Tv tuner cards

[N3051M]

Hey there, does anybody know if a tv card (internal/usb doesnt matter), prefferably one that can recieve digital tv exists for a pentium 3 1ghz? just hoping i can extend this rig's "usefull" life by turning it into a mediapc..

specs follow:
Pentium 3 1Ghz
Onboard sound/graphics/network
768mb sdram
20gb maxtor hdd
winxp home/linux

Thanks in advance
N3051M

 

[LipsOfVenom]

of course. any of the recent tv tuner cards out there will work. There is not really a CPU frequency cap on a card. They mostly come for PCI, but the more expensive ones can connect by USB. Also most cards have connections for antenna as well as cable input, which I am assuming is digital, i have no idea though.

 

[N3051M]

true, but they are just analogue tv cards, i'm just seeing if theres any digital ones because my bit of research came up with mainly p4 2ghz minimum req (possibly for the software?)
eg: Twinhan DTV Mini Ter Pci says its minimum is a P4 2.0 Ghz or faster 256mb ram etc.. altho on the box it also says p3 1ghz for standard dtv but just testing it on my rig doesnt seem to like it

antenna recieves both analogue signals and digital depending which you'd use to clarify..
i have already a pc running wid hdtv but its not leaving my room any time soon and ever since certain channels look much (or shall i say hundreds of times) better in dig than analogue hence why im hooked on it

 

[Nodsu]

I don't know where you looked, but all respectable TV tuner makers have digital products.

http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/prod_digital.html
http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/as/Products/Consumer+Products/Products+List.htm

 

[N3051M]

yeh i know about those ones.. personal experiences with pinnaclesys and their support means that i wouldnt go slightly near them (even to poke them with a 10m stick) so thats crossed off but the Nova-Ts sound interesting, although where i can find such cards in teh Australian region (being more precise sydney) is another question altogether.. so you see my dillema.. i've done some research looking here and there but also takeing availability into the formula...

Although oppinions and suggestions never hurts so yeh, thanks for the info..
N3051M

 

[hewybo]

might look for this

I have no idea about their availability down there- but I have a WinFast 2000 XP by Leadtek that serves me well. It has FM tuning, remote, AV input for camcorder,VCR, DVD/VCD (cable included), time-shifting, picture-in-picture (when recording), and a connector for audio out to your soundcard/mobo.

Good card for the price (approx. $50USD last year)

 

[N3051M]

I have no idea about their availability down there- but I have a WinFast 2000 XP by Leadtek that serves me well. It has FM tuning, remote, AV input for camcorder,VCR, DVD/VCD (cable included), time-shifting, picture-in-picture (when recording), and a connector for audio out to your soundcard/mobo.

Good card for the price (approx. $50USD last year)

winfast brands i can get here.. that model i can get for about 43$AU or 77$AU (pro version i think) altho it is an analogue.. but still.. good card..

i might consider that one later if i cant find anything suitable and hope that it picks up the picture better than my tv in the living room....
N3051M

 

[Nodsu]

How about online shopping? Bigger ones ship worldwide and carry all sorts of stuff.

 

[N3051M]

recommend any shops? not realy looked for one (unless they had shopfronts) cos i dun have a card to pay with.. so yeh...

 

[hewybo]

couple-

recommend any shops? not realy looked for one (unless they had shopfronts) cos i dun have a card to pay with.. so yeh...

I bought mine at Fry's- got one nearby? CompUsa carries some TV tuner cards, but not the Leadtek WinFast. Might try Googling for other walk-ins that carry it. OOPS!! just looked where you posted from. Better try Google! :grinthumb

 

[N3051M]

ok.. its all solved.. actualy gave up finding a digital one so i went with the winfast tv 2000.. thanks for the help anyways guys..
N3051M

 

[hewybo]

digital

ok.. its all solved.. actualy gave up finding a digital one so i went with the winfast tv 2000.. thanks for the help anyways guys..
N3051M

If your input signal is digital, i.e. digital cable, the tuner card's output will be digital, no?

 

[N3051M]

down in aus (or at least in sydney) our free to air tv is broadcast in both analogue and digital signals and picks up via your standard roof antenna/rabbit ears (2008 is the digital transition deadline for the major tv networks...) so it realy depends on what type of card you'd get = what chanels your getting..
going through a few knowledgable friends and sources they tell me that it is possible to have one digital tv card on the computer but i would need to ditch the onboard vga for a agp card (but limit myself to the geforce2 type range) to get the decoder software to operate properly.. and since everyone knows how expensive a new windows xp home FULL VERSION cd costs (frigg'n MS changing the rules of OEM software purchases 1 month before i had a chance to purchase it......) puts me in a bit of a tight pocket as late.. and since its a [bold]p3[/bold] you wouldnt realy bother spending that extra $100 just for a card would you?

