I think I need a T.V. tuner card which one? (1 Viewer)

[KublaKhan]

Hi, I've got your average laptop built with ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 graphics card and Intel Centrino 1.6 Ghz chipset. I want to watch TV on it and I don't know how. I've got Time Warner Digital Cable hooked up to a T.V. I want to know what I need to watch and record T.V. on my computer. I think I need a T.V. tuner card with a built in MPEG2 encoder (so that my computer won't be under so much stress). Please help me decide what to get -do I need any extra essentials (cables, connectors, etc.)? I have an S Video In connection.

Thanks in advance

 

[Callifo]

Pretty much right. A USB2 analogue card with a hardware mpeg2 encoder would work fine. You would need to connect the video out on the cable box to the input on the tuner (or you can use the antenna cable if the USB tuner doesnt have video in). Youll still need to change channels on the cable box though.

 

[KublaKhan]

Which one on the market would you recommend? Is there anything out that supports HD video? If so, will Media Portal play HD? And if I use the atenna cable do I still need to change teh channels on the cable box or does Media Portal handle that?

 

[Callifo]

I dont know anything about your cable company but I would assume like most pay to view services it would be encrypted. This means you would need a suitable cable card with the CAM and card. Whether MP can do this or whether you can get this hardware in USB I dont know.

If you can get the suitable hardware AND MP supports it, then MP can control the channels itself. But Im not sure about that because of the encryption. Otherwise youll have to change channels yourself.

 

[onkl]

For Analogue TV (I asume you're cable is analogue, since you suggested that you plugged it right in the TV.) I'd suggest the WinTVPVR USB by Hauppauge.
http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_pvrusb2.html
Hauppauge's PVR series are reknown as decent cards, the USB is-as far as I understood- just as good.