Which TV tuner?

hi everyone, my name is mtarm1(mark) and im in brissie australia, this is my first post but i cant say ive read to much on these forums... i frequent the NBR and DTR forums though.

ok so after doing much reasearch through google etc i havnt found a clear cut winner for my needs

i want a good quality dual HDTV tuner that has a full remote and it would be good (but not needed) if it had a decent MC itself

i would prefer to buy from the two stores below and keep it under $150 AU but am open to buying online (from australia)

http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf (bad site i know, tv tunners are 3rd page 1st column)

or

Online Computer Store - Umart Online Your one stop Computer Shop for computer parts,notebook and new system (under the video editing tab on the right)

cheers
mtarm1

Hi there

Hauppage stuff now works with W7 (and W7 Windows Media center).

I think in 'OZ the DVB-T system is the same as Europe (W). There's some HDTV hardware as well as the more usual DVB-T usb sticks. You can get Satellite receiver stuff as well but don't know how you'd fit the "de-scrambler" or Viewing card so you'd be limited to FTA transmissions only.

Pinnacle also works now its been taken over by Hauppage.

Cheers
jimbo

I highly recommend the DigitalNow TinyTwin USB

DigitalNow

I've had it running for the past couple months on Windows 7 Ultimate flawlessly. Comes with remote and its own Media/Recording software or integrates perfectly with WMC 7.

It's also only $129 delivered, so comes in well within your budget.

oh sorry i would rather an internal tuner and i dont have cable atm so that is not needed.

thanks
mtarm1

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1800 has dual tuners and you can use cable or air antenna. I have this tuner in a Windows 7 PC with cable tv and internet service, this combination works great for me here in the US.

mtarm1 said:

oh sorry i would rather an internal tuner and i dont have cable atm so that is not needed.

thanks
mtarm1

I was originally looking at an internal tuner as well, but the TinyTwin got such great reviews and had so few reported problems with Windows 7 that I changed my mind, and I'm glad I did. It's a real quality piece of kit.

I would strongly recommend NOT to buy Dvico Fusion DD4. I had this originally with Vista MC and never got it working properly. It would always lose one of the tuners and had to reboot to get it back. You can search any of the MC forums (XPMediacentre.com.au for instance) for numerous examples of how bad this card is. I then bought a Hauppage Nova-T 500 (bit more than your suggested budget) but I am very happy with it. It just works after the install with no problems since. Just upgraded to Win7 and it continued to work a dream and still cannot get the DD4 working. So just about to rip it out and throw it in the bin (well sell it really) and get another NovaT.

Haven't had any other tv cards so can't comment on others.

good luck

Dunno about Australian DVB standards, but I would recommend you check out whether the Hauppauge WinTV Nova TD500 dual-tuner PCI card meets your local protocols.

Works flawlessly in W7 Media Centre, and inexpensive too.

It's a low profile card too. In the UK it ships with a standard backplane bracket - but Hauppauge will ship you a low profile bracket free if you request one.

It is distributed in Aus via Newmagic (New Magic) and is fairly easy to find at most computer retailers. (btw I am nothing to do with them I just like their cards they import as they just work flawlessly)

whats everyone think of this one?
AVerMedia AVerTV Global - AVerTV TV Tuners and Multimedia Products - AVerTV TwinStar PCI-E