media center pci freeview card help...
 

hi, anyone give me any advice on the best way forwards?

my trusty pace twin has just started playing up (more than usual) so ive
retired the old girl. Ive got a PC connected to my TV so would like some
advice on the best way to turn it into a pvr.

Its running vista home premium and is a core 2 duo. Ive got one spare PCI
slot so would like to know..

whats best, PCI or USB
which model, i'd like digital freeview (not bothered about analoge) with
dual tuner.
would a PCI card create much heat?
Id like to use media centre with the supplied MS remote if possible

Also, while ive got your attention, can anyone explain why i get a good
sharp icture using a VGA cable, but when i got a (quite cheap) DVI to HDMI
cable it looked crap with washed out colour and blurred edges?

thanks for your advice in advance

Daz

media center pci freeview card help...
 

daz wrote:
hi, anyone give me any advice on the best way forwards?

my trusty pace twin has just started playing up (more than usual) so ive
retired the old girl. Ive got a PC connected to my TV so would like
some advice on the best way to turn it into a pvr.

Its running vista home premium and is a core 2 duo. Ive got one spare
PCI slot so would like to know..

whats best, PCI or USB
which model, i'd like digital freeview (not bothered about analoge) with
dual tuner.
would a PCI card create much heat?
Id like to use media centre with the supplied MS remote if possible

Also, while ive got your attention, can anyone explain why i get a good
sharp icture using a VGA cable, but when i got a (quite cheap) DVI to
HDMI cable it looked crap with washed out colour and blurred edges?

thanks for your advice in advance

Daz

I'm using a Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T-500 card. Dual tuner and drivers are
fully vista compatable on the disc.

Have no issues with this card.

I use VGA as apposed to the DVI - HDMI connection I bought also. You
will need to upgrade the video card for one that specifically stated HD.
I know that video output is HD or better quality. Your video card will
autodetect the correct resolution via your VGA cable connection but has
to be set manually for HDMI. Problem is for the HDMI you need to set
Horz and Vertical timings etc.

Regards
Glenn

media center pci freeview card help...
 

"Usenet" wrote in message
...
daz wrote:
hi, anyone give me any advice on the best way forwards?

my trusty pace twin has just started playing up (more than usual) so ive
retired the old girl. Ive got a PC connected to my TV so would like some
advice on the best way to turn it into a pvr.

Its running vista home premium and is a core 2 duo. Ive got one spare
PCI slot so would like to know..

whats best, PCI or USB
which model, i'd like digital freeview (not bothered about analoge) with
dual tuner.
would a PCI card create much heat?
Id like to use media centre with the supplied MS remote if possible


thanks for your advice in advance

Daz


I don't think that you can be certain that a particular PCI card will work
in your computer. My Avermedia PCI Freeview card worked very well in one
computer (Asus motherboard), but refused to work at all in another one
(Asrock M/B). I really tried very hard to make it work (unsuccessfully), and
eventually bought a Nebula USB adapter. This is very small and works very
well. A slave unit (a second tuner?) is available

Sylvain.

Also, while ive got your attention, can anyone explain why i get a good
sharp icture using a VGA cable, but when i got a (quite cheap) DVI to
HDMI cable it looked crap with washed out colour and blurred edges?
I'm using a Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T-500 card. Dual tuner and drivers are
fully vista compatable on the disc.

Have no issues with this card.

I use VGA as apposed to the DVI - HDMI connection I bought also. You will
need to upgrade the video card for one that specifically stated HD. I know
that video output is HD or better quality. Your video card will autodetect
the correct resolution via your VGA cable connection but has to be set
manually for HDMI. Problem is for the HDMI you need to set Horz and
Vertical timings etc.

Regards
Glenn

media center pci freeview card help...
 

daz wrote:
hi, anyone give me any advice on the best way forwards?

my trusty pace twin has just started playing up (more than usual) so ive
retired the old girl. Ive got a PC connected to my TV so would like
some advice on the best way to turn it into a pvr.

Its running vista home premium and is a core 2 duo. Ive got one spare
PCI slot so would like to know..

whats best, PCI or USB

This is almost irrelevant as long as you have usb a 2.0 pc & usb dvb stick
(which virtually all dvb sticks are nowadays) instead of usb 1.1. Usually
companies use the same basic software for all their dvb products so a company by
company comparison may be better.

which model, i'd like digital freeview (not bothered about analoge) with
dual tuner.

I've a nebula DigiTV card which I like a lot although they are expensive (but
worth it) and they do multi tuner bundles.

would a PCI card create much heat?

It would make some, but hopefully not much.

Id like to use media centre with the supplied MS remote if possible

Then make sure your tuner comes with "BDA" drivers which almost all do nowadays.

Also, while ive got your attention, can anyone explain why i get a good
sharp icture using a VGA cable, but when i got a (quite cheap) DVI to
HDMI cable it looked crap with washed out colour and blurred edges?

I'm unsure but maybe your tv is set to apply some filtering or upscaling on the
HDMI input but not the VGA?

It's just a guess.

thanks for your advice in advance

Daz