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USB TV Tuner Recommendations and Experiences?
grocer asks: "Due to a piano, the living room suddenly has too much furniture and the TV is going upstairs. I just got a Dell Dimension 4600 with DVD (ROM and RW), 17" Flat screen, and the good speakers and it's staying downstairs. The Dell is under warranty and I'm not opening it, so card based solutions are out. I know it has enough power/space (2.8Ghz, 1GB RAM, 60+ gig free) to run MPEG-2 and do PVR, I just can't find a good review/comparison on the web of USB PVR hardware. I've it gotten down to the Adaptec VideOh! DVD Media Center USB 2.0 or the AVerMedia UltraTV USB 300. Any other recommendations for USB tuners? Anybody else move the TV and replace it with a computer?"
There are plenty of good/great PCI card options you should look at. Opening a computer and installing one isn't very difficult.
and do what you want with it. It's a PC-- that is Personal Computer. Warranty, schmarranty. Next time, just pick the pieces you want and assemble it yourself and save a grand or two...
"You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas"
Sen. Davy Crocket to US Congress, Nov. 1, 1835
Open the PC up. That doesn't void your warranty does it? If so, COMPLAIN COMPLAIN COMPLAIN. It's not like your doing a motherboard replacement. You are just sticking a card in a slot. Besides, if you ever have to send the PC in for warantee, just pull the card out first and they'll never know.
USB things will take up more CPU time than a PCI based solution. If you must go external, I'd spend the cash and see if you can find a FireWire TV tuner. FireWire is designed to handle digital video.
Sorry, I just don't understand the "won't open the PC" part. It's not like it's a laptop. Those slots are more than just decoration ;)
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
opening your box probably won't void your warranty. They expect that you will be putting cards in it. In fact I believe when I had a Vaio, sony told me I could open it and add components. The warranty covers the items from manufacturers defect. So if a card just suddenly stops working then it will cover it. If you spill coffee all over it, it won't unless you buy the complete coverage plan. But this whole thing of not opening your box is retarded. I am sure you can open it and put in a good tv tuner card. I use the ATI TV Wonder
Make sure the device you get accepts audio thru the device and can do the recording of the audio without you pluging the device into your audio card.
It will save you the hassle of trying to make sure the levels are correct.
I just built out a HTPC this week... consider these sites for some basic info...
Linux - http://freevo.sourceforge.net
Windows - http://www.myhtpc.net
Lots of luck!
Sig (appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)... oops
It was absolutely horrible. Very small, grainy, jerky picture. I would skip the USB and go with a high quality internal card. I can't imagine that would void the warranty anyway - they just won't provide support for the card.
seriouslyexcited.net
But AFAIK, my parents computer is a branded one and comes from a big national retailer. Opening the box to add cards or memory specificaly don't void the warranty for the remaining of the piece. The only thing that is specified on the warranty is that the warranty don't cover the cards you add or if the new driver cause instability to Windows. But it absolutly don't void the warranty.
yes...he does.
What's a "Happgauge"? I googled and got no results. I'm thinking of getting a TV Tuner for my computer as well, and I need to find a good PCI card.
- shazow
I have an Hauppauge WinTV-GO. It's the cheapest of Hauppauge tuners but it works great for me under both Mandrake Linux and Windows 2000. The only thing is that I don't have a processor fast enough (500mhz Celeron) to record and encode on the fly so I have to save to uncompressed AVI. You have a better processor than me so you should be able to encode your shows on the fly and do PVR no problem with that low-budget card. Good luck!
A final tip: find a video editing software to cut the publicity in the programs you want to keep!
I had an ATI TV Wonder USB, and the thing was crap all around. Image quality blew, as did sound unless you hooked your sound right up to the VCR (assuming you had one). If that wasn't bad enough, the ATI TV software is absolutely wretched. Unstable as hell, basic stuff like crashing if you click the channel-down button past the first channel (in my case, channel 2), etc. Pretty shoddy all around. I've heard good things about Leadtek's TV2000, though that is an internal card. Definitely be careful about these external TV devices, and stay away from really cheap stuff.
"What can a thoughtful man hope for mankind on Earth, given the experience of the past million years? Nothing." -Bokonon
I have this card and it is fine, though I don't use any of the pvr functions. I wish i had bought the hauppage though. From all i read/hear they work great and they are better supported (MCE and linux). Besides, I am annoyed w/ ATI's driver crap anyway.
Put some vagasil on that aching pussy and open up the damn computer.
There are open PCI slots in it for a reason, use them.
They have USB TV tuners. I have their PCI PVR, the USB one must be pretty good as well.
http://www.hauppage.com/pages/prods_usbs.html
I got rid of my desktop and wanted to also to get
...
rid of my TV and luve entirely off my laptop.
