TV tuner card recommendations!

[jonnyt]

Can somebody recommend a Tv tuner card, I'm running windows 7 64 bit. I want a card that will work with Comcast cable. I want it to be as inexpensive as possible, but not total garbage I'll pay for quality if I have to, I'm willing to sacrifice stuff like recording and remote for a quality yet inexpensive card.
thanks in advance

[jdeb]

without remote
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815116037

with remote
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815116036

make sure you have plenty of ram

[GandalftheGrey]

i read somewhere that firewire or usb 2.0 tv tuners run more efficiently than do pci express 1.0 cards. Is this true? Are there any advantages to getting a pci card instead of a usb 2.0 or firewire connection?

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by GandalftheGrey i read somewhere that firewire or usb 2.0 tv tuners run more efficiently than do pci express 1.0 cards. Is this true? Are there any advantages to getting a pci card instead of a usb 2.0 or firewire connection?

True? In a word, no. There's more overhead with external devices.

It's better to go for internal components. Better driver support, better performance.

[andper10]

Originally Posted by jonnyt I'm willing to sacrifice stuff like recording and remote for a quality yet inexpensive card. thanks in advance

You shouldn't have to sacrifice recording because Windows Media Center built into Windows 7 is designed to work with most TV tuners. I have been using it in the Windows 7 Release Candidate since August and it is great. Your computer practically doubles as a TIVO. Getting a tuner with a remote is a good idea if you plan to attach your computer to a TV so you can pause etc. without having to get up and click pause on the computer.

I have this off brand tuner and it works wonderfully with Windows Media Center. But since I watch/record over the air TV and you are looking to watch/record cable, you will probably want to get a different tuner than mine. A dual tuner card will allow you to watch one show while recording another or record two shows at once (and watch one of those while it is being recorded if you want). You will just need to use a cheap splitter and 2 short cables to connect between the splitter and the tv tuner card's inputs.

[glc]

USB has a lot of overhead, but Firewire is as efficient as an internal card.

[GandalftheGrey]

Can someone please explain what ATSC and Clear QAM are? what channels do I get under these standards? Are these channels free or are there pay services for getting additional channels under these standards?

Thanks.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by GandalftheGrey Can someone please explain what ATSC and Clear QAM are? what channels do I get under these standards? Are these channels free or are there pay services for getting additional channels under these standards? Thanks.

http://hd.engadget.com/2009/05/08/hd...qam-and-8-vsb/

[jonnyt]

So are there any reputable tv tuners that work with comcast under $100 if not I'm gonna have to wait a little until I can afford it.

[glc]

Any card with a standard analog tuner will work as long as you have a cable box.

[jonnyt]

yeah.... I don't plan to hook up a cable box, just off the wall (only channels 1-100)

[glc]

Are you sure that Comcast is still passing all those channels through without a box? Connect your cable directly to a TV to see what you can get.

[jonnyt]

Originally Posted by glc Are you sure that Comcast is still passing all those channels through without a box? Connect your cable directly to a TV to see what you can get.

yes I have 150+ channels but in rooms without a box we only get 1-100