HDTV Tuner card advice - analog hw encoding?

[enigma9o7]

First, let me say I don't have nor ever plan on getting cable or satellite, just talking about broadcast tv. I've read a lot about BeyondTV 4 and it sounds great, now I need to pick the right card.

I want to pick up both HDTV and analog tv (broadcast). I've read that it is best to get a card that does hardware encoding, especially on older PCs. If I understand right, all HDTV will already be encoded, but analog tv must be encoded either by the card or by the cpu.

So which tuner cards do both hdtv and analog with hardware encoding and work with Beyond TV? Which one is better, and why?

Also, can I record two channels at once, one analog, and one hd, with the one card?

Thanks a lot!

[cpmiv]

Discussed on SS Blog

http://blogs.snapstream.com/2005/10/...ber-18th-2005/

[enigma9o7]

Thanks for the link, it answered my question - there currently are no cards with both atsc and ntsc tuners that do hardware encoding... lame.

Anyone have an idea, will this kind of thing be produced anytime soon? If something is coming out shortly, I'd rather hold off in the meantime.

[mgools]

The Kworld ATSC-110 will do HDTV and analog both, but does not have hardware encoding on the analog (and not needed for HD). I would recommend a Hauppauge PVR-150 and a Kworld ATSC-110. I have had great luck with that setup.

[Vladi]

Why not get two cards, as I did:
1. Fusion HDTV 5Lite Bundle from Snapstream - http://store.snapstream.com/fusionhdtv-lite.html
2. Diamond PVR550 from Newegg - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815117702

The Diamond PVR550is an absolute sweet deal. For $85, it comes with Beyond TV 3.5, Beyond Media, and a Firefly remote.

So all you have to do is upgrate to BTV 4.0 for $29.