tv tuner????????????

[codyjansen]

i want to get a tv tuner for my pc and i have no clue what to get/ how they work or if i can even use one in my house.

any help would be great

 

[mlee49]

Well 1st off what type of TV do you have? Cable? Direct TV? Bunny Ears?

 

[codyjansen]

Well 1st off what type of TV do you have? Cable? Direct TV? Bunny Ears?

i have comcast cable

 

[Batou1986]

you could get one but you would still need a cable box to hook to it, imo its not really worth the effort.

 

[Sensi Karate]

Eh? what are you guys on about?

I just got a PCTV NanoStick USB TV Tuner using some old Bunny Ears I had lying around (it came with a small magnet attena but I live in the hinterland so it doesn't pick up a signal). You can buy a built in TV Tuner for your PC but I prefer a USB version in case I ever go out and want to watch some TV on my Laptop. Usually the TV Tuner has a program that you can watch with and also Windows Media Center compatibility.

Just search around newegg or wherever you buy your hardware from and pick one up the specifies your particular needs for a TV Tuner.

 

[Mussels]

Eh? what are you guys on about?

I just got a PCTV NanoStick USB TV Tuner using some old Bunny Ears I had lying around (it came with a small magnet attena but I live in the hinterland so it doesn't pick up a signal). You can buy a built in TV Tuner for your PC but I prefer a USB version in case I ever go out and want to watch some TV on my Laptop. Usually the TV Tuner has a program that you can watch with and also Windows Media Center compatibility.

Just search around newegg or wherever you buy your hardware from and pick one up the specifies your particular needs for a TV Tuner.

cable TV isnt free to air. its pay TV, and requires a decoding box.

 

[angelkiller]

cable TV isnt free to air. its pay TV, and requires a decoding box.

Unless it's analog. Like mine.

 

[wolf2009]

you won't get a lot of channels on comcast. you will only get free OTA channels which are not encrypted. I read somewhere that comcast stopped giving some of those on their cable.

I think you will need a box to decode the channels. I might be wrong.

Let me know how it goes, as I too have comcast basic cable.

 

[codyjansen]

what kind of box? i have a digital thing that is very little. i have no clue anything about it

 

[Soylent Joe]

Unless it's analog. Like mine.

Same here, although I can set it up as "Digital" through my TV tuner and get the guide and everything. But, the picture quality through the tuner still sucks bawls.

 

[Bo_Fox]

Many of the newer TV tuners include all 3 (NTSC, which is standard cable, ATSC, which is over the air reception, and ClearQAM, which is unencrypted HD digital channels).

3 popular brands are: Hauppauge, Avermedia, and ATI TV Wonder

 

[Sasqui]

Comcast is doing some weird shit with the service packages and I fear it'll only get worse. They are slowly moving the analog basic channels to digital so you will need small converter box between cable and TV to get those, and don't expect HD from anything except thier large digital set-top.

Depending on your area, you probably have unencrypted QAM signals, meaning major broadcast channels in VERY nice HD... provided you have a QAM tuner - With the change mentioned above, that may go away (I suspect it will).

Bottom line, make sure whatever tuner you get can tune QAM.

For encrypted digital signals, you need to use Comcast equipment to view.

 

[Delta6326]

sorry to steal your thread but i also am looking for a Tv tuner that works good where i can watch tv, and i would like to be able to record it because i always miss my favorite show i only need it to pick up local free tv like CBS nbc fox i have a roof top antenna Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1850 this is what im looking at if you know of any more that are better and cheaper then list away.
i hope i have room with my crossfrie