The deal: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=15-116-310&depa=0
Around $170 was the cheapest I could find it elsewhere. The $50 ATI rebate (good until Jan. 7) drops the price to $130!
Other stuff y'all might like to know:
Check http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx to see if you are likely to get an OTA digital signal at your location BEFORE you order the card. If you don't get coverage, then it is useless.
Most people that I know don't seem to realize that there is good FREE digital TV coverage in most mid to large media markets in the US. This is the cheapest way I've found to get it, and it has a modest PVR function to boot.
I bought this on Dec 22 with fedex saver shipping and had it on the 25th (or was it the 26th?). Newegg was well faster getting it out the door than they said they would be.
The product itself is good, but not yet great. The software is a bit buggy and locks up periodically when changing channels. It is easy to kill the app and restart it, but a PITA. The FREE digital picture and access to additional channels well outweighs the inconvenience. My research indicates that the software flat out sucked when it was released. ATI took a beating in some of the HTPC forums at the time. However, I have read that ATI is actively working to improve the software. By the time I installed, ATI had released new software (9.03, I think) that works OK on my Intel based system with an NVidia video card.
I watch HDTV on my 21" PC monitor, or output through my Nvidia Geforce 5200FX to my 50" analog TV. It will display the widescreen picture in letterbox, or clipped as 4:3 on my analog TV. IT also would work as a receiver for a HDTV, if paired with a video card that can handle HDTV output (mine does, but I don't have an HDTV to test it with).
Oh, it requires a reasonably stout PC to run (no mac support). I use a P4 1.4 with 256MB RAM and it flogs my system at times. More RAM would likely do the trick, as the CPU is rarely (if ever) pegged by the app.
If you are looking for a cheap way to get a digital signal for your analog or digital TV, then this is an OK option.
Be sure to download new software instead of installing from the CD, and follow the directions explicitly.
Around $170 was the cheapest I could find it elsewhere. The $50 ATI rebate (good until Jan. 7) drops the price to $130!
Other stuff y'all might like to know:
Check http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx to see if you are likely to get an OTA digital signal at your location BEFORE you order the card. If you don't get coverage, then it is useless.
Most people that I know don't seem to realize that there is good FREE digital TV coverage in most mid to large media markets in the US. This is the cheapest way I've found to get it, and it has a modest PVR function to boot.
I bought this on Dec 22 with fedex saver shipping and had it on the 25th (or was it the 26th?). Newegg was well faster getting it out the door than they said they would be.
The product itself is good, but not yet great. The software is a bit buggy and locks up periodically when changing channels. It is easy to kill the app and restart it, but a PITA. The FREE digital picture and access to additional channels well outweighs the inconvenience. My research indicates that the software flat out sucked when it was released. ATI took a beating in some of the HTPC forums at the time. However, I have read that ATI is actively working to improve the software. By the time I installed, ATI had released new software (9.03, I think) that works OK on my Intel based system with an NVidia video card.
I watch HDTV on my 21" PC monitor, or output through my Nvidia Geforce 5200FX to my 50" analog TV. It will display the widescreen picture in letterbox, or clipped as 4:3 on my analog TV. IT also would work as a receiver for a HDTV, if paired with a video card that can handle HDTV output (mine does, but I don't have an HDTV to test it with).
Oh, it requires a reasonably stout PC to run (no mac support). I use a P4 1.4 with 256MB RAM and it flogs my system at times. More RAM would likely do the trick, as the CPU is rarely (if ever) pegged by the app.
If you are looking for a cheap way to get a digital signal for your analog or digital TV, then this is an OK option.
Be sure to download new software instead of installing from the CD, and follow the directions explicitly.
