Freeview for my PC??

prozak

Hi I was wondering If you guys could help me as regards to getting Freeview TV channels on my PC. I understand I can have either a PCI card or an external box that connects via USB.
I would prefer USB so I could use it with my laptop also, but if it means a big jump in price I'm happy with a PCI.

Cany anybody recommend me anything that would suit me?
I found this PCI on Ebuyer for £53.56 ()but I really have no idea if this is a mega deal or If I could as easily get an external one???.
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=27669&_LOC=UK

Thanks

prozak

Right, well it seems this is another ignored post. Right well I will attempt this. I've decided I want an external USB freeview box. I've found a few at allright prices, can anybody who has one of these boxes recommend it?

Jetway USB 2.0 Magic TV Tuner / PVR H17-TV2800IK (£ 35.41 £ 41.61 inc VAT )

http://myahead.com/go/look/product.show_product?v_id=8429
This seems a bargain but is it good?

Aver TV USB (£49.99)

http://www.digicams-uk.com/prod281.htm

Vision Plus Freeview Digital TV External USB Device (£ 48.20 ex VAT, £ 56.64 inc )
http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?id=658#

Digital TV & Radio External USB Freeview Tuner Box with Remote Control (£59.98 (inc VAT) £51.05 (ex VAT))

http://www.pcnextday.co.uk/product_detail.asp?stype=5&productcode=1513-2110&group=TVT&pgroup=

Artec T1 Digital USB TV Box (£55.00 £64.63 inc.VAT)

http://www.overclock.co.uk/customer/product.php?productid=17776

hollie.weimeraner

Don't do it unless you are in an area with excellent digital reception and try and read as many reviews as possible as the computer based digital receivers are generally quite poor.

I bought my son a Pinnacle media studio 300i for Christmas and it is the worst bit of computer kit I have ever bought. I have had digital TV for years and live in an area with reasonable reception but this card was very "blocky" and would also keep freezing. The software was so slow it was almost unusable (and that was the 127mb download update from Pinnacle!). The analogue picture was great but unfortunately no sound. Other features of the card were also unusable. The system requirements were well exceeded (Athlon 2.5 barton, 512mb RAM, Asus mobo, Geforce 5800 graphics card with 256mb RAM).

You may be better off buying a cheap freeview box at approx £30 and getting a scart to RF converter if you already have a TV card. My son has now reinstalled his Leadtek analogue card which is brilliant. ::)

prozak

Oh dear, well we have a Humax Freeview box for the television downstairs but I wanted freeview in my room. The picture is fine downstairs so there's no question if I could get a signal. Are these things really that bad? As I have had my heart set on one really. I don't have a standard TV card either so I'd have to buy a standard TV card and then a freeview box costing a lot more.

BenL

I heard that the Technisat Airstar model is good.

I personally have a analogue TV/radio card and the Freeview box from the bedroom feeding its RF output to the computer to access channels 1-5 then whatever the box is on, usually Sky News/Sportsnews as default.

Ben