A good / cheap TV tuner card that runs in Vista 64 ?

Just tried a Sabrent SBR - TVFM. Dead as a doornail no matter what drivers
et al. System picks up the driver and install but no jpy.

 

The Sabrent SBR - TVFM is an analog card with no hardware MPEG encoding
so it will not work with Windows Media Center. It appears to be too old
for Sabrent to have produced any 64-bit drivers.

An analog TV card must have hardware MPEG encoding to work with Windows
Media Center, but, with or without hardware MPEG encoding, can work on
64-bit with manufacturer supplied 64-bit drivers and (usually 32-bit)
software.

DVB cards do not need hardware MPEG encoding to work with Windows Media
Center because the received program stream is already encoded as MPEG,
so these are the cheap option provided that digital transmissions can be
received at your location.

There are many cards with 64-bit Vista drivers and software from
Leadtek, Hauppauge and others. Check to see which is cheapest and offers
you the facilities you want.

 

Thanks for the explanation. This card came with 64 bit drivers and their
software which seems to be junk. Off to look for hardware MPEG encoding.

 

Hi, Wonderman.

I'm certainly no expert on TV tuners, but I have two and they both work well
with my Vista Ultimate x64 and Win7 Ultimate x64 RC. One is a card inside
the computer case; the other is on a USB stick outside the case; each cost
$100 2 years ago. They both came with software, but I prefer to run them
both in Windows Media Center. Drivers for 64-bit were slow to arrive for
both of them, but the current drivers work well. There are newer models of
each, but I haven't tried to upgrade either of them.

The internal PCI-e card is the Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1600. The USB tuner is
the Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick.

Media Center uses both of them, so I can record one program while watching a
different channel. My reception is less than ideal because we don't
subscribe to TV cable. But we get about a dozen channels over the air from
Austin and San Antonio. Since the digital conversion, we get perfect
reception about 90% of the time and no - or very erratic- reception the rest
of the time.

You might find more-focused TV tuner advice in the
microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter newsgroup.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64 RC 7100

 

Thanks, they look great. Its really something I'd rarely use so I'd like to
spend less. I'm gonna look around for cheap.

 

Cheap isn't always best. Remember you get what you pay for.
============

 

Just a case of relative value to me comment. Its a nice to have feature but
not at all mandatory. I upgraded this machine form Vista 32 w/ 2 meg to 64
with 4 meg and I discovered my Sony MPEG board that I rarely used wouldnt
run in 64.

 

Hello, Have possible the same card. Bought on line for US$12.00.
Installed on 32 bit Windows XP SP3 and then did a clean install on this unit
for Windows 7 beta.
Worked with both OS.
There are several different drivers for that type of card. Remove all traces
of driver that does not function,
replace until one works. Found several drivers using Google. It took three
tries before one worked.
For 64 bit try compatibility mode.
TV tuner excellent picture, poor ability to copy and there are two screen
sizes, small about 4" and full screen.
On more expensive TV tuners', they have complete ability to resize and
better copy ability.
I used this to watch news programs ( split the connection from cable TV
service) as I was using E-Mail, news groups and having breakfast.
take care.
beamish.

 

Beamish -


Were you able to run this in Media Center 64 bit ?

 

Hello,
No.
Media Center 64 bit seems to have limited ability for older hardware and
software.
take care.
beamish.

 

Have you tried resizing the small picture by clicking and dragging on a
corner? Most assume they might be starting on a 640x480 screen and play
safe.