Total Noob / PCI vs. USB2 TV Tuner Card

I have a LeadTek USB2 Deluxe TV tuner card. I bought this, also
considering that I have an older machine that only had USB1. By adding
a card and the hub with TV tuner I gained 5 ports. I'm just not sure
I'm getting the best TV reception available.

I have the hub running through a (comcast) cable box. All seems "okay"
although I just have no frame of reference regarding the quality of the
signal I should expect from it.

My video card is an ATI Radeon / 128 card.

Money is not the object, but I don't want to go nuts. I just want to
have good quality tv on my new Dell 24 flat panel monitor.

Any suggestions? Is USB no good for tv tuner? PCI better, or _much_
better? Upgrade my video card to 256 version? Also tv card to compare
(in $100 or so range?)

Sorry, but I did title with the "total noob" option...........

Thanks for any insight (all new to me.)

SASDALLAS

SASDALLAS wrote:
> I have a LeadTek USB2 Deluxe TV tuner card. I bought this, also
> considering that I have an older machine that only had USB1. By adding
> a card and the hub with TV tuner I gained 5 ports. I'm just not sure
> I'm getting the best TV reception available.
>
> I have the hub running through a (comcast) cable box. All seems "okay"
> although I just have no frame of reference regarding the quality of the
> signal I should expect from it.
>
> My video card is an ATI Radeon / 128 card.
>
> Money is not the object, but I don't want to go nuts. I just want to
> have good quality tv on my new Dell 24 flat panel monitor.
>
> Any suggestions? Is USB no good for tv tuner? PCI better, or _much_
> better? Upgrade my video card to 256 version? Also tv card to compare
> (in $100 or so range?)
>
> Sorry, but I did title with the "total noob" option...........
>
> Thanks for any insight (all new to me.)
>
> SASDALLAS
>
I would skip the analog TV tuners, PCI or USB and go right to digital,
assuming you have HD in your area. I would recommend the DVICO Fusion
HDTV5 Lite or Gold version. I have the Lite along with an ATI HDTV
Wonder and KWORLD ATSC-110 pci cards in a Beyond TV setup. The DVICO
Lite version is about $99 shipped and is a great digital card with
software. The Gold version adds a remote and antenna, IIRC.

dan

dan wrote:

> SASDALLAS wrote:
>> I have a LeadTek USB2 Deluxe TV tuner card. I bought this, also
>> considering that I have an older machine that only had USB1. By adding
>> a card and the hub with TV tuner I gained 5 ports. I'm just not sure
>> I'm getting the best TV reception available.
>>
>> I have the hub running through a (comcast) cable box. All seems "okay"
>> although I just have no frame of reference regarding the quality of the
>> signal I should expect from it.
>>
>> My video card is an ATI Radeon / 128 card.
>>
>> Money is not the object, but I don't want to go nuts. I just want to
>> have good quality tv on my new Dell 24 flat panel monitor.
>>
>> Any suggestions? Is USB no good for tv tuner? PCI better, or _much_
>> better? Upgrade my video card to 256 version? Also tv card to compare
>> (in $100 or so range?)
>>
>> Sorry, but I did title with the "total noob" option...........
>>
>> Thanks for any insight (all new to me.)
>>
>> SASDALLAS
>>
> I would skip the analog TV tuners, PCI or USB and go right to digital,
> assuming you have HD in your area. I would recommend the DVICO Fusion
> HDTV5 Lite or Gold version. I have the Lite along with an ATI HDTV
> Wonder and KWORLD ATSC-110 pci cards in a Beyond TV setup. The DVICO
> Lite version is about $99 shipped and is a great digital card with
> software. The Gold version adds a remote and antenna, IIRC.

Important difference between the Lite and the Gold versions--the Lite has a
BT878 chip while the Gold uses a CX23882. Shouldn't make any difference
for digital, but the 23882 is a newer chip with better analog performance.

Also, the new "RT" versions can turn the computer on with the remote or when
a recording is schedules.



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--John
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