Add a TV tuner and you can make the most of Media Center, which is bundled with Vista Home Premium and Ultimate.
With Vista Home Premium and Ultimate including Media Center, a TV tuner is an obvious upgrade if you want to take advantage of Media Center’s easy-to-use interface for watching and recording TV.
Here, we look at a range of options, from hybrid (both analogue and digital) tuners to tuners with built-in FM radio and dual-digital offerings.
The latest PCI card from Hauppauge is the Nova-T-500. It’s a low-profile card with a full-height bracket, but you can request a half-height bracket. The Nova-T-500 boasts twin digital tuners (requiring a single antenna connection) and you’ll find a remote control and IR receiver in the box. Testing under Vista Ultimate, we found the Nova-T-500 worked flawlessly, recording two channels simultaneously without breaking a sweat. With the latest software, all the remote’s buttons worked correctly in Media Center.
If you’re not planning to use Media Center, Hauppauge’s software is dated and has a clunky interface, but can at least record to PSP and iPod formats. And, a radically improved version of WinTV will be available for download (including a free seven-day EPG) as soon as it’s ready. At $200, it’s a superb choice.
For $84 less, AVerMedia offers the AVerTV Hybrid+FM PCI. It has only one tuner, but you can choose between analogue and digital reception. Plus, it has an FM tuner, and can capture from S-Video and composite sources. The bundled remote control isn’t a patch on Hauppauge’s – the layout isn’t intuitive – and the software is frustrating to use. For example, there’s no full-screen display when listening to FM or digital radio, so it’s hard to select the station you want.
Fortunately, the tuner works in Media Center under Vista, which removes the software niggles, and is the obvious solution if you want to schedule recordings. But, you lose the ability to capture video and the remote doesn’t work either, which is a shame.
For what we expect to be a similar price, the Terratec Cinergy HT PCI is a much better choice. It also has a single hybrid tuner, but shuns AVerMedia’s breakout cable, instead fitting mini-jack line-in, S-Video and composite connectors on the backplate itself. The remote is also superior, with a sensible layout and plenty of buttons.
The software is better too. We like the advanced recording options that include recording the transport stream, and being able to force standby or sleep afterwards. Plus, there’s a copy of Ulead DVD Movie Factory bundled. The Cinergy works well in Vista’s Media Center too, as does the remote. Unless you need two tuners, it’s a decent choice.
For $110, the Compro VideoMate T750 offers the most features here: it boasts dual digital tuners plus a single analogue tuner (enabling you to watch analogue and digital at the same time) and – unlike the Hauppauge – it also has S-Video and composite inputs for capturing analogue sources (with audio), plus an FM tuner.
It’s a full-height card and the software allows you to record transport streams, customise the order of channels and even record a TV programme straight to DVD. Cleverly, the card connects to the PC’s power button, enabling it to wake up from S5 – System Shutdown state – to record a programme. It works with no issues in Media Center, but the remote isn’t supported yet; Compro will release a new driver to fix this imminently.
If you don’t need to capture video and only need digital tuners, the Pinnacle PCTV Dual DVB-T Pro is a good alternative. It’s most similar to the Hauppauge, with one RF input and a remote-control jack on the backplate. It comes with a huge, well-designed remote control, but this doesn’t currently work with Media Center; updated software is due shortly. Fortunately, Pinnacle’s own MediaCenter software is decent and works well with the remote. You can record TV shows direct to DVD, DivX or iPod/PSP formats and a similar auto power on/off function like the ComPro.
Ultimately, choosing between the cards here isn’t easy. Dual-tuner cards offer better value, and the Compro adds video capture and an FM tuner for only $110. However, although it costs more, the Hauppauge is guaranteed to work in Media Center and will fit into any chassis.
Terratec Cinergy HT PCI
Around $120 Scorptec
Overall 4/6
AverMedia AVerTV Hybrid+FM A16AH
$116 Digitalyes
Overall 2/6
ComPro VideoMate T750
$110 www.umart.net/au
http://umart.net/au
Overall /65
Pinnacle PCTV Dual DVB-T Pro
$239 www.dpanda.com.au
Overall 4/6
Hauppauge Nova-T-500
$200 Digitalyes
Overall 6/6