Need some help looking for TV tuner

jjwrest

Honorable
Dec 8, 2012
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10,510
Hi guys, i was looking for a Tv tuner such as the ones thata are USB and you just plug the cable cord right into that, any suggestions for a good one? price around 50 or so if possible
 
It depends on some factors.

Clear QAM channels(or over the air if you have an antenna) will be picked up by the Digital part and if you still have analog, those will be picked up by the analog part.

Many places have or will soon be removing analog channels. This may require you to use a set top box. This is the part that makes things interesting because you need an IR blaster to control the BOX.

I also find many non hardware accelerated cards do not look as good on analog.

So in general for basic use, almost any USB tuner should work.
 

bjaminnyc

Distinguished
Jun 17, 2011
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I just setup the cable card tuner last week so I'm still learning quite a bit. I originally thought it would never suffice as my full time living room DVR.

The combination of MediaBrowser and MCE buddy are quickly changing my mind. I'm still using my Fios DVR for the time being. I'll probably make the full time switch after I order a HDHomeRun, giving me 5 tuners 3 of them being dynamic and network accessible from my varios HTPC's for live TV.
 

Wolfshadw

Titan
Moderator
@jjwrest - What TV Tuner card you get is going to depend on what cable subscription you have. If all you have is a basic cable subscription (no cable set top box required), then any of the basic tuners, like the Hauppauge PCTV HD Stick 801e SE USB 2.0 would work for you.

If your cable subscription requires the use of a set top box, then you could use a TV Tuner, like the one linked above, for standard definition recordings or you could replace your set top box with a CableCard TV Tuner; either a networked tuner like bjaminnyc has or an internal card like I have; the Ceton InfiniTV4.

-Wolf sends