matthewdehaan wrote:Wish I would have waited for this instead of the ATI 600 USB I bought a month back or so...oh well.

Matt... you should buy this new one and sell your USB one to the guy looking to hook it up to his laptop =P.

As for my 2 cents, I'm leaning toward the PCIe version since I don't have cable and can't use the hardware encoding for any analog signals anyways. Also in the future, in case I do get cable again, QAM would be nice. Since it seems only to be guaranteed on the 600PCIe, I'm probably going to with it.

Currently, I run with an old ATI HDTV wonder and a Hauppauge PVR150 on an XP Media Center Edition box. It would be nice to go low profile and get a nice HTPC case in the future and have QAM support. Good luck to everyone making the decision!

AutobahnSHO wrote:Please for the love of the Internets, tell me WHY anyone is talking about gaming in this discussion?

This is NOT a regular video card. It has nowhere to plug in your monitor. It will NOT make pictures for you.

It INPUTS the TELEVISIONS and lets you watch it on your computer monitor (with regular Video Card.)

(YES ATI does make cards that also send pictures to your monitor, they're called "ALL IN WONDER".)...

I have no need for one of these right now, but really want. Wifey will get mad though....
Hmmmmm....

You're on the wrong track; the discussion about gaming is about hooking up a game console(read: xbox 360, ps3, wii, etc) to your PC, allowing you to essentially use your computer monitor as a TV for gaming. This has nothing to do with PC gaming's need for a 3D GPU, which is what you're confusing things with.

copperhead wrote:

Part of my problem is that I have the Biostar 128M TA790GX and there is an ATI 4850 in the master PCIE slot, which covers at least one of the PCI ports next to it. The fan of the 4850 would be right up against anything in the remaining PCI slot. I am not sure if that would affect the way the 4850 cools.

I'm in the same boat. But i'm waiting on the 5650 or single slot 5750. I just ordered two PCI since i'm on the 3300 right now.

EddieAngel333 wrote:LMAO

YER GONA LOVE THIS
yes this is "DUAL" TUNER

only problem is..
one is analog and one is digital

as far as I know everyone stopped broadcasting analog back in may lol

so the analog tuner is useless !

http://www.diamondmm.com/TVW650PCI.php

No; the analog tuner is also used for processing composite/S-Video input. Beyond that, if you have analog cable TV still, the card is suitable for that.

If you want over the air analog TV though, then yes, its analog TV tuning is useless (in the US).

Can someone explain how the clear QAM for digital descrambling works or what it basically does?

btvsphobicphobe wrote:I've only got a laptop - can an enclosure be found for it and will it work with a toshiba satellite?

To the best of my knowledge their is no enclosure (this is technically a graphics card if you think about it and those don’t have them)

As to satellite you will have the following problem satellites and cable broadcast digital signals. Those digital signals can only be read by their 'box' so I have never seen a satellite work with these. That being said I use one with my Comcast cable. I get most of the channels that I get from the box but some that are digitally encrypted like Hallmark and HBO I do not get. The way to make this work by the way is to get a splitter from the wall run the wall cord straight into the splitter one end goes into your normal cable/satellite box the other goes into the card directly.

Also, if I get the PCI card now, can I come back later and get another PCI card or PCIE? I want to place an order for the PCI card, but thoguht I saw someone previously complaining a few weeks ago that they couldn't come back and buy more.

I understand the Windows 7 drivers are not yet available, but couldn't I simply hook up a dongle and attach it to my dangle?

chefjoe wrote:If your area has "digital cable" from comcast there is a good chance that there's clear QAM versions of the locals and perhaps even the expanded basics. Some areas (portland, seattle, etc) have had DTA box rollouts on comcast that have further encrypted those QAM signals but, frequently, local stations are passed in clear QAM rather than encrypted. You can get an idea of what's available with a clear QAM capable HDTV and the following channel map for your zip code. http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/channels

thanks chefjoe!

Damn I really want one of these but running win7 pro 64.. i cant believe it works on vista but not win7, what a disappoinment ..

digitoast wrote:digicast:

It DOES have clear QAM support. According to their website both the PCI and PCIE versions have clear QAM support. The only ones that don't are some of the USB and the lower 500/200 series.

Has anyone else noticed that the order page doesn't have the 600 PCIE? It has a 650 PCIE. Which is wrong, the front page or the order page?

shaggysnax wrote:Has anyone else noticed that the order page doesn't have the 600 PCIE? It has a 650 PCIE. Which is wrong, the front page or the order page?

No one knows yet. ThunderThighs is getting back to us with the official word (Page 10).

