liquidhot wrote:These are NOT supported under Linux.

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

Ah, thank you very much for finding that. +1 Internets for you

Is this a half size PCI-express card?

bobbyb0322 wrote:I would bet middle to end of January.

Is there a place where you can see all the dates of past woot-offs in a calendar/list ?

My HTPC has an ATI 600 PCI and an ATI 650 PCIE. I just grabbed the 650PCI, so I can toss the 600, and now both of my tuners will have HW MPEG. I have plenty of PCI slots, but only one PCIe.

I haven't used this card on Linux, and I don't think ATI/AMD ships a Linux driver, but check to see if MythTV or one of the other Linux HTPC software packages support it. I use BeyondTV under windows, and it works fine.

I'm surprised the PCIe version is the 600 (with no HW MPEG), so if you're getting that card, you'll need more CPU power to record & playback the SD broadcasts.

I haven't used the 650's QAM support, since I get much better HDTV reception with a small antenna than I do with cable (TWC's clear QAM leaps into the vacuum). If you're within 15 miles of a good HDTV broadcast, you can use a bowtie to get an HDTV picture. I also connect to SD cable, and I get marginal FM reception from my antenna as well.

These cards have been around $75, so I'm happy to see it at this price.

Well, I suppose I'll just go ahead and ask the all important question: are either of these tuners compatible with Windows Media Center?

theturtleguy wrote:Mac? Linux?

BeOS?

Haiku?

Browning81 wrote:so this will allow me to use my tv as a computer monitor?

No, it let's you use your computer as a tv.

How about Windows Media Center Edtion?

I'd totally get this if I hadn't just spent the last of my paycheck on that awesome GITD shirt ealier D: Guess I'm stuck with that dvr in the living room then

chefbooyadee wrote:unfair that I have to use DVB-T over here.

Trust me - you're getting the better half of that deal. At least you can usually receive your broadcasts in the first place. ATSC is hit-and-miss.

the item description lists TVW650PCIE as one of the available choices, i'm sure they meant TVW600PCIE ?

fldeals wrote:$57.92 for the 600 on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Oem-Ati-Wonder-System-Builder/dp/B0016BED4G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1260425025&sr=1-1

$89.82 for the 650.
http://www.amazon.com/Oem-Ati-Wonder-System-Builder/dp/B0016BA458/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1260425073&sr=1-2

OH HECK YES! GO MAGIC!!

EDIT: For those of you wondering, check his signature box.

sunny57 wrote:No, it let's you use your computer as a tv.

oh, well that's most excellent

CooLSpoT wrote:How about Windows Media Center Edtion?

# Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

listed under Operating Systems on the main Woot Page

From what I've seen, this is the first TV tuner offered by woot to have ATSC tuning capabilities.

ATSC = The New Digital TV Standard in the United States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATSC_(standards)

So which one to get if just you're just going to watch OTA broadcasting?

makshim wrote:Is this a half size PCI-express card?

The PCI-E looks to be a 1x slot. I believe it'll work in any larger slot, if i'm not mistaken.

liquidhot wrote:These are NOT supported under Linux.

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

damn, was almost in for 2.

Um, is it just me, or is there neither a composite or audio input on the 650? Is there a dongle (uuhh, huh huh) that attaches to the s-video looking av-in port?

So, now that the Linux question has been answered, is it worth it to purchase this now and hang onto it until I get the money to build a Windows computer?

Pay attention, looks like the PCI version has hardware encoding, while the PCIe only has software encoding. As I already have 2 cards installed, even though I have a quad core, I wouldn't get the pCIe version because I'm not sure it could keep up when recording 3 things at once (or 2 + watching a third.)

But if you've a fast computer, and no card, it should be OK, other than the fact that it is an ATI card and I've sworn them off due their lack of cust service and no driver upgrades for not very old "legacy" products.

Also, will this even work with Vista/7 media center? Radeon all-in wonder couldn't, so I don't know.

A month ago I bought the ATI TV Wonder USB Digital HDTV Tuner hoping to receive TV stations on my laptop. Not only were there only two stations available (one showing old George Lopez reruns), but when I loaded the software it trashed the sound on my computer. I have tried everything to no avail.

jreuschl wrote:I'm pretty sure that in order to view analog cable, you need to have hardware MPEG, so you'd need to go with the 650 for that.

I'm not sure you're right. Having hardware encoding takes the burdensome task of encoding analog video to digital video (in this case, MPEG2) away from the processor, putting it on a dedicated chip on the tuner card. This is a Good Thing, because it frees up your CPU for other things.

However, it's not required. In my very limited experience with tuner cards, I had an old analog tuner card without hardware encoding that performed just fine on what is now an aging computer. Anything modern should probably handle software encoding just fine, probably.

Will this work overseas?

liquidhot wrote:These are NOT supported under Linux.

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

In addition to not being compatible with Linux, these are also not compatible with MythTV.

