Number 318 - November 2009

Buying a TV-Tuner
by Jason Mills, Durham Personal Computer User's Club, Oshawa, Ontario
One of the coolest things that I can do with an MS Vista PC is watch and record TV on my PC. Most of us have heard of TiVo or Rogers PVR (Personal Video Recorder) and many users are enjoying the benefits of using these digital video recording devices. Nothing is better than being able to pause a live show in order to anwer the phone, then to restart the program when the call is over. With a TV tuner, you too can watch, pause and record television shows right on your PC. Here are the steps to buy the right PVR card for you.    1. Decide whether you need a PVR card or just a TV tuner. If all you want to do is watch TV on your PC monitor or LCD display, you probably do not need to purchase a card that includes the specialized hardware accelerator chip used for PVR. If you want to pause live TV or record shows on your hard drive for future viewing or burning to CD, you should spend the extra $50-$75 to purchase a card that includes a MPEG-2 hardware accelerator.    Many TV-Tuners have capture capabilities included. This means that you can plug in your old VHS recorder to the computer and 'capture' the video to your hard drive. Then burn it to DVD in order to digitalize your old home movie catalog of VHS movies.    2. Decide whether you want PCI or USB. If you don't mind opening up the case of your PC to install a new PCI-based card, you will save $30-	$40 buying a PCI version of the product. If you have a laptop or you would rather not open your PC (which in some cases voids the warranty), you should purchase a USB device. There is no difference in performance. (Note: this is not true of USB 1.x devices that have a paltry 1.5 mb/sec bandwidth. Far too slow for high quality full screen video. Buy a USB 2.0 device if your PC supports it.)    3. Decide if you want to view/record in high definition. An HD tuner does cost more, but you also have to consider that your video card and monitor should be able to display HD.    4. Look for the best deal. PVR products can range in price as much as 50% for the same technology. A PCI TV Tuner with no hardware acceleration should cost $50 or less. A PCI card with hardware PVR will cost from $99 to $149. The USB equivalents of each of these products will cost $30-$40 more. Just because a product costs more than another does not necessarily mean it offers greater functionality, so read the labels carefully.    Windows Vista Ultimate has Windows Media Center included. This is the software that runs the card. It will connect to your television service provider, download the channel guide and also show you the movie covers just like the video store.
Number 318 - November 2009