HTPC HD Tuner Question

[Grievearz]

I hope this is in the right section, if not mods please move it.

I'm currently looking to invest in an HD tuner for my computer. I use Vista Media Center and so far the only HD tuner card that I see that has QAM (Unencrypted HD) that will function with Vista's media center is the HDHomeRun (Newegg.com - SiliconDust HD Homerun Dual Network HDTV ATSC/QAM Tuner IPC-HDHOMERUN Ethernet Interface - Retail) Currently I use Cox Cable and they do have QAM channels.

Does anyone on this board have any experience with this card or QAM/HD Tuners in general so I know a little bit about what to expect? Will the HD signal be widescreen in media center when I maximize it or will it be widescreen with the black at the top and bottom and cropped. For that last question experience with OTA HDTV tuners will suffice.

Any advice or sharing of experiences is also appreciated!

 

[veedubfreak]

hauppage 1800 media edition dude. I have one in my media pc and its a great card. Sadly comcast are nazis and dont have any QAM channels so i can only use my digital feed from the cable box and analog on the tuner.

 

[Grievearz]

The Hauppage 1800 does not support using QAM through MCE. It's a great card but it doesn't do what I need it to do.

 

[PRVRT]

The Hauppage 1800 does not support using QAM through MCE. It's a great card but it doesn't do what I need it to do.

It doesn't? ---> Newegg.com - Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1800 MCE Kit 1128 NTSC/ATSC/QAM/FM TV Tuner Card w/MCE Remote - Retail

 

[veedubfreak]

It does, but comcast is craptastic and has no qam channels.

 

[Grievearz]

The problem is with MCE itself. It doesn't yet support QAM tuners. The reason HDHomeRun is different is it tunes the QAM and sends it to your computer as a standard HD signal. It says it's fully supported by MCE because in fact it is, but you will be unable to watch QAM through the Vista Media center, you'd have to use their bundled media center which is no where near as good.

Does anyone have experience with OTA tuners and MCE?