AntiM has a new review up on a awesome HDTV card from DVico. A pretty feature rich and affordable HDTV solution for your next HTPC!

Check it out here.

Well, I was intrigued when it seemed to say it would work in Win2000... and then I noticed it was $160. "Affordable?!"

i have the same card. it's pretty awesome except the software can be aggravating at times. especially if you run into driver issues. remember to use good quadsheild RG6 coax. HD on a 76 inch screen = amazing. unless you want to change channels. keep your wireless keyboard and mouse because the remote isnt that spectacular in function.

I think in all actuality, $160 for what it can do isn't horrible. It could be cheaper but it looks like it does a good job.

Well, for sake of comparison, I looked at Newegg a couple days ago. I found one card at $55 (apparently XP only), another at $80 or so (also XP only) and one at $130 (didn't bother checking)

Quote: Originally Posted by Hak Foo Well, for sake of comparison, I looked at Newegg a couple days ago. I found one card at $55 (apparently XP only), another at $80 or so (also XP only) and one at $130 (didn't bother checking)

Much of a case of you get what you pay for. If you are interested in buying a HD tuner/capture card, do a little research before you waste money on a cheap card.

A good Haupage card will run $130 bucks and it that isn't HD capable.

For $149 you can get the Dvico with a HDTV antenna ($40) and it includes a remote. A lot of cards are digital only with no analog support. A lot of cards don't do clear-QAM digital cable. Some cards don't allow multiple installs/tuners. And a lot of cards aren't compatible with software such as Snapstream's and MythTV. And few cards work with 64bit OS's and fewer with Vista.

Bottom line: The price is a fair one when compared to other cards.

the selling point really is the clear QAM capability. there are only one or two other cards that can do clear QAM unless you use linux only then there are a few more. clear QAM = unencrypted HD over cable. i get millenium digital media (a terrible carrier btw) which has 8 real HD channels, a few SD digital and all those digital music stations you never listen to. i think a cheap ATSC tuner is pointless since you can only pull tv out of the air where as with this card you can do cable and OTA
i got mine from snap stream for $150 and it comes with a free indoor HD antenna.
you can also build one with junk you probably have in your garage. DIY HDTV antenna - Lumenlab

Quote: Originally Posted by AntiM Much of a case of you get what you pay for. If you are interested in buying a HD tuner/capture card, do a little research before you waste money on a cheap card.

Well, the 'capture' aspect is of fairly minor interest to me, and I don't have cable.

I did do SD capture with really dumb cards... and they worked, although they would drag a Duron 1.6 to a halt, and render a A64 3200+ slow.

My interest in a HDTV card comes from the fact that the best picture-generating device in my house is a 21" CRT monitor. (It can do 1080p via letterboxing, and then some!). If I can get a tuner card for $100, it's a hell of a cheaper way to enjoy high-def programming than spending $300 for a comparable new TV (assuming you can get a 20-21" HD CRT set)

I see getting a HD card right now as roughly the analogue of when I got my first SD card in 1998. I recall the big issues being "is it compatible with my S3 Virge/DX video card, and Linux?" I wasn't hugely concerned with the ability to record-- that was about seven motherboards away.