I've been playing around with my new computer and Windows Vista's Media Center looks pretty darn sweet. Teaming it up with a cheap TV Tuner, it looks like I can create a TiVO Replacement pretty quick. Also with this huge HD I should have lots of room for recording... Anyhow this seems like a good idea, and the MC interface is pretty sharp.
Anyone have recommendations for TV Tuners for Vista? Newegg has the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1250 for only $49... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116024
I DON'T have HDTV, just regular cable. And presumably these cards need to support the new "Digital" cable changes that are coming next year... but anyway this looks pretty easy to setup. Also with a TV Tuner/Capture Card on PCI-Express presumably it'll be fast enough and good enough quality to plug in my S-VHS VCR and digitize all my old VHS tapes too. For only $49 just for that it's worth it!
Anyway going to look into this and see if anyone knows which cards are good and so on. Some of them come with remotes too which is pretty neat. I really like the idea of making my computer a TiVO, and since I have a 750Gb Drive, I'll have plenty of room for recording stuff.
I'd look into a HD card, as you can pick up free HD programing over the air (OTA). Being in a city you should be able to do a bit of googling to see what the reception is like in your area, then all you'd need is a cheap antenna. You can usually get the main channels OTA. I know my brother can pick up HD NBC from Buffalo from Hamilton, as well as HD CBC.
ReplyDeleteI have a Hauppauge HVR-950 that works great (although I've only used it with ubuntu and win xp, not vista). It's a little USB stick with a coax jack on one end. It only does analog broadcast and cable, plus atsc digital broadcast, but not digital cable. If you plan on getting cable at any point it might be a good idea to get the newer WinTV-HD one because it can tune into digital cable in addition to the normal analog stuff. I think that one is a pci card, but that should work fine if you just plan on using it with your sweet new pc.
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