DVB Tuner cards for PC recommendations?

[uberlad]

Ok, I didn't sell my house for enough to blow all my spare cash on a Mac mini

As we're moving to an area without cable and I don't want to sell my soul to the Sky beast it looks like we're going to have to go freeview in the new house.

My girlfriend wants a freeview box that can record stuff, and I want a HTPC that can play back all the TV that the internet records for me. It occurs to me today that if I get a DVB tuner card in the HTPC then I can cut out one box and won't be reliant on the size of HD that comes with a freeview box. Win win.

Does any company yet sell a decent DVB tuner card? Ideally with an associated software package + remote so that people can watch TV without requiring a CompSci degree.

I can pick up an older P4 based barebones HTPC, or even a socket A one as I don't need a huge amount of power and want it as quiet as pos, for pretty cheap.

Any suggestions? Should I in fact put this in the HTPC forum (D'oh!)?

(edit) didn't we used to have an HTPC forum? (D'oh!oh! )

Uberlad

[Fat Tone]

The one to get is the Nebula DigiTV card. By no means the cheapest, but certainly the best, with v. good software to-boot.

See my thread 'HTPC on the cheap' in the HTPC forum for more advice from the murc pros.

I still want to get a HTPC, but money could be a problem for a while. However, my DVD player remote has given up again, and I think switching to Freeview + Top UP TV for £8/month will save some dosh (c/w NTL family pack) over time so I am looking at options again.

I also want to reduce the number of boxes under the TV, and I'm not too bothered about recording DVDs, so could consider a freeview+HDD for say <£150, plus a DVD/DIVX player for say £40.

I'll be interested to see where you end up with this.

[gt40]

here's a good place for lots of info.
I'm using a twinhan card- it's cheap, it does the job, but without an onboard mpeg decoder it requires a bit of horsepower (2.4 ghz recommended)

[uberlad]

Thanks for the quick replies guys - looks like my afternoon will contain less work than I had first imagined....

The Nebula looks good and i suppose that two tuners is a bit much to ask for on a PCI card. Looks like the link from gt40 should keep me busy for a while.

I'm really looking to get a quiet barebones but it looks like I'll be forced to get at least a 2.4GHz due to the lack of decent models for the cooler chips. It will be rediculous to have an HTPC that rivals my main machine in power though.....

I have gazed upon topupTV and seen that it does not contain anything I need, especially not for £8 a month (says the man spending £30 a month on TV channels he never watches atm). Which is good as I can't find any PVR DVB boxes that accept a topupTV card anyway.

Keep the leads coming in all....

Uberlad

[Fat Tone]

I don't watch many of the extra channels myself, but I'd miss Discovery and would like to keep a cartoon channel for the kids. Sky One would be the biggest loss (apart from the 30% time coverage of the adverts).

Keep us informed of progress...

[uberlad]

Ooooh, the Twinham ones are cheap and one model has a socket for a card reader. I could still get TopUpTV if I wanted.....

If only they actually sold that model in the UK.....

I think I'll miss SkyOne for a couple of weeks. then my brain will start working again and I'll realise that I don't need Brainiac: Science Abuse in my life All the stuff on SkyOne that I really like tends to have been on in the USA first. It will be nice to have the topupTV option, it has to be said.

Does Windows Media Centre Edition allow web browsing and stuff as well as media centring? I like the idea of a simple interface but I'd still like to be able to browse things.

Uberlad

[Fat Tone]

I thought this would end up over here!

It seems pcnextday do some Twinhan packages, including MCE. I was hoping to get MCE for free though - I'm sure I can think of some experiment to justify it

[uberlad]

I presume that the postulation that MCE can be downloaded through bittorrent within hours is not a valid experiment, or scientifically rigorous enough?

I'll look at the packages on PCNextDay, if it's only a little more then I might even get a legit MCE (as long as I get my topupTV ability at the same time).

Uberlad

[gt40]

here's a quick primer on viewing satellite dvb transmissions:

most of these cards support multiple dishes through switches or rotators to allow viewing of multiple satellites.
you can get a list of ALL the satellites available here as well as the channels available on each. .This one looks particularly interesting.
There are plenty of free to air (FTA) channels available including network feeds and such, as well as encypted channels (some may be viewable through trickery ) Lyngsat details which are which and what form of encrytion (if any) they use.
most transmit in C-band or KU-band. C-band requires a rather large (1.5m +) dish, while you may get away with a .5m dish for transmissions in the ku band.

I find most ppl use third party software (especially if you want to stray from the FTA stuff)
- with much of the s/w being free or nearly free.

That will get you started! happy hunting

[Fat Tone]

I presume that the postulation that MCE can be downloaded through bittorrent within hours is not a valid experiment, or scientifically rigorous enough?

I'll look at the packages on PCNextDay, if it's only a little more then I might even get a legit MCE (as long as I get my topupTV ability at the same time).

Uberlad

Hehe - I meant perhaps there is an experiment that can be performed for my work that justifies the purchase of MCE...

I've had some further thoughts and realise I could possibly fund an HTPC now. Also, there is an unused Sky digital dish on my house that could be pressed into use...

[uberlad]

I thought it would turn out to be that kind of experiment. Wish I could wangle things like that.

Further discussions has not only got me the go-ahead but I am to sort all this out before we move, so as to reduce stress later.

It looks like I'll actuially have to go for an HTPC case instead of a shuttle-style as we'd like the option of adding a second tuner that supports TopUpTV in the future if they add more channels that float our collective boat. This leaves me requiring 3 PCI slots to cover two tuners and a wireless card. And of course built-in digital out on the motherboard in case I ever get that decent surround system of my dreams.

Another day of work distraction ahead I fear.

Uberlad

[Fat Tone]

Goog luck and keep the details coming. I think we have the exact same requirements. My budget is ~£600. As there is only one DVB-T card that takes a CAM atm I think that should wait until there are more around and they are proven, and in the mean time I favour a Nebula.

I too need digital out as I already have a decent HIFI amp.

It may be that MCE isn't available in a 'corporate' environment for some reason

[uberlad]

That's infuriating - there are some really nice cases that look nice and cheap (eg: http://www.dansdata.com/b01.htm) but does anyone sell them in the UK yet? NooooOOOOOoooo. Looks like nMedia is selling them in the USA slightly rebranded but that helps me not at all.

Currently considering the Antec Aria, and trying to work out which MAtx board to go for.

Is a Sempron the best chip choice for this do we reckon?

If I'm using MCE as the TV interface what would compel me to go for the Nebula over the Twinham? I suppose it does have TV passthrough. but it costs quite a bit more.

depending which card I end up going for, and how much HD space I want it to have I think I can get this in at under £400. I'm sure I can find a keyboard / mouse lying around at home somewhere

Uberlad

[Fluff]

I have a Nebula usb version, and it has behaved very well, mch better than the aver pci dab i had before.

[uberlad]

That's two votes for Nebula then.

I can find Gigabyte S754 uAtx board that have headers for SP-DIF ports. The question does then become - can I actually buy a standard SP-DIF port that will plug into it anywhere?

Can anyone recommend a very quiet very cheap DVD drive of some sort? Considering the prices I might as well get a DVD burner - someone makes a tool that will allow me to burn MCE-saved TV to DVD for viewing on DVD players, right?

Uberlad