Architek wrote:So which one to get if just you're just going to watch OTA broadcasting?

Either - U.S. broadcasting is now ATSC. If you have a PCI slot, go for the 650PCI, since it has HW MPEG. If you only have PCIe (doubt it), get the 600PCIe, or wait for woot to offer the 650PCIe (I bought one of those a year ago, so woot should be catching up).

FYI, folks:

The 650PCI does NOT have clearQAM support! You must buy the 650PCI-express if you want clearQAM.

The lack of clearQAM on the PCI is well documented on many reputable sites. Ex: the first google hit for "ati tv wonder 650 qam" returns http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=950104

And if you look at ATI's own product description:
http://ati.amd.com/products/tvwonder650/index.html.
You'll notice: "ClearQAM cable TV^2" referencing the fine print:
2: ClearQAM digital TV... ...Supported on ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo PCI Express

Edit, 1048pm-PST: (disclaimer). I own both the 650PCIe and 650PCI. My 650PCI will not pull clearQAM signals. Seems that some people are reporting success, but my own experience says otherwise.

I am using this card as we speak to watch MythBusters on Discovery on my windows 7 machine.

There is a work around to make it work with 7 until the official drivers come out. The only thing I'm noticing is that over the air digital doesn't seem to be working for me, but that could be because of my location. Other wise, it works pretty smooth.

Browning81 wrote:so this will allow me to use my tv as a computer monitor?

No, it will allow you to use your computer monitor as a TV.

sparkerjc wrote:
Get the PCIE if you are happy with your integrated graphics card or have multiple slots, or do what I did and get the PCI version and a decent video card for the PCIE slot.

Er, not quite. It's PCI express 1x card -- a standard slot on motherboards for quite a few years now. No need to waste a PCI express 16x slot for it.

But regardless -- the models are different! Get the 650pci.

kerneltrap wrote:the item description lists TVW650PCIE as one of the available choices, i'm sure they meant TVW600PCIE ?

Looks like Woot made an error.

On the front page I think their are labeled wrong

when I googled for "TVW650PCIE" I find the PCIE version with dual coax inputs.

I'm assuming this won't work in a small form factor like a dell GX270 SFF case. I think it uses half height cards, right?

I'm going to have to ask a few questions that I know someone will make fun of but it must be done...

Things I wonder about the Wonder HDTV Tuner:

1) Can it be connected to regular cable, or only receive "airway" signals?

2) How is it navigated/controlled?

3) Any ideas on how much room it needs to operate?

4) Will it play real-time on only recordings?

5) And the token question, will it work ... through Windows Media Player?

Sorry... and thanks.

mjskia1 wrote:I'm not sure you're right. Having hardware encoding takes the burdensome task of encoding analog video to digital video (in this case, MPEG2) away from the processor, putting it on a dedicated chip on the tuner card. This is a Good Thing, because it frees up your CPU for other things.

Correct. I have a 650PICe and a 600PCI currently, and the 600 leaps into the vacuum up a lot more resources when it records SD video (recording HDTV doesn't require any encode, it's just dumping the HDTV stream data to the disk). Now I can toss the 600PCI (anyone want it?) and replace it with a 650, and give my poor CPU a break.

Duhhh wrote:Either - U.S. broadcasting is now ATSC. If you have a PCI slot, go for the 650PCI, since it has HW MPEG. If you only have PCIe (doubt it), get the 600PCIe, or wait for woot to offer the 650PCIe (I bought one of those a year ago, so woot should be catching up).

Oh okay. Thanks! PCI it is.

the picture of the 650 box on woot's page lists the 650 as a dual tuner, is that true?

I have the slim version of dell (531s). Will this size fit in there ?

tfrain wrote:I'm assuming this won't work in a small form factor like a dell GX270 SFF case. I think it uses half height cards, right?

It's just the bracket, though -- this card looks like it should be short enough. Could just saw half the back off if you can't find a replacement half-height bracket.

laxls8 wrote:What if you have access to cable?

That is what clear QAM is. Pay channels like HBO and Showtime ect are coded QAM and scrambled. Therefore they can't be recorded using this card. Clear QAM would be your local broadcast channels. Check with your cable co. to see if they provide clear QAM (i.e. unscrambled) channels. If so you can use this card to watch and record from your cable.

This is a good price. I have a different card that does the same thing but paid much more.

You may want to check out BeyondTV.com that is the software I used to make a 4TB PVR. I also use 3 cards and record over the air broadcasts. If you do use it for OTA I would recommend using a good antenna because most cards I have seen are not as sensitive as the tuners built into TVs.

Which of these should I get if I'm just looking to use the s-video port to record lineouts from a Playstation 2? I'm not really worried about lag since I'd also be playing live on a tv. Does the PCI-e version ONLY work in an express, or will they both work with a regular PCI? I have an nVidia 6600 GT, does that matter? thanks for any help :>