TV Wonder question

[Matty Anderson]

I'm thinking about getting a TV Wonder card, instead of buying a TV. Save
money, space, etc. Do they work with digital cable service? I've got RCN
digital cable in Boston, and I don't want the card if it can't decode the
signal. Does it work just as well if you use the output from the cable box?
In that case, is it possible to record? Program recording?

Thanks

Matty

 

[SL]

Mattt, I will not try to mislead you and say the the Wonder is great. It
"can" be though. It is a video/capture card that will do analag catv and
composite (rca/)coax). It comes with a Tivo like program called GuidePlus+
that will many VCR/DVD type of recording video.

However, there is one really big problem. It does not easily co-exist with
a lot of operating system/hardware configs. It can be "hit or miss". I
have a TV Wonder VE running under XP Pro and it hates it.

SL

 

[Daniel Tonks]

I'm thinking about getting a TV Wonder card, instead of buying a TV. Save
money, space, etc. Do they work with digital cable service? I've got RCN
digital cable in Boston, and I don't want the card if it can't decode the
signal. Does it work just as well if you use the output from the cable box?
In that case, is it possible to record? Program recording?

It can receive analog cable but not digital cable. It can record from your
cable box's output (coax, composite or s-video), however it will NOT be able
to change channels on your cable box.

- Daniel

 

[Barry Watzman]

They do not work with digital cable services. Using the output from the
cable box will work. Yes, you can record and program record (you have
to leave your computer on). The video quality of the ATI cards is not
equal to a good TV. The Hauppauge cards are somewhat better, still not
up to a really good TV, but better than the ATI cards.

 

[I discuss]

I have a all-in-wonder 9000 pro, and I am very pleased with the TV quality.
Worth mentioning is that ATI products support close caption, while Hauppauge
card doesn't.