Advice Needed RE TV Tuner Card

[Raijen]

I'm looking into geting a tv tuner card at home. What make/Models would you guys reccomend. I'm looking for something resonably affordable; stand alone; and easy to use to transfer video from a VCR to a computer for eventual burning onto cd (My dad's going to be using it the most and he's not the most... how can i put it... tech savvy :rolleyes:.

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

[Auric]

Unfortunatley stand-alone tv tuners are pretty rare these days. Few companies do make them, such as the Hauppauge WinTV , however from the experiences i have had, these cards are not very good. Also Matrox makes a card called "rainbow runner" but it is very 'video card' dependant, it will only work with certain types of cards.

The best route may be a little more expensive, but for a good 'all around card' with tv-tuning capabilities, you may want to look at upgrading your video card to an ATI All in Wonder, It has TV Tuner (Coaxial) In, and Video out. as well as standard monitor connection. I have on of these cards (one of the older models) in a pc at school, used for video editing, works great!

[Raijen]

What connection is it? If PCI will i still be able to use my AGP video card with it?

I have NO experience using two video cards at all :(

[Kymera]

I believe ATI also makes a dedicated TV card and you should be able to use the PCI capture of an ATI card with an AGP graphics card. Be aware however, that older ATI chipsets suck. YOu could also look at a Buzz or Snappy type solution. I'm not sure if they even make those anymore, but it's worth a look if you don't want to spend an awful lot of money (i.e. $300+).

[pcejim@dol.net]

I have tried the Hauppage( sold it to another tech at my shop), the 3dfx 2000TV(gave it to anther tech at my shop), the Rainbow Runner(best on the market, but you have to have the apprpriate matrox card, and they only work with that series), and I now have the ATI TV Wonder. Card is close to the RR, good quality, easy interface, good feature, easy install.