Which cheap digital TV tuner for PC?

[nails]

I'm after a cheap (£20 ish) digital TV tuner for my PC.

Which one should I go for?

Is there any performance loss from the USB sticks over the PCI slots?

Which manufacturer has best software (want to use with XP Pro)?

I quite like the look of Compro's multichannel preview screen, do others have similar features?

I'm not bothered about dual tuner, but ability to record/pause live tv would be good.

[Funkstar]

Most bundled software is generally pretty poor, especially with the cheap cards.

USB tuners suffer from the usual USB problems: flakey drivers, incompatabilities with other flakey USB drivers, and power save problems (cards are often not re-initialised after coming out of sleep or hibernate).

personally I'd give MediaPortal a look as well (http://www.team-mediaportal.com). Might be a little over the top for what you want, but it's free and open source so you don't loose anything by looking into it

[looney]

I have a Freecom USB DVB-T and it can fussy at times, bundled software are rubbish, there are plenty of third party software out there, some good some not, so far on my usb, progdvb, mdeiportal and powercinema have worked, out of those three powercinema is the best as the usb stick seems to work very well on it, other are fussy and it doesnt even work on WMC.

Signal strenth is good on mine, i'm using the supplied ariel which is made form metal and i need to put it on my metal bed, which makes the signal strong , i find the freecom good for casual use, but if your gonna watch tv reguarly on ur pc, go for a pci card, i'm thinking of buying one myself, cos the freecom can be frustrating at times, not sure if the recent usb tv sticks are improved tho.

One thing to lookout for is the chipsets and so on used, going for a popular model means more support is abiable for it.

[nails]

Most bundled software is generally pretty poor, especially with the cheap cards.

USB tuners suffer from the usual USB problems: flakey drivers, incompatabilities with other flakey USB drivers, and power save problems (cards are often not re-initialised after coming out of sleep or hibernate).

personally I'd give MediaPortal a look as well (http://www.team-mediaportal.com). Might be a little over the top for what you want, but it's free and open source so you don't loose anything by looking into it

Just had a quick look at mediaportal - had never heard of it before. Looks interesting and works with many different tv cards, so shouldn't limit my choices.
Thanks for the advice.

[nails]

I have a Freecom USB DVB-T and it can fussy at times, bundled software are rubbish, there are plenty of third party software out there, some good some not, so far on my usb, progdvb, mdeiportal and powercinema have worked, out of those three powercinema is the best as the usb stick seems to work very well on it, other are fussy and it doesnt even work on WMC.

Signal strenth is good on mine, i'm using the supplied ariel which is made form metal and i need to put it on my metal bed, which makes the signal strong , i find the freecom good for casual use, but if your gonna watch tv reguarly on ur pc, go for a pci card, i'm thinking of buying one myself, cos the freecom can be frustrating at times, not sure if the recent usb tv sticks are improved tho.

One thing to lookout for is the chipsets and so on used, going for a popular model means more support is abiable for it.

Like the idea of using the bed as a signal booster - I'm planning on using a spare external aerial, but I might try the 'bed boost' for a giggle at least.

[looney]

^ It does actually work, i get excellent siganls from such a tinny aerial.

[nails]

Thanks Looney & Funkstar.

BTW how do you officially 'thank' someone.

[Funkstar]

No problem mate.

Have a look at this thread:
http://forums.hexus.net/welcome-hexu...t-rewards.html

[nails]

Aha - so you'll have to wait until I've got enough posts for an official thanks then, in the meantime - Thanks again!