TV Tuner Adapters

The Bottom Line: The Plextor PX-HDTV500U Mini Digital HDTV Receiver provides a cheap and easy way to watch and record HDTV on your PC. We recommend this compact tuner and antenna kit particularly for laptops that feature Microsoft's Media Center app.

Specs: Plextor PX-HDTV500U Mini Digital HDTV Receiver - ATSC HDTV receiver - Hi-Speed USB, Hi-Speed USB, - External

The Bottom Line: ATI's Radeon X1950 XTX is the fastest single-chip 3D card that you can buy. Unfortunately, with Windows Vista and its accompanying gaming technology, it's going to become obsolete in just five months. ATI adjusted the price of the Radeon X1950 XTX accordingly, but at $450, it's still not an insignificant purchase. We recommend it only if money is no object.

Specs: ATI Radeon X1950 CrossFire, 2560 x 1600, 512 MB, PC, 2

The Bottom Line: The Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-USB2 offers admirable image quality, but you'll need to bring your own A/V cables.

Specs: Hauppauge WinTV PVR-usb2 - TV / radio tuner / video input adapter - Hi-Speed USB, Hi-Speed USB, TV tuner - Hi-Speed USB - External, S-video input, Composite video input, Stereo - max sample rate: 44.1 KHz

The Bottom Line: The Plextor ConvertX PVR is an affordable USB TV tuner with a decent software bundle, but its performance is less than stellar.

Specs: Plextor ConvertX PX-TV100U - TV tuner / video input adapter - Hi-Speed USB, Hi-Speed USB, Video capture adapter - Hi-Speed USB - External, S-video input, Composite video input

The Bottom Line: Of the external TV tuners we've seen, we recommend the Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 above the others for its strong image quality and inclusion of A/V cables and a remote control.

Specs: Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 USB 2.0 Power Pack Edition - Video input adapter - Hi-Speed USB, Hi-Speed USB, Video capture adapter - S-video input - External, Composite video input

Editors' Take: If you're looking for 3D graphics and a TV tuner in a single card, ATI's new All-In-Wonder X1900 looks like the new leader of the pack.

Specs: ATI Radeon X1900, 2560 x 1600 / 60 Hz, 256 MB, PC, 2

The Bottom Line: Whether you're looking to turn your PC into a DVR or simply want to watch TV on your desktop, the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 does the job at a reasonable price.

Specs: Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150 - TV tuner / video input adapter - PCI, PCI, Video capture adapter - TV-in - Plug-in card, S-video input, Composite video input

The Bottom Line: Diamond's XtremeTV PVR550 provides everything you'll need to turn your desktop into a media center PC, but its TV image quality isn't perfect.

Specs: Diamond XtremeTV PVR 550 - Video input adapter - PCI Express x16, PCI Express x16, Video capture adapter - S-video input - Plug-in card, Composite video input

The Bottom Line: Aptly named, the ATI TV Wonder Elite is easily the best PC TV tuner card we've seen.

Specs: ATI-TV Wonder Elite Remote Control Edition - TV / radio tuner / video input adapter - PCI, PCI, Video capture adapter - S-video input - Plug-in card, Composite video input, Stereo

The Bottom Line: Hauppauge's WinTV-PVR-500 MCE is a good choice if you want to record two programs simultaneously, but it assumes you have a Media Center remote and the correct decoding software.

Specs: Hauppauge WinTV PVR-500MCE - TV / radio tuner / video input adapter - PCI, PCI, TV tuner - S-video input - Plug-in card, Composite video input, Stereo