hi all i have a pc and i want to get some over the air hdtv or even sdtv signals from the surrounding area. i was wondering if you guys could recommend a tuner that would fit my needs. recording would also be nice but not necessary and can you guys also explain the difference b/w single tuner and dual tuner. i would prefer the tuner be a pci or pci-e card. please include any other necessary hardware needed with the tuner.

pc:
cpu-e6600 @ 3.3ghz
gpu-8800gtx 612/2000
ram-2 gb
os-vista business 32 bit

Welcome to the forum, the HTPC section is probably the best place to look in for PC related questions. Dual tuner cards are just that, cards with two tuners, they allow you to record more then one thing at a time when using software like MCE or MythTV to make your PC act as a DVR.

I assume Vista Business has Media Center in it... Other than a set of rabbit ears or small amp'ed antenna and a tuner card/usb stick/usb tuner is all you need.

I have XP Media Center 2005 with VBox Cat's Eye 150 internal PCI tuner and RS HDTV antenna both will set you back about $120 but if you can get away with $10 rabbit ears its even cheaper...

Use www.antennaweb.org, locate your house and switch to "Digital Channels Only" and if all your channels show up in Yellow, you can use a set of rabbit ears to get most of, if not all your local HD channels and sub-channels.

Try your local HDTV forum located elsewhere in this sub forum for additional information.

I would recommend the WinTV HVR 1600 great card allows digital as well as OTA HD material, that paired with Beyond TV is all you need.

I tried out the demo of Beyond TV first and then upgraded to the full version, it would have been cheaper if I had just ordered the card with Beyond TV from their website.

Steer clear of the ATI Wonder card software was very buggy and unstable HD signal as well, been nothing but pleased with the HVR 1600.



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