EddieAngel333 wrote:LMAO

YER GONA LOVE THIS
yes this is "DUAL" TUNER

only problem is..
one is analog and one is digital

as far as I know everyone stopped broadcasting analog back in may lol

so the analog tuner is useless !

http://www.diamondmm.com/TVW650PCI.php

Since when? Most cable providers still offer basic coverage on analog.

shaggysnax wrote:Has anyone else noticed that the order page doesn't have the 600 PCIE? It has a 650 PCIE. Which is wrong, the front page or the order page?

Yes that surprised me. I think just the order page is wrong. The front page makes sense because it shows the 650 PCI and the 600 PCIe in images.

The 650PCIe looks entirely different, and it's not one of the two show on the page. See here for an example of that card:

http://ati.amd.com/products/tvwonder650/pcie/index.html

So if it is the wrong card on the main page, they made one hell of a slipup.

copperhead wrote:Can someone explain how the clear QAM for digital descrambling works or what it basically does?

Clear QAM does *not* do digital descrambling. If your cable company sends you *unscrambled* video, this tuner can record it. Many cable companies will send local network affiliates' HDTV feed unscrambled. If you are close enough to the broadcast antenna, you will get a much better picture using OTA than QAM. I can pick up both, and I only use OTA.

mintyfreshness wrote:
This is a dual tuner. One analog and one digital. The card will do exactly what I said it will do.

no it isn't....these are technically knows as Single Hybrid TV Tuners. They can tune in two types of signals however they can handle only one at a time...so as I stated you can record digital and analog on this card, but not at the same time on two channels.

If I did get the PCIE version, it would only be on my HTPC which is the room where I have my cable box and actually receive digital cable (the rest of my house just gets analog). So would it make sense to get the PCIE for that machine? I don't think I can get the PCI card because it would sit too close to my ATI 4850 (as I mentioned above)

THE IMAGES ARE WRONG. THEY'RE BOTH 650s. THE IMAGE SHOWS A 600 PCIE AND A 650 PCI.

So I have vista. I have internet direct connect to my cable service

I have Old vhs I want to convert..

what else do I use this for? What other software/hardware would I need to buy

If I have a TV near my PC, can I connect my pc to this tv and use PC like a dvr?

DNABIOS wrote:Thanks! All I wanted to do was use this for OTA HD so I can cancel my basic cable package, and this now sounds perfect since previous posters have said both can handle OTA and QAM HD. After Woot lets us know what (for certain) they are selling I should be in for a PCIe.

If you have the PCI slots, you'll probably want the 650PCI. It does a much better job at displaying video than the 600. I've tested them side-by-side, and I like the 650 much better. Of course, if the woot-dude screwed up and the PCIe *is* a 650, then it's a keeper!

UPDATE: Ugh. I just checked the board layouts by looking up the models, and it looks like the PCI version is not a dual tuner, but a single hybrid tuner (with 2 inputs). The reason I say this is because you can see how the board layout differs from the dual tuner PCIe model(NOT the one Woot's offering):

Hybrid PCI version: http://ati.amd.com/products/tvwonder650/pci/index.html
Dual tuner PCIe version: http://ati.amd.com/products/tvwonder650/pcie/index.html

Note the blank space on the PCI version's board where the 2nd tuner would normally be.

Sorry if dual tuner talk caused any confusion(*sigh*); regardless, the PCI version is still the superior card due to the HW MPEG encoder, so buyers of it should still retain some smug factor.

Actually the 650 PCI does appear to have ClearQAM if you use the right software. According to the official site (http://ati.amd.com/products/tvwonder650/PCI/index.html), you need to use ATI Catalyst Media Center to get it.

Also according to the site, it is a HYBRID tuner not a COMBO tuner. Big difference Woot.

anyone know how you;re getting HD over the coax cable? this don't make sense to me looking at it

btvsphobicphobe wrote:I've only got a laptop - can an enclosure be found for it and will it work with a toshiba satellite?

No, you can't put these in an enclosure and use with a a laptop.

Look around for USB HD tuners, that will work with your setup.

On checkout it says both the PCI and PCIe are the 650 model, same with under product description, however the pics and bottom of the page say differently. So, is the PCIe also the 650 model or not?

justafreak wrote:no it isn't....these are technically knows as Single Hybrid TV Tuners. They can tune in two types of signals however they can handle only one at a time...so as I stated you can record SD or HD on this card, but not at the same time on two channels.

I did some more research on the 650 and you are absolutely correct about this card. It will not allow you to use it as a dual tuner. I stand corrected.

btvsphobicphobe wrote:I've only got a laptop - can an enclosure be found for it and will it work with a toshiba satellite?

For my laptop, I use the external USB version of this card. Works very well.

