Diane said:I'd like to invest minimally in a PC TV card. What are the system
requirements, i.e., how much RAM, etc. for one of these cards to work
properly? Anything else I should know?
TIA
Diane
Additionally many TV Cards require a recent OS
ie at least Windows 98SE
It will likely vary depending on which card you get and whether you
want to record from the card to the computers hard disk. The most
common need is a graphics card with good DirectX support, sufficient
onboard graphics card memory and overlay support. Additionally many TV
Cards require a recent OS ie at least Windows 98SE or higher but the
exact system requirements should be on the manufacturers website or
the product box. What card are you considering and what PC/system do
you have (eg CPU type/speed/memory amount/graphics card and operating
system) and will you want to record with it?
You should be aware that different countries use different tv
broadcast formats which are not compatible with each other meaning for
example that a card bought in the UK is unlikely to work proprly when
used in the USA and vice versa. Its therfore best to buy a local
product for use in your country.
Paul
I'm considering the Hauppauge Win-TV PVR 250 or something along those
lines. I have an HP Pavilion Intel Celeron CPU 2.50 GHz 248 mb ram,
according to the control panel it's a Legacy Video Capture Device if that's
the graphics card. Other than that I haven't a clue, and my OS is Windows
XP. I'll be buying in the USA. Yes, I'd like to record with it so that I
can record one program while watching another.
Diane said:I'm considering the Hauppauge Win-TV PVR 250 or something along those
lines. I have an HP Pavilion Intel Celeron CPU 2.50 GHz 248 mb ram,
according to the control panel it's a Legacy Video Capture Device if
that's
the graphics card. Other than that I haven't a clue, and my OS is Windows
XP. I'll be buying in the USA. Yes, I'd like to record with it so that I
can record one program while watching another.
Compared with Windows 3.1 or 95 it is. The point is that generally only WDMBob said:That is a recent OS? LOL
MS has abandoned it.
Synapse Syndrome said:The PVR cards have a hardware encoding chip...
Harkhof said:Some do, but not all.
I'm considering the Hauppauge Win-TV PVR 250 or something along those
lines. I have an HP Pavilion Intel Celeron CPU 2.50 GHz 248 mb ram,
according to the control panel it's a Legacy Video Capture Device if that's
the graphics card. Other than that I haven't a clue, and my OS is Windows
XP. I'll be buying in the USA. Yes, I'd like to record with it so that I
can record one program while watching another.
The other thing Ill mention briefly which Ive posted ad nauseum about
-- you can ONLY get the analog channels with your TV tuner card
meaning the 125 channels or so from your coax cable. You will NOT be
able to change channels or get your digital channels. I get several
hundred digital channels and only 125 max analog. Many channels in
digital you cant get and the same channel in digital can be cleaner
than the analog version.
You can record these but not through the analog tuner. You have to
hook up your digital box to the card and change channels via the
digital box though you can still get analog channels through the TV
card.
Diane said:Thanks to everyone for the great information. As to the above, I don't
have digital cable, I only have access to regular cable, so I don't
think this is a problem. What I need to be able to do, however, is to
watch one program, while recording another -- much like a VCR. Am I to
understand that I would need two PVR cards to do this?
TIA
Diane
Diane said:Thanks to everyone for the great information. As to the above, I don't
have digital cable, I only have access to regular cable, so I don't
think this is a problem. What I need to be able to do, however, is to
watch one program, while recording another -- much like a VCR. Am I to
understand that I would need two PVR cards to do this?
[email protected] said:You can buy the Hauppauge 150 for $85 retail pack with software and
remote
http://www.buy.com/prod/Hauppauge_W...r_w_TV_Recording_1045/q/loc/101/10385910.html
The 150 if I recall correctly has all the stuff the 250 has but its
cheaper. Its using a newer chip which has all the same features.
Amazon has it around the same price and both say free shipping. If you
get it at Compusa or CC its 99. Im not vouching for the software as I
bought the version below without any software.
If you want to spend less get this - the barebones 150 version. Only
comes with drivers and card for $64 Its been up and down in price. I
got it months ago for $58 or so.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t..._1/002-1887626-3579208?v=glance&s=pc&n=507846
You get a white box with card and drivers no remote control. Frankly I
have no use for the remote so I dont care and many like to buy a
separate remote like FIrefly
http://www.snapstream.com/products/firefly/
I dont think its worth it presonally. I had a remote with my old top
of the line Pinnacle card and never used it. When watching
TV or recording you are sitting right in front of your LCD so its
actually easier using your mouse on the graphical interface to change
channels etc. and control the program.
http://www.snapstream.com/products/firefly/
But what about the software? You need that right? Theres free software
thats very good actually. I use this one since I bought the 150 MCE
above - the barebones version that comes with card and drivers only.
http://gbpvr.com/
This program has a very easy to use interface and is a true FREE
proggram not a trial version or anything.
