TV Tuner on the DV5000z...opinions?

Hello

I was originally looking at a DV1000T (see thread below) however after a lot of research and looking around my g/f are really looking into the DV5000Z with an AMD Turion processor, media center, TV Tuner, and docking station.

We would like to use this as a desktop replacement and also as our "pseudo tv" in our bedroom. We currently use a 14" "mini tv/vcr" and have a DVD player hooked up in there as well.

We figure with the TV tuner, the nice glossy screen, and the built in DVD it would work well as our TV in the bedroom. Only thing is i'd probably get some better external speakers.

Does anyone have any experience with the TV tuner?

thanks

 

Get a USB tuner. You're going to have to plug into an antenna or cable TV anyhow. If you can get halfway decent over-the-air reception it's worth spending the money on a USB HDTV tuner. http//www.copperbox.com carries some.

 

So i can't simply plug my cable feed into the laptop? I saw a review on laptop logic that showed the connection to a cable feed i believe.

 

If you get HP's ExpressCard tuner then yes, but a USB tuner would be cheaper. Up to you. I'd seriously consider a USB HDTV tuner if you can get OTA reception though.

 

A lot of USB HDTV Tuners I see are not much cheaper than HP's TV Tuner. The cheapest I've seen so far is $140.

The downside to using a USB tuner is that it most likely will not intergrate into Media Center the way HP's tuner does. I have to admit, Media Center is a nice piece of software. It has a couple of flaws, like no AAC or H.264 support and theres no way to get a real-time video feed for something like a game console, but the program guide and scheduling is a lot better than anyother piece of PVR software out there. Espicially most pack-in software that comes with TV Tuners.

One stupid thing about HDTV Tuners is that none of the reasonably priced ones include component inputs! You're restricted to what you can get over the air. If you live in an area like me, just north of Los Angeles, theres no OTA HD channels. In most places you're only going to get a couple of HD channels anyway. The majority of good content isn't on OTA networks anyway. I really don't need to see American Idol orSurvivor in HD (or at all).

One really cool thing about HP's setup is that it will control a satellite box, if you ever decide to upgrade to satellite. It will control a digital cable box too, if you decide to go with that. But considering how much digital cable costs compared to satellite, and how little content you get in comparison, I wouldn't recommend that..

HP's Tuner is a nice little system. You can hook cable directly up to it with the included adapter. You can also connect S-Video and RCA. It does come with a USB break-out box for the Media Center remote. But you only need that if you're going to upgrade to satellite or get digital cable. The infrared port on the PC will recognize and allow you to control Media Center with the Media Center remote, if you're just using cable.

I really don't see the point in having a bulky break-out box for only a couple of pretty channels, assuming you can get a good signal from them. And the break-out box can't even control a digital receiver if you ever decide to get one. It also most likely won't intergrate into Media Center at all. I don't mind the breakout box for HP's TV Tuner because it controls my DirecTV box.

I would also recommend getting nVidia's MPEG-2 decoder. It'll work on ATI cards! haha. It's $30 for the "Bronze" package to get 5.1 sound processing, if you get that. But if you're going to buy an external set of speakers and want 5.1 sound, get one that will do the Dolby Digital and DTS decoding and just use an optical cable for sound. The headphone jack on the laptop will double as a optical output with a mini-TOSlink adapter.

 

get your dv5000z configured with the optional 128mb graphics for $25. With that, you'll get a pcmcia card slot along with a memory card reader. Then, buy a pcmcia tv tuner. Newegg has some one for less than $50. Or just buy a new tv.

 

But then they'll lose the Media Center intergration and possibly even sacrifice image quality. The HP tuner with nVidia decoders provides VERY good image quality, and Media Center's PVR functions are great

 

My cable is dirt cheap due to introductory pricing.

However i will probably upgrade to satellite eventually. I think the DV5000Z with the TV tuner and express card is the way to go for me.

 

Newegg lists some cheaper USB tuners but HP's tuner has merit. I was mostly concerned with how annoying it would be to plug/unplug the antenna cable when transporting the notebook but I bet they include those quick-change connectors for that (and if not, buy some).

I'm able to receive all of the Detroit and Toledo HDTV stations using an amplified indoor antenna (Terk TV55, which gets awful reviews but it works for me). The key word is "amplified". HDTV reception works better than analog for me. It helps that I'm on high elevation though. My parents live halfway up a big hill and I can't get any channels to signal lock over there.

 

I'm not worried about HD stuff...i would just like my normal cable and/or in the futuer satellite box work with it.

That's it

 

I wouldn't worry too much about the cable wire. The way it works with the HP tuner is that it uses a special little cable. One end is a standard coaxial female connection, and the other end is a tiny little connector that plugs into the card. You can use any coaxial cable. You can use your typical "screw it on" cable, or buy one that just slides on.

Or you can always do what I do when I move the laptop from it's designated area... pop the card out

 

I have this Tuner. The quality is nice IMO. I leave the card always connected to cable. When I actually need it for recording I just plug it in the laptop.

 

I just bought the FusionHDTV5 USB, and it has component inputs. I haven't used them yet as I just get OTA, but the component inputs were one of the reasons I bought the Fusion. Price was the same as the others, $150 online.

Russ

 

Wow thats a definite first. Theres only one other one that has component inputs that I know of, that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. It's a PCI card. I forget the name exactly, but I'm sure I could find it at AVS again.

There definitely needs to be more PCI tuners with component inputs that support up to 1080i input. I really don't understand why don't exist now, other than the fact that the MPAA would have a fit.

 

hmm. I'm looking right now and all I see are FusionHDTV5 USB models with coaxial, S-Video and composite inputs. No component.

 

Doh! Okay, color me stoopid! I saw "component" but I read "composite", definitely not the same thing. Sorry to mislead you. I'll butt out now.

Russ