I will be building my first HTPC over the summer and i have everything in order. The one question that i have is about tv-tuners

here is what im considering


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100014

here are my questions

will this be equal in quality to a regular tv cable input?
the only reason i ask is because i have a pinnacle cable --> usb adapater and the picture quality is slightly (ever so) washed out.

thoughts? concerns?

4/17/2008 12:31:45 AM

i too am looking for a tuner for a pc im building right now

i guess that looks good, id just check out what the reviews have to say and also if there is a website for support and whatnot

^what are your planned specs?

4/17/2008 12:48:26 AM

I plan on having an nforce intel mobo with core 2 duo proc

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813153087

2 gigs of ram (just basic ddr2 800)

16mb cache hd (size is whateves)

then dvd/burner drive


what do you think?

4/17/2008 1:00:05 AM

Quote :

"will this be equal in quality to a regular tv cable input? the only reason i ask is because i have a pinnacle cable --> usb adapater and the picture quality is slightly (ever so) washed out. "

That is an atsc digital tuner, so yes it will be exactly the same as any other digital cable box, if not slightly better because you have full adjustment control over the picture.

4/17/2008 1:02:04 AM

i like the mobo cause of the option of hdmi dvi or vga output... should be fine with the onboard audio and video

i might suggest though, since its going to be a htpc, if you have a hdtv then you could throw in a blu-ray/hd dvd player, although youd have to grab a video card that supports hdcp. i think thats what im going to do with mine, being that blu rays are significantly cheaper to throw in a pc than a standalone addition to your home theatre...

also, huge hdds are becoming cheaper by the day..

4/17/2008 1:30:30 AM

yeah the mobo was a great find imo because ill have the hdmi going straight into my tv while i have a 3rd lcd monitor thats doing nothing. Ive taken it fully out of its casing and i plan on wall mounting it in my kitchen. That way i can watch tv while i cook etc.

I looked into blue-ray and the only drives they offer are blue-ray burners which are 300$ and up, in which case i'd be better off just buying a ps3. If you know of some that are just readers and much cheaper i'd be interested.

Also huge hdd's i feel are a must for htpc. I plan on keeping full seasons etc.

As far as audio goes i have a high end reciever for all sorts of audio video input that i plan on using in junction with the HTPC.

also Noen, i know i can google, but care to explain more in detail about

Quote :

"atsc digital tuner"

and any other thoughts you all have?

4/17/2008 12:40:49 PM

Digital television uses the ATSC standard. Analog television uses the NTSC standard.

You want an ATSC tuner. ATSC encompasses HD and SD digital broadcasts. That's the 2 cent answer. You can wikipedia it for more specifics

4/17/2008 4:19:07 PM

^^where have you been looking for your stuff?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010100055+1036533264&name=Blu-ray+DVD-ROM+Drive

either of those lite-ons look pretty good and for ~130 bucks thats a good deal id say. the reviews confirm it does what its supposed to do, which is always good too

4/17/2008 8:23:33 PM