The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    usb tuner

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by 49p, Mar 12, 2008.

  1. 49p

    49p Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    45
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    anyone recommend a good tv tuner for my laptop?
     
    49p, Mar 12, 2008
    #1
  2. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    7,857
    Messages:
    16,212
    Likes Received:
    58
    Trophy Points:
    466
    Good brands:
    Hauppauge, AutumnWave

    Bad brands:
    ATI, Pinnacle
     
    Greg, Mar 12, 2008
    #2
  3. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

    Reputations:
    4,412
    Messages:
    8,077
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Hauppage makes really good usb tv tuners.
    I personally use avermedia, but those are desktop tv cards.

    I have an avermedia dual tv tuner in my laptop, and it is great.
    My friend has a hauppage usb tv tuner and teh quality is identical even though the tv tuner runs through usb.

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Mar 12, 2008
    #3
  4. powerpack

    powerpack Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    7,101
    Messages:
    5,757
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Tell me why? :confused:
     
    powerpack, Mar 12, 2008
    #4
  5. jerry66

    jerry66 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    80
    Messages:
    764
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    agree with Greg , no pip or pop with my pinnacle usb , cannot drag to adjust screen size , software sucks . avermedia haugpage and leadtek are all good . pinnacle-ati are just not up to the standards of the others .i have the avermedia hc-80 , the
    PCTV HD Ultimate Stick , AVerTV Hybrid Ultra USB (AP6 R) the pinnacle has the worst software and picture of the 3 .
     
    jerry66, Mar 12, 2008
    #5
  6. star882

    star882 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    121
    Messages:
    374
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Go for one that supports MythTV. You'll probably want to use it later.

    Also, if you're thinking about HDTV, you'll want a video card with XvMC support (Nvidia and Intel - ATI does not support XvMC last time I checked).
     
    star882, Mar 12, 2008
    #6
  7. billcsho

    billcsho Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    39
    Messages:
    732
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Pinnacle does have glitches in their software, but it runs fine in MCE. I just got a Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro USB stick from Bestbuy yesterday for $50 (regular $100). It comes with remote control and adapter cable. To my surprise, it works really well in picking up digital SD and HD channels. Make sure if you have a fast dual core processor and 2GB RAM to run it smoothly. I am using it in my Vostro 1400 with T5470. It uses around 45% processing time while watching HDTV channel with their software. Someone said it uses much less processing time with MCE. With older Pentium M processor, you can pretty much forget about it even it barely matches the minimum requirement on the box.
     
    billcsho, Mar 12, 2008
    #7