TV tuners: ATI HDTV Wonder x2 or Hauppauge WinTV PVR-500

HDTV has been available for several years, but the number of people with HD-capable displays is only now reaching critical mass -- if you're one of the lucky geeks with a phat projector in your living room, don't pass up the chance to quadruple your resolution. Residents of most major metropolitan areas should be able to receive the Big Six channels over-the-air (OTA), and by now have a wide choice of hardware to tune it.

ATI's video capture software has been oft-maligned since, well, forever, but their HDTV Wonder is very affordable compared with the $400 cards from a few years ago and works fine in MCE 2005. Like all TV capture cards, they can also handle analog cable and OTA broadcasts, but not the proprietary encrypted signals offered by satellite providers and the higher channels of a digital cable package. Buy two to ensure you never have to miss another game while the significant other is recording Trading Spaces.

Many people do not need HD capability: HD has not yet arrived in their area, they have digital cable/satellite that today's OTA HD cards cannot handle, or they have no desire to spend big bucks on a new display in the first place. Our analog tuner recommendation for the Hot Rod HTPC is the Hauppauge WinTV PVR-500. Its dual tuners are a must in the Hot Rod HTPC box, and the quality of recent Hauppauge cards is excellent.

Those who need a single analog tuner card should look at the Hauppauge PVR-150. A pair of them could also prove useful in order to run two independent feeds from digital cable/satellite boxen; mixing an HDTV tuner or two with a standard tuner may also be desirable to some users. Buy based on your specific needs and feel free to mix and match tuners within the limits of MCE's hardware support.

Cost:
ATI - US$176 each (US$352 total) (2/09/2005) [Comparison shop for this item]
Hauppauge - US$136.67 (2/09/2005) [Comparison shop for this item]