Recommended dual tuner card for the uk

[mymymy]

Hi,

I'm about to build a htpc and want to use gbpvr. I live in the uk and want to be able to record one channel and watch another (or record 2 channels) and want a recommendation for a tv card to go for. I'd prefer PCIe x1 as I have more of those slots in my mobo, but could use a PCI. If there are cards that would allow me to record more channels, that would be a bonus.

Thanks.

[McBainUK]

Most people seem to use a Hauppauge Nova-t 500 PCI (2xFreeview tuners). Comes with a remote control that works well with GB-PVR too.

http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/pages/product...at500.html

[Bathman]

I used a Terratec 2400i DT and as a tuner card I had no problems with it. However when I moved to a Pentium m motherboard (Aopen 915gmm-hfs) I had compatibility problems. This was due to a known bug in the Aopen BIOS which they never bothered to fix.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/multimedia...400i-DT/p1

I replaced it with a Hauppauge Nova 500-DT (even though I orded a Nova 500-T). This was a utter pile of crap. Hauppauge did however change it for a Nova 500-T which works great.

However if I was going to buy a dual tuner card today I would buy a BlackGold BGT3540 as I have had to change tuners when I moved house recently (Analoge and DVB-S out DVB-T in) and this would cover every base. It would also allow BBC HD via DVB-S.

http://shop.blackgold.tv/product/3540.html

Although the product not out yet Blackgold do have a decent reputation.

I think reading the above shows my biggest annoyance with building your own HTPC and that is the fact that manufactures advertise products that simply don't do what they are supposed to. I also think reviews don't have the products for long enough. These days I always source user reviews.

Hope I helped

[mymymy]

Thanks for the quick replies. Really great help.

I had been looking at the blackGold card, but was slightly put off by the fact that its not out yet. Not sure I fancy being a guinea pig, but you comment about the reputation makes me feel more inclined to go for it.

I'm not really in a rush as I won't get my new tv for a few weeks yet.

If I go for the blackGold, do I have to use their remote or can I get any other remote to use with GBPVR? If so any pointers on that front?

[rob_writer]

Ebuyer have the Nova-T 500 PCI for £50, which I thought was a decent price. It doesn't do any hardware encoding but it works well, the remote is good, and my slow system (Athlon XP 2000 ish) has no trouble recording two signals at once.

[gEd]

The Nova-t 500 it doesn't have hardware encoding because dvb tuners don't encode the dvb signal - it's already digital.