tv tuners, dvr software, networking....

[kunar]

Does anybody know much about this? I want to buy a tv tuner card and dvr software to put in my living room computer. I already use this computer to watch tv on hulu and boxee. The problem is that theres a lot of good shows on tv that i dont get to see because of the timing. I want to be able to record these shows and playback on that computer, and also over the network. I'll put another computer in my back bedroom and cancel netflix since i have problems with them twice a week.... I've done some research and found a lot of info, but i want to talk to somebody that knows this stuff first hand. As always, money is a concern as well. Canceling $8 a month netflix isnt worth it if i have $400 in a dvr haha. Anybody have any ideas?

 

[martin]

I've had a tv card in my computer since there have been tv cards. I've used them mostly for transferring video from various video cameras to my computer so that I can edit them and then burn them onto disks. Most of them come with some kind of software that allows you to set them to record stuff from the tuner, kind of like a vcr but easier to use. The new atsc tuner cards are much the same as the older analog cards apart from the fact that you need more computer to push them. the real question comes in where are you getting your signal from? If it's from an antenna I don't see a problem but if you are one of them rich people that have cable, I have no idea

 

[kunar]

i'll just be hooked to an antenna. i cant justify the $60 a month for cable and im trying to even get rid of netflix and hulu plus (each another $8 a month)

this is the tuner ive been looking at, its on the cheaper end but still has good reviews and should do everything i need it to as far as the hardware is concerned. it says it comes with some software but i dont know how well that will work for what i'm doing. once i get that part figured out, i would still like to be able to playback on a different computer, an entirely new problem to figure out.

 

[Jaymz9350]

I can't speak for that card in particular but that is a good brand for TV cards. Also what operating system are you using? If you have Vista or 7 home premium or above the built in media center may do what you want as well as the cards included software.

 

[martin]

I've never used tv cards from that company but my son has and he has always been happy with them. Most of the cards come with some kind of dvr type software but if you don't like the one they provide there are a number of downloadable ones available on the net. regarding streaming them through a local network, I've always found it easier to just transfer the file through the network to the computer I want it on and then play it directly. One thing you could do is get a fast external drive for your video files and just move it around to whichever computer you want to play the files on. It would also make finding the files easier, especially if you only use it for recorded video. It's annoying going through a large internal drive trying to find a file you forgot the name of.

 

[Jaymz9350]

regarding streaming them through a local network, I've always found it easier to just transfer the file through the network to the computer I want it on and then play it directly. One thing you could do is get a fast external drive for your video files and just move it around to whichever computer you want to play the files on. It would also make finding the files easier, especially if you only use it for recorded video. It's annoying going through a large internal drive trying to find a file you forgot the name of.

All you need to do is set the recordings to go to a specific folder and share that folder over the network.

 

[malwarebytes]

I was just wondering about this whole TV Tuner/DVR subject.

I have an MSI 845 Ultra (Ver1) MoBo, which is already 8 years old (Running XP Pro), but it still runs like a champ, so what I wanted to do was take it into the living room and use it as my media center. I bought a card reader with front USB front port (USB 1.1 is all my MoBo can do) and I am planning on using that front port for my wireless keyboard & mouse from the couch.

I'm happy enough with what I have to work with now, since I already have a large collection of music/movies/TV shows on my HDD (and always the ability to transfer new files), but it would be nice to also be able to decode, watch and record TV (and home VHS movies) with my PC via my coax CATV (No Convertor Box or subscription for the CATV, but I do have a cable internet subscription from a CATV provider which should work)

Does anybody have any suggestions?

Should I buy a card? If so, which one?

Should I just get software? What kind? features?

Should I get both?

Or Neither?

Any help will be appreciated!

 

[rrbrian222]

I bought a used Hauppage hvr-1600 pci card off ebay last year and used it now in two different machines and it works pretty well. The software that comes with it (WinTV7) is better than windows media center, which is just too basic for what I need.

My only issue is that the application crashes from time to time, but that may be my hardware setup. I have an AMD Phenom II X2 Dual Core processor (I don't have have the core unlocker active) with a MSI motherboard with built-in graphics (to save on electricity since this machines runs 24/7). I'm also running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit.

I have my satellite dish running into the S-video input and also the off-air antenna connected for HDTV. The DVR software records either one, but not both simultaneously. I have all of my recordings saved to the public directory so they are accessible via ethernet. Just beware, these recordings are huge files so hard drive space goes fast, especially HD broadcasts.

One cool feature I like is being able to generate screen grabs of whatever I'm watching just by hitting the spacebar....pretty nice.

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hvr1600.html

 

[rrbrian222]

but it would be nice to also be able to decode, watch and record TV (and home VHS movies) with my PC via my coax CATV (No Convertor Box or subscription for the CATV, but I do have a cable internet subscription from a CATV provider which should work)

Does anybody have any suggestions?

Not quite sure what you have from reading your post, but it sounds like you would be happy with the card that I have (see above post).

If you want to watch and record live TV you will need a capture card and software, and since you don't have a cable subscription, you'll either have to get one or get an antenna to see what you can get from off-air digital.

However, if you just want to digitize your old VHS tapes or DVDs and turn them into MPEG2 video files, the Hauppauge card will work nicely for that as well.

Just keep in mind that you have older system and it will tax the resources of the computer significantly when you add this cabability. You also must make sure you buy a PCI card, not a PCI-Express since its doubtful your system supports the current expansion card format. Oh, and don't go cheap and buy one of those USB capture devices (Hauppauge sells them as well). That will never work on an old system like yours.

 

[kunar]

All you need to do is set the recordings to go to a specific folder and share that folder over the network.

yeah, thats pretty much what ive come up with too. i just hope that my network will support that kind of data transfer. since ive never done this before, i really dont know what to expect.

i appreciate the input guys, im pretty sure im gonna go with the card i linked to earlier. all i really need is a basic card, only going to be hooked to an antenna. im also gonna have to pick up a new hard drive for storage, what kind of capacity should i be looking at? i can get 500gb for about $40 or 2Tb for about $80, i dont wanna spend more than i have to but at the same time i dont want to regret not going bigger while i had the chance....

 

[rrbrian222]

im pretty sure im gonna go with the card i linked to earlier. all i really need is a basic card, only going to be hooked to an antenna. im also gonna have to pick up a new hard drive for storage, what kind of capacity should i be looking at? i can get 500gb for about $40 or 2Tb for about $80, i dont wanna spend more than i have to but at the same time i dont want to regret not going bigger while i had the chance....

That card should work fine for what you're doing. Just to be sure, that is a PCI-Express card, so it won't work on older machines (2004 and older, give or take a year)

As for drives, I'd just get the 500 GB one.....they always drop in price, won't be long until a 2TB drive is $40. I have 320GB and it runs my setup nicely, though I delete my recordings after a few days or weeks, and I have a 1TB USB drive for long term archival use.

 

[AllanD]

On Hard Drives if you shop Newegg.com and keep watching you can get some really nice deals.

Last week they had a 750gb 6.0Gb/sec "Black" hard drive on sale in one of
their "Shell Shocker" deals for $49. unfortunatly I missed out because I
didn't have enough money available electronically to buy it.

Lately I've been downloading a bunch of stuff off YouTube, Mostly concert videos.

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