Hauppauge WinTV HVR-3000

Advantages: Hybrid tuners, onboard hardwarde mpeg encoder
Disadvantages: Awful Hauppauge software

...An excellent card let down by clunky outdated software. Hardware-wise it's hard to beat as it has both and analog and digital terrestrial tuners as well as a hardware mpeg encoder on the analog side to aid in the transfer of home movies from Tape to DVD. Hauppauge's problem is that it hasn't updated the WinTV200 software since God was a boy and it is a complete pain to use. I'd highly recommend this card but if you are considering it, allow yourself the money for buying proper software to use with it, be it the Media Center in Vista or MCE 2005, or if you're running XP fork out a few quid for Nebula Electronics excellent DigiTV software which works very well with this card... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Work and Watch at the same time :)
Disadvantages: Limited to 800 x 600 (I think)

...I am a lucky owner of one of these superb cards. They are truely outstanding. Althought there have been many more versions since the card that I have I still frequently use it. With it you are able to watch the tele while writing a document, or doing homework or whatever! Its great. Only probably I found is that it cannot display a picture the size of the full screen.... despite my Voodoo 3 3000 So I guess its not capable of too high resolutions (the max is 800x600) I think, but Ive had it for a couple of years now.. so the new ones are proably even better, especially the ones that supply an inbuilt radio too!... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Watch Analgue and Digital Freeview TV on your PC, Record TV
Disadvantages: Need to OPEN PC to slot in PCI card, Need a free PCI Slot

...WHY BUY A TV AND A FREEVIEW BOX WHEN YOU CAN USE YOUR PC I didn't have a tv in my room since there wasn't any room for even a small one. I thought how would I be able to view TV in my room. Buying a Flat Screen TV (which probably is the only TV that would have fit into my small room) would have cost my A LOT of money that I didn't have. I also would have had to buy a FREEVIEW Box.. More money expenses. Having searched on the INTERNET I came across many different TV PCI Cards. I FINALLY came across the WinTV-HVR-1100 PCI Card. Having visited the Hauppauge website and reading reviews on this product I couldn't believe how good and cost effective this PCI card was. I brought the PCI Card for around £45.00. You get an Instruction Manual with the PCI Card so even the novice computer Hardware person (like me) is able to install the PCI... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful