recommend a budget pci express/usb tv tuner card for svideo/composite (1 Viewer)

[rspierenburg]

I had used the HVR-1950 in the past. It works well as it had a hardware encoder rather than a software one. The HTPC at the time wasn't very powerful so by not having to do the encoding worked really good.

 

[yeahman45]

I am going to get a pci card the hauppauge wintv pvr-150; this one works fine right?

It works, but you can't use it with >= 4 GB of RAM. There is a warning on Hauppauge's website about that.

and there's no fix for that? with <4GB of ram, it works well and stable on mediaportal? (no crash or restarts needed?)

 

[mm1352000]

and there's no fix for that?

It is a known driver, firmware or hardware issue - yes.
[edit: Hauppauge would have to fix it. AFAIK they have know about this issue since Vista was introduced, but they probably don't intend to fix it. I don't think they sell or support PVR-*** products anymore.]

with <4GB of ram, it works well and stable on mediaportal? (no crash or restarts needed?)

As far as I know, yes. I've never owned the card... but there are no reports of problems that I've seen.

 

[yeahman45]

I can get a used one for $30.. do you think it is worth the investment? any better alternatives?

 

[yeahman45]

is this one compatible and stable: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000AL8XX/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1CW2QVVK2XBFD

but it costs 3 times more

 

[yeahman45]

and finally how about the wintv-pvr-350? is it compatible with win7 64bit with more than 4gb ram? (read some says it works fine on 64bit, some says no...). How is it on mediaportal?

 

[mm1352000]

I can get a used one for $30.. do you think it is worth the investment? any better alternatives?

is this one compatible and stable: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000AL8XX/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1CW2QVVK2XBFD

but it costs 3 times more

Sorry yeahman45, I'm not able to answer your questions. I know a little about TV tuners and a little about MediaPortal TV Server... but in the end you need to make the decision for yourself about what you need, what is a worthwhile investment etc. etc. etc.

and finally how about the wintv-pvr-350? is it compatible with win7 64bit with more than 4gb ram? (read some says it works fine on 64bit, some says no...).

I've never owned any of these tuners that you're asking about. I can only do exactly what you should be doing - reading the manufacturers web page, or asking their representatives. For the PVR-250 and 350 the product page says:

The WinTV-PVR-250 and WinTV-PVR-350 are only supported under 32-bit versions of Windows.

(http://www.hauppauge.com/site/support/support_pvr250-350.html)

How is it on mediaportal?

Again, I've never owned this tuner. Please search the forums. See if you can find any success or problem reports.