Video Capture Boards - Which One?

[jagger]

Robert00000-

I would always advise people to buy the best one they can afford. I was going to upgrade my card last christmas (to one 5 times as expensive), but i discovered the PCTV RAVE can do all the things i needed, by downloading windvdr, because i only use it to record tv programmes at dvd quality, and occasionally copy vhs recordings.

That's about as close to an answer as I could hope for.

I hate to do this but there are two more questions I'd like to ask.

1. if the Rave can do everything then what's the real difference other than the manufacturer's software.

2. this really ought to be pinned as pctv cards are going to be more and more asked about especially since Windows is pushing more and more towards the whole multimedia experience

3. Ya, I can't count!, but where do I look for WinDvdr and what version?

A lot more info here than what I could gather from the so-called pctv card sites.

thanx man.

[Robert00000]

The only hardware difference between the cards (PCI), as far as pinnacle are concerned, is that some allow you to watch TV in stereo by pluging in the antenna and some have radio. The satallite versions allow you to control channel shifting through the software because they have a built in tuner.

Some of the other brands offer a built in mpeg 2 encoder chip, which is quite handy as it free's your pc's resources when recording tv programmes to do other things.

If i upgarde in the future i'll probably get a card that has a built in mpeg 2 encoder and also a built in digital receiver (so I won't need my set top digital box anymore).


Try searching for windvdr 3 on kazaa. Its produced by intervideo. Follow this link for more info
http://www.intervideo.com/jsp/WinDVR_Profile.jsp