So I got AverMedia to watch occasional TV like
world cup soccer but it will be unused for months
at a time. In any case here goes:
Picture is fine, rather crisp though the UHF antenna
connection is made with an extra cable which looks
flimsy.
Sound does not go through USB but comes out the
audio jack and you can run it into your
microphone jack in your laptop to get sound. This
sucks as the sound often lags, esp. if you are
taxing you laptop. You can run headphones and such
off the jack directly which is a bit better. In
most cases audio/video sink is good enough as to
not bother me. For once a year use it is good.
The software sucks ass. It is not very intuitive
(I spent many minutes looking for how to adjust
sound) and some options are hidden in main
config screen where they should be directly
accessible.
The worst part about AverMedia is that it powers
off of USB so every time you put your laptop to
sleep it shuts off and you have to unplug and
replug the cable to get it to start grabbing frames
again. Pain in the
So to sum up: AverMedia does what I want and I do
not regret buying it but if you watch TV on a
regular basis then stay away from this crap.
Since we seem to be saying "No, you have to use a PCI card, USB solutions stink" let's shift just a little and talk about PCI solutions.
There's not much point in going non-HDTV, at this point, and I'd like to wait until the last minute to buy -- as I expect them to improve. But buying them before they are forced to include DRM seems paramount.
What are you other folks thinking? Do you expect them to improve? Do you expect DRM to appear before the July 2005 cutoff?
Very nice product (except the ugly interface on the software)
opening your Dell does NOT, I repeat NOT, void the warrenty. I dont know why people think that.
Get the best card on the market, the Hauppauge WintTV-PVR250, and behappy for ever. You can get it for less than 150.
If you are really averse to opening your machine, get the external version, the WinTV-PVR-USB2.
Both have a hardware MPEG2 encoder builtin, and produce fantastic quality, much ebtter than the Avermedia crap you are looking at.
My post on the subject .
c reation/ht /vhsdvdcnvt.htm
a nd _Sound/USB_Video_Capture.htm
My conclusions: My basic conclusions (after researching a few websites and user forums). USB 2 TV cards are pretty commonplace, although there are only one or two HDTV cards that are USB-based. Linux supports a lot of TV cards, although it's iffier for USB devices (and nonexistent for USB/HDTV devices). Even with a TV card, support can be iffy, so you better have access to good tech support (or buy it locally if you want to swap it out). Laptops can get HDTV, but it uses a lot of CPU and memory.
I want to upgrade, but I can't decide whether to do it to laptop or desktop. My main requirement is for it to accomodate video editing and that it be totally linux friendly. If it's theoretically possible to add a USB hard drive and a TV capture card, then the the main reason for staying with a laptop is no matter one of form factor but of required computing power.
The real question is whether I really need for my laptop/PC to have video capture/tuning capability. A computer is a computer, not a TV. It would be helpful to convert VHS to AVI's or to watch HDTV, but would it be worth the trouble to get everything configured? This is a case where merely because a laptop can receive HDTV signals doesn't imply that you should buy/make it.
good brief how to on dvd creation
http://desktopvideo.about.com/cs/vcddvd
http://tuxmobil.org/mobile_tv.html
small site about linux laptop tv solutions
http://www.tv-cards.com/reviews.php
reviews of TV cards (with OS support)
http://www.usbhdtv.com/specification_01.html
USB HDTV card (no linux support)
http://www.everythingusb.com/hardware/Graphics_
a selling site
Robert Nagle, Idiotprogrammer, Houston
Here's another great thread on the dell website about usb HDTV ready TV cards for dell laptops. It's a very long thread. Make sure to go to the rest of the discussion on later pages.
Robert Nagle, Idiotprogrammer, Houston
For a bottom end, dirt cheap machine, you can't beat the prices that OEM's buy thier parts for. That $300 PC is something thats a lot more difficult to put together without the big bulk orders.
When you're trying to build a high end machine is when things change. Buying the best parts and putting them together yourself will save you lots of money over any pre-built machine. On a high end machine the markup over retail prices is sickening. On top of that you still don't know wether you're getting good parts or cheap OEM boards built with substandard components.
I have a PCI PVR-250 from Hauppauge, and I love it. The video quality is great and the applications are stable and easy to use. I would imagine their USB models are also good. Get something with a hardware encoder if possible. It makes it much easier to record a show while using your computer for something else.
I previously had an ATI TV Wonder, and I could never get it to work right with my nVidia video card. I wonder if they do that on purpose? I gave the TV Wonder to my brother, and it works ok for him for live TV, but the PVR software sucks.
If you have DISH Network, get a DVB-S card, get Nagravision decryption software, and download Dish Network keys. You can get the raw MPEG2 stream that way :).
Karma: Excellent (fuck, even in the future moderation doesn't work!)
I don't know if they've solved this problem, but the early-generation USB tuner I have (Hauppage WinTV PVR USB) buffers quite a bit of data, making things like playing consoles through it effectively impossible.
