About to take the plunge - some help please

[hiptech]

Greetings all,

Recently finished a new PC build and have been going around and around on this all summer and can't seem decide on a PVR card. Keep switching between HDTV and standard.

Maybe someone can help answer a few questions:

1 - If I primarily plan to record OTA (don't have cable or satellite) can an HDTV card still record analog programs?

2 - Mostly will use PC monitor but would also like to view on regular TV too, will HDTV show improved pix when displayed on a analog CRT TV?

Appreciate any help or suggestions.

PS - Would like to get this resolved and ordered before next Tuesday as new season of House, MD starts!!!

BTW, here is my setup:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Dual Core Processor
Cooler: Scythe Ninja Plus CPU Cooler (SCNJ-1000P)
Mem: OCZ (1GBx2) EL PC-3200 - 400MHz DDR Platinum Dual Channel (OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K R)
Mobo: Asus A8N-SLI Premium nForce4 SLI Socket 939 AMD ATX Motherboard
Video: eVGA e-GeForce 7800 GT CO - 256MB, PCI-E x16 (256-P2N-517AX)
HD: C-Drive - WesternDigital Raptor 74GB SATA 150, 10,000 RPM, 8MB Cache (WD740GD)
D-Drive Raid-0 (2) - WesternDigital CaviarRE2 400GB SATA, 7200 RPM, 16MB Cache (WD4000YR)
E-Drive Backup - WesternDigital CaviarRE2 400GB SATA, 7200 RPM, 16MB Cache (WD4000YR)
Optical: - Plextor Dual Layer DVD±RW Writer (PX-716A)
- NEC 16X DVD+/-R Burner (DVR-ND-3550A)
Floppy/USB: Mitsumi Black 7-in-1 Internal Memory Card R/W + Floppy Combo (FD-FA404M)
PSU: ThermalTake 680W+PFC Black P/S (W0049RUC)
Case: Mid-Tower 11 drive bays; (4)5.25", (2)Ext 3.5" and (5)Int 3.5" (NZXT Lexa)
Audio: Sound Blaster Audigy PCI (2 ZS)
Monitor: ViewSonic 20.1" Wide, 1680x1050 Resolution, 600:1 Contrast Ratio, 8ms Response Time (VA2012WB)
OS: XP Pro SP2

Thanks for any help!

[nanook105]

Every HD card that I have seen doesn't have a HW tuner, so they are not very good for analog recording

[cfaslave]

If you're going to just use a monitor and a crt tv, I would recommend you buy a standard tv, hardware encoding pvr card. My preference is the Hauppauge PVR 150 or 500 cards. Circuit City has a good deal now on the pvr 500 with free shipping. It expires this Saturday though. There are other good cards, but those are the ones I'm familiar with.

Brent

[vogelap]

I use two cards: a PVR 250 and a FusionHDTV in my machine, and they're both great.

[hiptech]

Really appreciate the replies.

After reading through the threads here it almost seems like a "crap shoot" as to which card works.

BTW cfaslave, that is a good deal on the card.

I did some more checking and I think I might go with the DVICO FusionHDTV5 Lite, HDTV Tuner.

Also, nanook105 - I asked about the DVICO and according to a reliable source this card does have a tuner so I'm confused about your statement?

[nanook105]

Sorry my reply wasn't very clear. I have a Divco FusionHDTV Gold (USB) and I don't have any issues with it recording over the air HD. While it can record analog, it does not have a hardware encoder, so it will use a considerable amount of CPU to record analog.

Also, the choice of tuners is not a crap shoot. Take a look at my sig - I have a number of Hauppauge PVR tumers ( 2 Pvr150s, 2 PVR250s, 1 PVR350, 2 PVRUSB2s), and a NVidia DualTV tuner(s) along with my 2 HD tuners. All of my tuners are very stable.

[hiptech]

Originally Posted by nanook105

Sorry my reply wasn't very clear. I have a Divco FusionHDTV Gold (USB) and I don't have any issues with it recording over the air HD. While it can record analog, it does not have a hardware encoder, so it will use a considerable amount of CPU to record analog.

Also, the choice of tuners is not a crap shoot. Take a look at my sig - I have a number of Hauppauge PVR tumers ( 2 Pvr150s, 2 PVR250s, 1 PVR350, 2 PVRUSB2s), and a NVidia DualTV tuner(s) along with my 2 HD tuners. All of my tuners are very stable.

LOL, I guess I wasn't clear either... what I meant to say was it almost seems like a "crap shoot" as to which card works out the box (plug & play).

Thanks for the heads up on the analog recording issue - now I know why most ppl seem to have both analog and HDTV cards. Problem for me is I'm maxed out on PCI slots after this card - may need to look at external USB solution if I add analog later.

[cfaslave]

Originally Posted by hiptech

Thanks for the heads up on the analog recording issue - now I know why most ppl seem to have both analog and HDTV cards. Problem for me is I'm maxed out on PCI slots after this card - may need to look at external USB solution if I add analog later.

If you are not displaying on an HDTV, I would buy a analog standard definition card before I bought an HDTV card.

[cmcquistion]

If you're thinking of HDTV and USB, check out the Vbox Cat's Eye USB HDTV tuner. It is cheaper than the Dvico USB version and it has better signal strength than my Dvico Fusion 5 Lite.

I'm thinking of buying another Vbox USB and ditching the Dvico card, just because I don't want to deal with the PCI slot and IRQ that the Dvico card is using.

I bought my Vbox from PCAlchemy and they had really good service.