Sapphire Theatrix 650 hybrid TV card

[ryan_lau100]

has anyone purchased this? they have it on sale at infonec. trying to put together a htpc but not too sure which card i want to put in. i just want it to be able to record normal mpeg up to mpeg 4 if i want. does this integrate nicely with media center 2005? it says its compatible but is it really? any other suggestions for a capture card <$150

[ppl4golf]

I just bought one and it didn't come with absolutely NO SOFTWARE for watching/recording TV. I loaded up GBPVR and it's supported...I can only get either the ATSC or NTSC(cable) but not both together with GBPVR and the card supposed to do both together. The picture quality is pretty good though.

My OS is WinXP sp2

[althoma1]

It's a hybrid card so you can only watch or record either HD or analog at once. If you want to watch one and record another you need a true dual tuner card. I just picked up the AverMedia M780 aka AverTv Combo PCIe. It's a true dual tuner card and one of the only PCIe cards. ATI is coming out with a similar card, but not until September.

Here are a couple reviews of the AverMedia card:

http://www.geardigest.com/2007/07/05/avermedia_combo_tv_card_brings_analog_and_digital_ together/
http://www.hdtvtunerinfo.com/avertvcombopcie.html
http://www0.epinions.com/Avermedia_AverTV_Combo_PCIe_M780_Graphic_Card

The only place I found it available in Canada was Tigerdirect.ca, but it's not available in store - it's for online orders only. It was $106 when I ordered it last week, but now seems to be $113: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2942132&Sku=A46-4112&SRCCODE=PRICECAN&CMP=OTC-PRICECANADA

They also have a version with a remote for $146, but what I did was pick up the MCE remote they have at infonec for $28. I would have bought the Avermedia card somewhere local, but none of the local GTA shops that I looked at carry it. I asked Infonec if they could order it, but they said they don't carry the AverMedia brand.

For a local option you could go with the WinTV 1600 as that's more readily available, but I read one review that compares the AverMedia to that card and the AverMedia was given the better review overall (can't seem to find that at the moment though). The 1600 is a PCI card instead of the newer PCIe like the AverMedia.

[ryan_lau100]

thanks guys. ya i wasnt too impressed with the reviews the 1600 got. for that price i was somewhat skeptical. if it was cheaper i probably would have picked that up for sure.