Arguing about vi versus Emacs is like arguing whether it's better to make fire by rubbing sticks or banging rocks.
According to the spec sheet, it's got almost the same features as the ATI All-in-wonder, without having to crack open the case. In reality... it doesn't even come close, despite costing $99 even at a discount.
Left three phone messages over a two-week period for the support group. None of them was returned. Sending them email, you don't even get an autoresponder.
After wasting a lot of time on it, I threw it in the garbage.
ATI's all-in-wonder is great, but I don't think they make a USB version. The Hauppage is pricey, but, it's well-supported and there's even third-party applications available for it.
See here:
o nics.com/ ednmag/article/CA411162
www.usbhdtv.com
www.sasem.com
www.reed-electr
hauppauge WinTV-PVR-usb2 is the only way to go. Its got onboard mpeg2 encoding. I hear its basically identical to the pvr 250 pci model but in a usb2 form factor.
Slightly more expensive than pci, but worth it.
All usb models have to do some video compression, the cheap models do some really crappy compression, the mpeg2 ones are decent.
And I have had no problems with having Motherboards and stuff replaced after I had opened the case. What use is having a few free slots if you can't use them until the 3 year warranty is up?
I have a laptop and am looking for a USB TV tuner that will work well with Linux. The system is a P4 1.6ghz with 512mb ram.
...just as a thought - make sure your ports are USB 2.0 ports.
On that note, is there a firewire solution?
'If you're flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit.'
... that may not be an option, for example on a small form-factor PC with only one available PCI slot. Like the Mini-ITX PC currently sitting beside my TV. It already has a PCI card installed (wireless ethernet, though at some point I'll run some wired ethernet in and get a second internal tuner card).
So for me, an external DVB tuner was the only option, and I purchased a Hauppage DEC 2000-T box. This box also has the advantage of also functioning as a standalone DVB-T tuner if desired, which may be handy if & when I retire this PC.
The DEC2000-T was pretty unstable when I first installed it, but it looks like that was down to Linux driver problems - the 2.6.7 kernel I'm running now is working just great with this & MythTV, and the driver author has been pretty responsive to bug reports. I haven't needed to reset the tuner in months and I haven't had a bad recording from it in months either.
It's only a USB 1.1 device, but I haven't had any problems there either. It has no problems in transferring a live TV signal. Granted, the only other USB devices I'm using are a keyboard and mouse...
But yeah, I can recommend a DEC 2000-T. Works for me.
An internal tuner is also not an option for a laptop.
This limited warranty does not cover:
, standalone pc card from dell:
* Software, including the operating system and software added to the Dell-branded hardware products through our factory-integration system, third-party software, or the reloading of software
* Non-Dell branded and Solution Provider Direct products and accessories
* Problems that result from:
External causes such as accident, abuse, misuse, or problems with electrical power
Servicing not authorized by Dell
Usage that is not in accordance with product instructions
Failure to follow the product instructions or failure to perform preventive maintenance
[b]Problems caused by using accessories, parts, or components not supplied by Dell[/b]
* Products with missing or altered Service Tags or serial numbers
* Products for which Dell has not received payment
Since neither the USB dongle or the pci card would be supplied by dell your warranty would be not different after opening up the case.
Or you could buy a
Dell has remarkably good service. I bought a dell laptop from my boss last year who has purchased it at a sale at a university the year before that. P1, 64Mb ram, nothing special, but it was tiny. Anywho... so i got it, it was wiped, installed a copy of 98SE i had laying around, but a lot of things didn't work. Called up dell and they guy spent half an hour on the phone with me looking up sound, video and modem drivers for a 5 year old laptop that i'd purchased fourth party. Thats what i call service.
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
I've used the Adaptec VideOh USB 2.0 on a 1.3GHz Duron system for about a year and it works very well. I then use a Gateway Connected DVD to play recorded video The only caveat here is that although the VideOh outputs MPEG-2 video, the audio stream is raw PCM (LPCM) which the Gateway doesn't handle. Therefore I have to either re-encode the audio or transcode to something else like Divx.
I have a couple recommendations.
If your not picky about picture quality, the Hauppauge USB TV works fine on my laptop's 15" screen albeit, a little fuzzy when I blow it up to full screen.
Better however is the newer Hauppauge (http://www.hauppauge.com) PVR USB offerings as they have built in hardware compression and can deliver a rather stunning picture at full screeen. The downside is to make sure you have USB 2.0 and not the 1.1 as that would create problems.
I have both of these models, and also use a program called "Beyond TV3" with it which allows me to do "VCR" like operations when I'm not home or using the computer. I can time-shift all my favorites. And soon when the IR emitter gets here, I can have it control my DISH (tm) reciever as well to take care of changing channels for me.
Cheers.
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