TV Tuner Experience

[JogaBonito1502]

I'm looking to buy a TV tuner for my Dell monitor (1080p). Have any of you had any good experiences with a certain brand of TV tuner? I'm looking for something USB/External so I can hook it up either through my laptop or directly. I obviously want it to support HD broadcast. I would prefer if the price was lower than $100, but if not, as close to it as possible. I'm not really looking for links to newegg reviews because I can do that myself. However, if you have good experience with a product, I'd like a link for it (preferably newegg but tigerdirect, bestbuy, etc works). Thanks!

 

[Celegorm]

Five years and 4 tuners, I love hauppauge.

First one died after 4 years of service, the other three have been added later (all between 2 and 1 year old) and they are still going strong. I have two in my media center. Different models but play very well together and Vista and windows 7 just find drivers for them on windows update (32 and 64bit versions). Only my newest (and the cheapest) supports HD and it is crystal clear. Only thing is I have never done a USB one so I'm not sure how those will compare.

The remote that comes with them is kind of crappy though. Not a huge deal for most people but if you want something good I'd recommend a gyration remote.

 

[JogaBonito1502]

All of them hauppauge, correct? I'm going to look and see what kind models (other than PCI) they make. One would think that an external TV tuner box would be far superior to a USB. The only way I'll get a USB is if the price difference is very significant. Thank you for your review, + rep.

Here's the 2 (hauppauge) I'm interested in:

$80 USB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116034
$60 USB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116031

Now, I don't know much about TV tuners, any significant difference between these?

 

[Celegorm]

Correct, all of the tuners I have owned have been hauppauge. I've sold some K-World tuners at my place of work, and just installing the drivers were a pain so I never tried them out on my personal rigs.

All but one of the boxes I saw on the egg were USB-based as well. Not sure how much of a difference that'll make compared to the regular USB tuners they have.

They did have one network-able box but it was outside of the price range that you mentioned. Just in case, I'll link it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...116051&cm_re=hauppauge-_-15-116-051-_-Product

 

[JogaBonito1502]

^ What you linked is more or less backwards. It plays stuff from my PC onto a TV. I need to run TV on my monitor via cable. Do you think a USB would be bad quality? I'm tempted to just get the $60 version and hopefully that will work out. I don't need crisp HD, just something that's better than regular lol.

 

[foothead]

Do not buy a USB tuner. USB simply cannot provide enough bandwidth for HD broadcasts. Basically, the picture will look like total s**t. The only interface that can get you decent quality is PCI express. x1 is enough.


And I second hauppage. or however it's spelled. Their tuners seem to have the best quality.

 

[JogaBonito1502]

^ I don't really have many options. If you recall the OP, I'm using a laptop.