Duhhh wrote:If you have the PCI slots, you'll probably want the 650PCI. It does a much better job at displaying video than the 600. I've tested them side-by-side, and I like the 650 much better. Of course, if the woot-dude screwed up and the PCIe *is* a 650, then it's a keeper!

Ok, thanks for the tip. I'll sit tight until Woot clears things up!

The PCI-E model has a composite video in, and a stereo audio in. This means that with an RCA-to-phono adapter, you can hook up a nintendo 64 to it without the RF adapter.

Cha-ching!

ehilton wrote:anyone know how you;re getting HD over the coax cable? this don't make sense to me looking at it

Yes, one of the coax hookup is for TV Analog and the other for TV Digital/Clear QAM.

You can actually slice a singe coax cable to then connect both to the same line. This is what I do.

Duhhh wrote:If you have the PCI slots, you'll probably want the 650PCI. It does a much better job at displaying video than the 600. I've tested them side-by-side, and I like the 650 much better. Of course, if the woot-dude screwed up and the PCIe *is* a 650, then it's a keeper!

While the 650 may be better, the question in my mind is whether the 600 is just not as good or awful? I don't know what "much better" means. I have an eye on the PCIE because if I understand correctly, I could actually record HD shows with it. Is that correct?

btvsphobicphobe wrote:I've only got a laptop - can an enclosure be found for it and will it work with a toshiba satellite?

For those who don't know the Toshiba Satellite is the model name of a laptop and not a satellite receiver.

The little I've been able to find about laptop to PCI enclosures is that they exist but are cost prohibitive to use for a mere tuner card. In one case it was $950.

OK, assuming that woot does indeed do all their own product shots, the two choices are as shown in the image:

600 PCIe: Single hybrid tuner, software MPEG-2 encoding (for analog TV/video)

Reference photo from AMD/ATI:
http://ati.amd.com/includes/popup.html?/products/tvwonder600/pcie/images/tv-wonder600_pcie.jpg

Reference site:
http://ati.amd.com/products/tvwonder600/pcie/index.html


650 PCI: Single hybrid tuner, hardware MPEG-2 encoder (for analog TV/video)

Reference photo from AMD/ATI:
http://ati.amd.com/includes/popup.html?/products/tvwonder650/pci/images/tvwonder650pci-board.jpg

Reference site:
http://ati.amd.com/products/tvwonder650/pci/index.html


Check the reference sites to compare the PCIe/PCI models of the 600 and 650 series, and you'll see that these have to be the models due to the board and input layouts. The only real differences are that the woot photos have the ATI sticker on them now.

Then again, if woot's photos are the wrong ones... well... le shrug

liquidhot wrote:These are NOT supported under Linux.

http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/ATSC_PCI_Cards#Currently_Unsupported_ATSC_PCI_cards:

Linux workstation still alive? all my friends already quit using

mintyfreshness wrote:You are not correct in respect to hybrid tuners. I used do it all the time. I had mine hooked up to receive analog cable and OTA ATSC. Used in in both Vista Media Center and Windows 7 Media Center.

If you had two cards like this one then sure two recordings ate once....(One from each card) You cannot use one card to record two shows at the same time period.

Some previous comments say that the PCI version does not support ClearQAM. That is incorrect.

I have the 650 PCI (because I have a vid card in my PCIe slot), and it does support ClearQAM. I can get ClearQAM HD channels via both ATI's Catalyst Media Center and Win7's Media Center.

Some people have gotten it to work in Vista Media Center with the "TV-Pack", but I've been told that's quite buggy.

dkouts wrote:Some previous comments say that the PCI version does not support ClearQAM. That is incorrect.

I have the 650 PCI (because I have a vid card in my PCIe slot), and it does support ClearQAM. I can get ClearQAM HD channels via both ATI's Catalyst Media Center and Win7's Media Center.

Some people have gotten it to work in Vista with the "TV-Pack", but I've been told that's quite buggy.

You can record those HD channels correct?

justafreak wrote:If you had two cards like this one then sure two recordings ate once....(One from each card) You cannot use one card to record two shows at the same time period.

Is that true just for TV or radio as well? It would be nice to listen to FM while still recording a show. Though it's not a deal breaker since I have a million other radios sitting on my desk.

copperhead wrote:You can record those HD channels correct?

Yes! That's why I got the card.

GregoryLikesCheapStu wrote:Is that true just for TV or radio as well? It would be nice to listen to FM while still recording a show. Though it's not a deal breaker since I have a million other radios sitting on my desk.

one of these cards doesn't do FM radio IIRC...(the PCIe one) but as for the FM radio bit working along side the TV tuner..that depends on the card...some do some don't. I'm not sure about this one to be honest.