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Thread: Urgent: Budget TV Card

  1. #1
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    Urgent: Budget TV Card

    Hey Guys,
    This TV tuner is on sale for £16.44 today. I have about 10 minutes left to order this (by phone), and am wondering whether it would be a good choice, or alternatively, would I be best going with a PCI based card? If so, could someone suggest such a card which is under £60.

    Thanks for any help you can give.

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    Nevermind guys; I decided to go ahead and order that card.

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    Formerly known as Andehh Andeh13's Avatar
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    is there any chance of a quick review of it?

    Im after a one of these for my uni PC, yet iv never bought/used one before.

    Ideally, ill be running duel screens, so i can watch TV and work at the same time, do you know if this could be done?

    What is the quality like, is it robost - especially the remote?

    How easy is it to record TV programs? Does the quality hold up etc?

    Any chance of a few pics of it, the remote, and maybe one of a programs running full screen on your PC?

    Does anyone know of any good alternatives too it & would you honestly recommend it to someone?

    thanks

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    I'll see what I can do Andehh, should be arriving in the next few days.

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    Formerly known as Andehh Andeh13's Avatar
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    excellent, many thanks mate.

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    well, i dont think you can beat it for the price although the supplied software is supposed to have been written by monkeys...........ie is useless.

    however there are plenty of alternatives software wise, so nothing major to worry about! i ordered one too, and it should arrive tomorrow but cant say anything until the weekend when i get a new aerial installed.

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    Do let us know how you get on, guys, it is tempting...

    DM

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    well i got mine today, and i dont really know what to think.

    i have two setups of windows xp - one that i use all the time, and a fresh install, just in case.

    in my old setup, the drivers refused to install, but when i moved into my fresh install, they installed straight off and there are currently no issues. i am using it with a cheapo aerial dangling out of my loft conversion-window.

    i have got most of the channels i was expecting, and am quite happy - just dont know why it didnt install on the other setup.

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    Formerly known as Andehh Andeh13's Avatar
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    i order one yesterday, figured at half the price its worth the risk & if push comes to shove i can return it within 7 days.

    Just waitin for it to be delivered now, was meant to be hear this morning but scan are having a few problems with a large number of orders so everythign is delayed.

    gutted.


    What resolution does it run best at, is it any good at full screen?


    edit: its been dispatched, and hopefully(touch wood) will arrive tomorrow. Ill let you guys what i think of it then.
    Last edited by Andeh13; 24-08-2006 at 06:33 PM.

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    Formerly known as Andehh Andeh13's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 5aboy
    well i got mine today, and i dont really know what to think.

    i have two setups of windows xp - one that i use all the time, and a fresh install, just in case.

    in my old setup, the drivers refused to install, but when i moved into my fresh install, they installed straight off and there are currently no issues. i am using it with a cheapo aerial dangling out of my loft conversion-window.

    i have got most of the channels i was expecting, and am quite happy - just dont know why it didnt install on the other setup.

    I had the exact same problem, tried to install it on old PC? came up(for no reason) 'install failed', or something similar. Tried it on brand new PC and it worked fine.

    The arial that comes with it was pritty useless for me, it couldnt pick anything up off of it, but once id plugged it into the wall arial socket it worked fine. Picked up all the terrestrial channeles (beeb 1&2, ITV, channel 4 & FIVE) then several freeview ones(E4, more 4, news 24 n a few others) aswell as most radio stations (except radio 1, which i thought was odd). Picture quality is good both fullscreen & windowed.

    I havnt tried the recording function yet, but ill try that tomorrow and edit this to include it. So far, for £25 it isnt too bad.

    edit: any idea why it wont have worked on our (old) PCs, seems odd for us both to have the same problem on different machines. Then for it to work again on new computers.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Andehh
    edit: any idea why it wont have worked on our (old) PCs, seems odd for us both to have the same problem on different machines. Then for it to work again on new computers.
    are we getting new windows installations confused with new pc's here? they were on Aria's "super cheap day and remember the name" and almost got one. but talked myself down in the end.must save money now!
    Last edited by MadduckUK; 25-08-2006 at 10:09 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ephesians
    Do not be drunk with wine, which will ruin you, but be filled with the Spirit
    Vodka

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    Need good reception for these PC TV cards, looks like a good buy!

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    Formerly known as Andehh Andeh13's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MadduckUK
    are we getting new windows installations confused with new pc's here? they were on Aria's "super cheap day and remember the name" and almost got one. but talked myself down in the end.must save money now!
    nope, got an old(v. good spec 2 years old) PC, then a new one for Uni. Tried to install it on old PC(still using it as my main as its got all films, games etc on) first as it was the most convinient and it just came up with an 'instal failed' error half way through. New PC just drifted its way through without any problems. Couldnt understand why, both miles higher then specs needed, both runnign latest winXp, never had any problems installing anything on this PC before

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    Quote Originally Posted by Andehh
    nope, got an old(v. good spec 2 years old) PC, then a new one for Uni. Tried to install it on old PC(still using it as my main as its got all films, games etc on) first as it was the most convinient and it just came up with an 'instal failed' error half way through. New PC just drifted its way through without any problems. Couldnt understand why, both miles higher then specs needed, both runnign latest winXp, never had any problems installing anything on this PC before

    have you tried installing it through device manager and using third-party software to work it? its a USB device so the only thing i can think of is it deoesnt like something already on your comp. Andehh my original post was more aimed at your reaction to 5aboy's problem than your own experience with it.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ephesians
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  15. #15
    Formerly known as Andehh Andeh13's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MadduckUK
    Andehh my original post was more aimed at your reaction to 5aboy's problem than your own experience with it.
    ah, my mistake.

    So far, all still seems to be going well, did another scan for channels and picked up several more(including FIVE which i missed initally- i put it in above by mistake). Recording function works well, havnt tried the 'redorcing in power off' mode yet, but i will in time. You can onyl record the channel your watching which is a shame, but for somethign this cheap, you cant fault it too much.

    Only thing which is bugging me is the fact I cant figure out how to re-arrange the chanels atm, which is getting anoying. 1 - 9 (easiest to get to via remote) are all rubbish radio channels for me and the decent TV channels(beeb, fie, ITV etc) are all way down the list. Even with following the instructions and going thru the channel setup menu, i still cant re-arrange them.

    Anyone had any luck swoping them round?
    Last edited by Andeh13; 26-08-2006 at 07:19 PM.

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