TV cards for lap tops ??? digital or analogue
Submitted: Tuesday, Dec 12, 2006 at 20:39
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Member - SKI er (NSW)
Hi All,
Can I impose on your generosity of giving up your time again.
After 3 sucessful short "knock down tips" I took out of the van something equal to a body weight of unnecessary items. The van is now parked up at home waiting for February 07 when the schools go back and we begin the first of our 3 month trips
Back to the clean out, out went the 34cm CRT TV and the pre loved video and the small also pre loved radio cassette cd thingy.
They have to be replaced but I think a lap top at 3kg will suffice to perform all of the above and more..... like communications and email.
The salesman then stumped me (looking at his face ... he will be shaving within the month). Did I want a digital TV tuning card or a analogue TV tuner card fitted. The digital tuning card has load of benefits like being able to save TV programmes to hard drive but how do I find out about digital reception coverage for our travels.
Our first trip is from Northern NSW down the
New England H'Way aiming for the Riverina,
Adelaide, The
Yorke Peninsula and then down to
Port Lincoln before homing via
Melbourne and the Victorian and NSW Coast route.
Is the solution simply $$ difficult as we switch from part to full digital - i.e. I need to buy one of each as an external plug in through the USB port.
Thanks in anticipation and Merry Christmas to all of my readers
SKI'er
Reply By: Pajman Pete (SA) - Tuesday, Dec 12, 2006 at 20:56
Tuesday, Dec 12, 2006 at 20:56
I bought a Geniatech C8000T PCMIA card from EBAY that fits into a PCMIA slot on my laptop and pulls in both analogue and digital TV and is also a FM tuner. Seems to have all the whistles and bells but I haven't been playing with it for long.
Derek from ABR who advertises on this site has them cheap at $99:
ABR
No affiliation etc etc, just a happy user. I chose that one after they were recommended by someone else on here.
Cheers
Pete
AnswerID:
210018
Follow Up By: padler - Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006 at 23:05
Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006 at 23:05
Hi Pajman Pete. Do you know (or anyone else) of anyone in
Perth who sells the PMCIA TV cards for the laptops??
Cheers, padler.
FollowupID:
470247
Follow Up By: Pajman Pete (SA) - Thursday, Dec 14, 2006 at 11:13
Thursday, Dec 14, 2006 at 11:13
No, but Derek from from ABR (see the links in my post above) has them on special for $99.
Pete
FollowupID:
470315
Reply By: Member - Phantom (WA) - Tuesday, Dec 12, 2006 at 21:21
Tuesday, Dec 12, 2006 at 21:21
I also just purchased an Avermedia Tuner for my laptop after advice on this
forum. This one does both tuners plus FM. For more info do a search on 'avermedia' here. The best price I could get outside was $129.00 but just picked one up on Ebay for $89 freight inc.
Steve
AnswerID:
210025
Follow Up By: Dunedigger - Tuesday, Dec 12, 2006 at 21:28
Tuesday, Dec 12, 2006 at 21:28
I have one of these too, but the reception is not as good as a normal TV set, You will need a good aerial to get any reception in an average area.
Dunedigger
FollowupID:
470054
Reply By: _gmd_pps - Tuesday, Dec 12, 2006 at 21:40
Tuesday, Dec 12, 2006 at 21:40
The main difference between digital and analogue in an outback situation is that you might get a bad analogue picture but no digital at all ... with digital it either works or not at all .. you need a good antenna in remote areas ... in populated areas it does not matter that much really .. digital is better quality though .. recoding is possible with both and teher are differences in recording standard .. some do mpg2 some 4 some divx ... digital is generally the way to go ...
good luck
gmd
AnswerID:
210032
Follow Up By: GaryInOz (Vic) - Thursday, Dec 14, 2006 at 12:29
Thursday, Dec 14, 2006 at 12:29
Most digital reception problems stem from using the analogue antennas that are generally high gain, narrow bandwidth items set to the analogue frequencies (far better for analogue reception at the time they were originally installed...). the further out from the transmitter you lived, the higher gain the antenna had to be, and the narrower bandwidth they had (can't get something for nothing...).
The digital frequencies fall outside the bandwidth of these moderate to high gain antennas, and are effectively treated as "static". Most solutions to digital reception problems can be solved by going to a smaller lower gain, broader bandwidth antenna that will better handle the digital TV channel frequencies, and a small masthead amplifier if needed (shouldn't normally be needed, digital TV transmission mechanism is quite robust).
FollowupID:
470323
Reply By: Derek from Affordable Batteries & Radiators - Tuesday, Dec 12, 2006 at 21:53
Tuesday, Dec 12, 2006 at 21:53
Hi SKI er
Our Tuner cards are great and I can arrange a test unit if needed.
I have opted to stock a tried and tested unit full featured unit.
We are now direct importers of over 100 products.
Regards
Derek.
AnswerID:
210038
Reply By: Kumunara (NT) - Tuesday, Dec 12, 2006 at 22:29
Tuesday, Dec 12, 2006 at 22:29
Go for a card that does both digital and analogue. In many locations in rural areas there are only limited digital TV stations. In
Katherine you are limited to ABC, ABC2 and SBS. Imparja and 7 are analogue only.
By having both digital and analogue you have a greater range of stations.
AnswerID:
210052
Reply By: XpLoiT - Tuesday, Dec 12, 2006 at 23:04
Tuesday, Dec 12, 2006 at 23:04
This may help you decide which card suits your needs Hauppauge, these people specialise in laptop / usb / desktop tv tuners for both digital and analouge tv. I would personally recommend digital as it has a larger range and wider coverage area (plus all the free freaky channels you never knew existsed hehe)
Hope you find what you are looking for and be sure to show us some pics.
dave
The
Grey Nomads
Relaxed
forum for social
grey nomads to keep intouch
AnswerID:
210059
Follow Up By: Member - Andrew (QLD) - Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006 at 07:52
Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006 at 07:52
::I would personally recommend digital as it has a larger range and wider coverage area::
Are you sure of this Dave? When travelling recently with a dual analogue/digital model, i found that the analogue signal was more available, especially out of the big smokes.
Which ever way the OP goes, a decent aerial must be bought seperately to the PCMCIA/USB device. This is the main problem with current TV tuner cards and will solve most of the dissapointment associated with the apparant poor performance one may see.
Andrew
FollowupID:
470093
Follow Up By: Leroy - Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006 at 08:12
Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006 at 08:12
::I would personally recommend digital as it has a larger range and wider coverage area::
I only get 7 and 9 digital and the others are still analogue.
Leroy
FollowupID:
470097
Reply By: Dunedigger - Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006 at 07:58
Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006 at 07:58
For information in where in Australia digital transmission is available, just enter a post code for that area, go here www.dba.org.au/index.asp?sectionID=22
Dunedigger
AnswerID:
210084
Reply By: inspired - Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006 at 08:31
Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006 at 08:31
The advantage of digital over analogue is better picture, but if the reception is truly poor the image will end up as a series of shifting semi-frozen pixels. Also, not all areas of Australia have digital coverage, and that includes the community station channel 31.
Check on the internet which areas have digital.
The way around that problem is to get a dual digital/analogue PCMCIA card, complete with remote control. They are cheap,(under $100) and of course simply slip into your notebook's PCMCIA slot, and have a remote aerial connection.
Look at the specifications for resolution --- above 640 x 480 pixels.
Hope that helps
AnswerID:
210091