The only thing these programs use servers to pull their local channel
listings. The free program above uses a free public server which lets
people use their servers but you have to register.
Some programs require you to pay a subscription fee.
Two of the most popular pay PVR programs Snapstream Beyond TV I think
the last time I tried it also had a fee to use a server.
The other popular one SAGE TV doesnt. I think they use some free
server. Both are pay programs though so if you want a free one stick
with http://gbpvr.com/.
--------------------
So the barebones version 150 MCE is $65 plus $0 cost for the GB PVR
free program.
The 150 retail pack with remote and program is 85.
Both have hardware compression. Theoretically this takes a big load
off your PCs processor when capturing and enabling the feature Time
Shifting --- the ability to rewind the program while watching it.
With my old 3200 XP AMD with 1 gig it constantly stalled when trying
to timeshift. Hardware compression is supposed to help in this area.
However its no freebie. I have a AMD 64 3000 with 1 gig now and Ive
found if I go nuts when recording a show - doing heavy WINRAR
compression and decompression, purging and compressing newsgroups and
other heavy duty things I ended up with messed up recorded shows that
had lots of glitches in it.
The other thing Ill mention briefly which Ive posted ad nauseum about
-- you can ONLY get the analog channels with your TV tuner card
meaning the 125 channels or so from your coax cable. You will NOT be
able to change channels or get your digital channels. I get several
hundred digital channels and only 125 max analog. Many channels in
digital you cant get and the same channel in digital can be cleaner
than the analog version.
You can record these but not through the analog tuner. You have to
hook up your digital box to the card and change channels via the
digital box though you can still get analog channels through the TV
card.
Thanks to everyone for the great information. As to the above, I don't
have digital cable, I only have access to regular cable, so I don't
think this is a problem. What I need to be able to do, however, is to
watch one program, while recording another -- much like a VCR. Am I to
understand that I would need two PVR cards to do this?
Thanks to everyone for the great information. As to the above, I don't
have digital cable, I only have access to regular cable, so I don't
think this is a problem. What I need to be able to do, however, is to
watch one program, while recording another -- much like a VCR. Am I to
understand that I would need two PVR cards to do this?
TIA
Diane
As the OP only has Windows XP (and never mentioned anything about the MCEThe ATI did have one reason in its favor that may or may not be
important. Some people with the 150 reported "ghosting" problems with
some fast moving sports action programs which doesnt exist in the ATI.
Im not sure how big a problem this is . I dont see everyone
complaining about it and Ive even seen some people claiming there was
a solution to it but its something mentioned in some threads. I dont
really record or watch a lot of sports so I cant say. But I have
recorded kids shows and they Ive found are really bad in that area
believe it or not. Just watch Power Rangers and other shows and see a
continuous stream of ridiculous scenes sped up with non-stop action -
flipping, karate chopping, twirling around etc I had nightmarish
problems with these shows when trying to capture in lower than DVD
level res as it would get totally blocky etc. And even in these shows
I didnt see problems with ghosting. I did see digital artifacts as the
compression , speed of the broadband cable picture seems to have big
problems all the time with these kids shows and shows in general once
in a while in the original signal.
Of course if you got the ATI then youd have to get TWO ATIs $180+ and
I have no idea if you would have problems with that or not.
You can buy the Hauppauge 150 for $85 retail pack with software and
remote
http://www.buy.com/prod/Hauppauge_W...r_w_TV_Recording_1045/q/loc/101/10385910.html
The 150 if I recall correctly has all the stuff the 250 has but its
cheaper. Its using a newer chip which has all the same features.
Amazon has it around the same price and both say free shipping. If you
get it at Compusa or CC its 99. Im not vouching for the software as I
bought the version below without any software.
As I understand it, the difference between the Hauppage 150 and 250 is
that the 250 includes an onboard chip to do the encoding rather than
depending on the PC's CPU, thus the higher price -- there has to be
some reason for the price difference. This is important if you want to
be able to do anything else while capturing. If you intend to dedicate
the PC as a PVR, then the 150 should be suffucient.
I have the 250 and there is almost no CPU load when capturing.
On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 13:26:12 -0700, J. E. Durbin
Yeah I want to clear that up so as not to confuse the OP --- they both
have hardware encoding. Im not sure why they have the 250 around in
their line up but its been pointed out they are functionally virtually
the same. The 150 uses a new chip that incorporates all the features
except one really minor one I think , at a much lower cost which
results in a lower price. So why do they still have the 250? I dont
know. Its an older product they still have around and some even posted
the 150 looks slightly better picture wise than the 250 but thats
according to some posters. There was a huge decline in hardware
encoding card prices around the time the 150 came out . I dont know if
they all use this new chip but Nvidia has a card , Avermedia and ATI
even used a non ATI chip on version of a TV card - and all were
selling around the 50-60 range. I would stick with the 150 since it
seems to be selling the most and probably has the most information ,
support for it.