Get the Best PCI-e TV Tuner Card!

Ideal for system builders this dual hybrid PCI-E TV tuner card is a dedicated media center kit with two hybrid tuners with both analog and digital reception allowing you to record two TV channels once. The Hauppauge 1229 is also HD compatible, and happily records high definition broadcasts.

Designed for use with XP Media Center Edition, Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate, this solution from industry leaders Hauppauge (they’ve been in the TV card game for years now) retails at $150 and comes complete with RGB cables, although there is no remote control included with this card.

This card provides your PC with an MPEG2–equipped TV tuner card with custom PVR (personal video recorder) software – all you need to build your own HTPC!

Available for just $49.99, the PowerColor Theater 550 PRO works under Windows XP Media Center Edition and Microsoft Vista, and there shouldn’t be any problem installing it under Windows 7.

Curiously there is no remote control with this device, but with its quick installation and easy to use software this is a great low-cost HTPC TV tuner card solution.

The best of the bunch is the TV Wonder HD 650 PCI Express.

From VisionTek, this $130 TV tuner card features automatic noise reduction, color control and edge enhancement to give brilliant, sharp video reproduction.

Using this device you can view and record analog TV, "free-to-air" HDTV and the whole interface is brought to you via ATI’s Catalyst Media Center software. Providing HD support is of course a must these days, and it’s good to see that the VisionTek card is up to the task.

VisionTek is a popular alternative to Hauppauge, and this feature-packed PCI-e TV tuner card is arguably the best on the market.