[ANT531]

What's the best HDTV Tuner Card to get? In researching one to buy, It sounds like the top 3 is HIPIX, ACCESSDTV, & MYHD. I've also seen Hauppage WIN-HDTV out there. Anybody have any opinions?


Thanks.

 

[Alec]

I'm afraid you will not likely get a good feedback on it here.


There are avid supporters / stakeholders of both HiPix and MyHD that are experienced members of this forum, some of whom are above comparing the weaknesses of either solution directly. You may get a suggestion to search the entire forum for threads that may contain bits and pieces of the information on what would ultimately make the better card in the context of your needs.

 

[ANT531]

Let me re-word my post. As far as researching these cards I don't see too many differences in them and it looks like reviews I've read are pretty even. What are the differences between the 3 cards?

 

[JKohn]

ANT531,


I don't really have time to go extremely in-depth at the moment, but all of the cards have strengths and weaknesses, except for the WinTV-HD which is totally outclassed by the other cards and not worth considering.


The AccessDTV has buggy software for the time being, but it's the only one that can pause live TV. The HiPix has lots of specialized features in the software thanks to the AVS Dev project, but there are still some bugs and the interfaces isn't quite as polished as the competition IMHO. I don't know much about the MyHD since it's the only card I haven't owned; all I really know is that it has firewire support for D-VHS, which I don't believe is fully supported on the ADTV or HiPix, and it also has analog recording if that's of interest to you. The HiDTV has firewire and analog recording, background recording, a polished UI, and in my experience has been the most stable of the cards I've used. The only real downside to the HiDTV is that it only has one tuner input; if you're planning to use the card for both OTA-DTV and analog cable TV, this could be a problem. But personally I don't think any of these cards are very well suited for analog TV, they're first and foremost DTV/HDTV cards.


I've owned 4 of the 5 cards, and currently own 3 of them. The one that best suits my needs is the HiDTV Pro, but I also use the HiPix in another machine for recording since I already had it and couldn't justify purchasing a second HiDTV for recording. My AccessDTV is not currently in use, so if you decide that's the card you're going to choose and you want to save some money by purchasing used, send me a private message and make me an offer.


If you have specific questions about a certain card or feature set feel free to ask.

 

[puppyfriend]

I have a WinTV-HD. I got the hauppauge because they are a well established consumer oriented company and I thought I would get the best long term support from them. WRONG!!!!! It's basically an orphaned card from hauppauge. They haven't updated the software in a long time. The software is to say the least "basic". It works OK for what it is, a basic no frills tuner. The customer service is worse than useless. Don't even bother trying to call. It tooks months and numerous calls just to have them send out a new install disk that wouldn't crash under XP. Everytime I called he said he was sending it out today and I should have it by the end of the week. Right.


DO NOT GET THE WINTV-HD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


David

 

[Paladyn]

I agree. Avoid the WinTV-HD like the plague (intertwined with HIV). Unless a miracle happens, like an independent software development effort similar to what some of the other cards are getting, the WinTV-HD is almost useless. It will tune NTSC, ASTC, and dump transport streams to your Hard drive (when it works correctly, and that's a whole other issue), but that's about it.