Display / video TV Tuner Adapters

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

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

The Bottom Line: Though definitely a product that only select users will need, it's a generally stellar prosumer solution for analog video capture.

Specs: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Video Editor - Video input adapter - Hi-Speed USB, Hi-Speed USB, Video capture adapter - Hi-Speed USB - External, S-video input, S-video output, IEEE 1394 (FireWire), Composite video input, Composite video output

The Bottom Line: The AVerMedia TVBox 9 is a simple device that allows you to turn any computer monitor into a television.

Specs: AVerMedia TVBox 9 - TV tuner / video input adapter, TV tuner - S-video input - External, Component video input, Composite video input

The Bottom Line: Pinnacle Studio MovieBox DV combines outstanding video-editing software with flexible hardware, making it easy to transfer video to and from any device.

Specs: Pinnacle Studio MovieBox DV - Video input adapter - IEEE 1394 (FireWire), IEEE 1394 (FireWire), Video capture adapter - S-video input - External, S-video output, IEEE 1394 (FireWire), Composite video input, Composite video output