best brand/model tuner card options?

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trakman

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#30508 11-Feb-2009 10:12

i would like to try getting Freeview on my PC
my workmate was telling me that the Pinnacle brand ones were the best.
he mentioned a lil' USB jobby with a tiny aerial
-although that probably won't cut the mustard because i live in a very built-up area of the cbd so the reception would be poos!
i would need a PCI-card that i can plug my TV aerial into (that's housed on the roof of my apartment complex)

sbiddle

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#195282 11-Feb-2009 11:09

Before you ask what card to use you really need to answer one question for everybody.

What software are you going to use? What spec is your PC?

You need to be fully aware of the system requiremnets to view Freeview|HD - it can be far from a simple processs to get a good quality picture. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of posts of here with posts detailing exactly what you need and the pitfalls.

trakman

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#195287 11-Feb-2009 11:28

software: I really have no idea, on what software options i have and the pros and cons of each! but was reading DVB-Viewer was good
hardware: can you recommend good PCI cards, I'm looking at the 'Hauppauge WinTV HVR 3000'

my pc specs:
cpu: AMD 4400 dual core
video card: GeForce 7800GTX
ram: 4GB

should i upgrade my GFX card to this

sbiddle

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#195289 11-Feb-2009 12:04

The HVR3000 is really only worth buying if you want to use a satellite dish as well. A Nova T 500 or HVR2200 are fine if you just need DVB-T.

Your choices for software are GB-PVR, Media Portal, DVBViewer or PowerCinema that comes with some Hauppauge cards. Windows 7 beta also supports DVB-T in New Zealand.

You also ideally need a video card capable of H.264 hardware acceleration. Your existing card won't do that, the 9400 will.

Johnk

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#195387 11-Feb-2009 20:14

sorry for jumping in,but i am also looking at building a setup, looking at the 9400gt as well, now for me to ask a dumb question, it has a dvi out, but no hdmi, am i correct so far? if i was to use a dvi to hdmi cable to conect to my tv i will still get 1080i wont i?