 

[KingCody]

since everyone knows how expensive a new windows xp home FULL VERSION cd costs (frigg'n MS changing the rules of OEM software purchases 1 month before i had a chance to purchase it......)

you can still buy OEM WindowsXP versions on ebay for less than 1/2 what you would pay in a store (including shipping)

 

[hewybo]

cheaper

down in aus (or at least in sydney) our free to air tv is broadcast in both analogue and digital signals and picks up via your standard roof antenna/rabbit ears (2008 is the digital transition deadline for the major tv networks...) so it realy depends on what type of card you'd get = what chanels your getting..
going through a few knowledgable friends and sources they tell me that it is possible to have one digital tv card on the computer but i would need to ditch the onboard vga for a agp card (but limit myself to the geforce2 type range) to get the decoder software to operate properly.. and since everyone knows how expensive a new windows xp home FULL VERSION cd costs (frigg'n MS changing the rules of OEM software purchases 1 month before i had a chance to purchase it......) puts me in a bit of a tight pocket as late.. and since its a [bold]p3[/bold] you wouldnt realy bother spending that extra $100 just for a card would you?

Also- check at edirectsoftware.com. I purchased OEM XP Home for $60 USD. They also list Pro for around $80. I have read both good and bad reviews about them, BUT I have had good luck there, and received prompt responses from customer support, so I endorse them. As for the AGP, I don't know about down there, but a decent card (not for gaming) can be had around $40-$50 here. Hope this helps. :grinthumb

 

[N3051M]

hehe... lucky that i havnt had time to get to the shops yet then ey?
i went to ebay(au) and did see some winxp home selling for about $135/buy now $145 but werent sure if they were dodge or real... and unfortunately im not home in time to click on the final bid heh.. so i'll just have to wait for the timing....
the shop where i wanted to get it from had it selling $125 for OEM but since the rules have changed its either (pretty much) buy all components for a new pc or 3 microsoft keyboards ($40 each.. would consider reselling on ebay but who has the time these days :suspiciou ) didnt think it was worth it..
time is not realy an issue here as its just a pet project to kill time untill uni starts again so i might install linux just for the fun of it and out of curiosity.. (its just to play some media files on hte projector in the living room via network).. the winxp bit is to satisfy the "Dad" factor as i just taught him how to use MS word and burn cds n stuff like that...
you reckomend any model for agp?
thanks for the suggestions tho.. apreciated.. n i'll take a look into the edirectsoftware.com site later..
N3051M

 

[hewybo]

depends

It depends on your budget, of course, and the availability down there. A lot of guys on this forum know more than me, so you'll hear from them, I'm sure.

The only reason I have the AGP card is- I got a mobo with no onboard video, and no PCI express slot. I don't game (at least the way they refer to 'gaming' here), and I'm on a tight budget, so I went to awalk-in electronics store here, and bought the first cheap 128m card I saw. It is an ATI Radeon 9250.

I've had no problems with it; it runs the few 3D apps I use; signal to my TFT is fine; it runs the low-tech, non-demanding games I play fine. I paid $50 USD, and I know you can get the equivalent (and probably better) even cheaper than that.

As I said, there are plenty of guys here who can/will advise you about this, but that is my personal experience.

G'day, mate! :grinthumb

 

[KingCody]

i went to ebay(au) and did see some winxp home selling for about $135/buy now $145 but werent sure if they were dodge or real... and unfortunately im not home in time to click on the final bid heh.. so i'll just have to wait for the timing....

I don't know if you can use the same User ID and Password, but XP home sells on US Ebay for about $50~$60USD (66~80 AUD), and many sellers will ship to Australia.

 

[N3051M]

hmm.. interesting.. i will try that later..
meanwhile.. i just bought an Asus A9250 AGP card.. gonna chuck that on the p3 tomorow and see how it goes.. ($50Aus.. cant go wrong rite? right??? :| )

oh yeh.. i know its on another thread 'how to install linux' (in the process of reading it.. too many pages ) but anyways.. i got fedora core 4 from a pc mag cd.. the media check was ok and so i installed it.. next next next.. keep partitions and data.. next next next.. install fedora.. what would happen if, o, say, the screen did nothing (not even a %) for about 45 minutes and one would press restart on the box? hehe...
not too concerned if i have to format anything (winxp on that machine is using my tower's key atm, just letting it hang on the 'grace' period without activating.. only for hard/software compatibility testing so 30 days is enough to do all that and get proper OS for it...) so...??
N3051M