There's never been a better time to be in the market for a TV tuner card for your home theater PC. You know, unless you're looking for a high end tuner that will let you do something like record Digital Cable or Satellite TV signals directly on your PC. CableCard and satellite tuners are either expensive or not-yet existent.

But if you're looking for a PCI Express card that can handle standard NTSC and ATSC signals, Hauppauge has announced a new $49 TV tuner that should fit the bill. The WinTV-HVR-1250 can record standard analog TV or over the air HDTV. It can also handle ClearQAM, which is just a fancy word for unencrypted digital cable HDTV signals.

The TV tuner is certified for use with Windows Vista Media Center, but should also work with other PC-based PVR software. The WinTV-HVR-1250 should be available laster this month.

It looks like Hauppauge is updating its WinTV-HVR-950 line of USB TV tuners by adding a Q to the end of the name. That's right, the all new WinTV-HVR-950Q does everything the older TV tuner does. Oh yeah, and it can also handle ClearQAM signals.

What that means, in a nutshell, is that you can use this little USB jobby to record over the air NTSC or HDTV signals, or you can plug your digital cable line into the tuner and record any unencrypted HDTV channels directly to your computer. Keep in mind, most cable providers scramble premium content, but you'll probably be able to pick up all of your local network affiliates in crystal clear high def with this TV tuner.

Oh yeah, you can also record standard definition programming by plugging in an analog cable (or bunny ears, if that's your kind of thing). The WinTV-HVR-950Q should be available later this month for $99.

[via Engadget]

One of the first things most people do when they buy a TV tuner card for their PC is to throw away the PVR software that came with the tuner. Windows Media Center, BeyondTV, SageTV, MythTV or Media Portal do a much better job of letting you watch and record TV.

So I've never spent much time with Hauppauge's WinTV software, even though I've purchased 4 Hauppauge TV tuners over the years. Version 6 was just released, and it's worth taking a look at. The software includes a new streamlined (and skinnable) interface and a new taskbar for recording, pausing, and playing TV.

But more importantly, WinTV V6 includes a driver update that allows HD tuners like the Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1600 to receive QAM signals. In other words, you can connect your PC to your digital cable and receive any unencrypted HD channels available from your provider. That probably includes most of the major broadcast networks.

Amazon has a great deal on the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1600 HDTV tuner. This NTSC/ATSC card normally sells for $90 to $100, but Amazon has it for $70 after rebate.

The card has two separate tuners, a 125 channel cable/antenna tuner, and an ATSC digital TV tuner that can be plugged into a high definition antenna. In other words, you can use the card to record two programs at the same time, as long as they're from separate sources.

The HVR-1600 comes with a Hauppauge IR remote control and WinTV2000 software which is sufficient for testing out your tuner, but I'd highly recommend checking out Windows Media Center, BeyondTV, SageTV, GB-PVR, Media Portal (for Windows users) or MythTV (for Linux) if you want to take full advantage of this card.

Hauppauge has announced that its TV tuner products are now compatible with Macintosh computers running Elgato's EyeTV software.

I've been using Hauppauge tuners in my PC for years now, and I have to say their WinTV PVR-150 standard definition tuner and their hybrid WinTV HVR-1600 SD/HD tuner are workhorses. While those are both PCI tuners, it looks like it will be Hauppauge's newer USB sticks that will work with Macs.

The WinTV Nova-T, Nova-TD, HVR-900 and HVR-950 sticks are all supported. While the number of TV tuners for Macs has risen in the past few years, it's nice to see Hauppauge give some love toward the Apple crowd.

Hauppauge has emailed me to say they're launching one of their new hybrid TV cards at CeBit this week.

Basically, they're billing it as "the world's first quad mode tuner."

It's capable of receiving all UK TV broadcast formats, including analog, Freeview digital, satellite and High Definition (HD) satellite.

It should be available mid-March, at around £180, and comes in PCI format.

The card is packed with the usual Hauppauge features, and will undoubtedly drop in price as the year rolls on -- but you should expect this kind of card to be the standard for a PC-based TV tuner/PVR in the UK in the very near future.