or im living in a dream? thx.
vincentnyc is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 12-03-05, 01:35 PM   #15 (permalink)
Aximsite Rookie
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 88
Location: UK
PDA: Axim x51v
iTrader Rating: (0)
Quote:
quick question...let say you are watching one show...can you record another show while you watching that show? multiple channel recording at the same time? is this possible or im living in a dream? thx.
If you get a card with dual tuners, and time slip, although the later is more of a software thing.
magic.d is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Reply

sponsor links



Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:01 PM.