Recommended Tuner Card

[Dargason]

I've already got an HD-PVR that works ok, but it sometimes has issues with skipping, lockups, etc, especially if I try to record 5.1 stereo. I also worry that it's on its last legs (the bling light seems to work randomly now, for example.)

I've been thinking about getting another tuner and I'm wondering if there's one that works well with SageTV. I'd like one that can do closed captions and stereo 5.1, so that rules out another HD-PVR (and colossus, I think).

Most of what I watch is 'copy freely' and I have the HD-PVR for channels that aren't. So I think I could probably go with a cablecard tuner (if there is one that actually works well) or a QAM card.

Finally, I'm reluctant to dump too much money into this given the questionable future of SageTV...

[KeithAbbott]

Originally Posted by Dargason

Most of what I watch is 'copy freely' and I have the HD-PVR for channels that aren't. So I think I could probably go with a cablecard tuner (if there is one that actually works well) or a QAM card.

Just so you know, a cable channel can be flagged as 'copy freely' but still not be able to be recorded/viewed via QAM tuner card. The channel also needs to be sent 'in the clear' to be viewable via QAM. That's why it's often referred to as ClearQAM.

[Dargason]

Thanks... Yeah I need to check if my provider broadcasts ClearQAM. I think there's a website somewhere I can find that out.