Pinnacle Studio PCTV pro vs Hauppauge WinTV FM

[ChepChep]

I am currently trying to decide between buying the Hauppauge WinTV Fm card vs the Pinnacle studio PCTV Pro.
I want to be able to capture my tv shows and vhs' and then compress them into vcd, svcd and divx.
What are the pro's and con's of both of these cards.
What would you recommend me buying?

[Valnar]

I have the Pinnacle PCTV Pro and I love it. If the Haupauge offering is the same BT878 chip, then it doesn't matter. There is plenty of 3rd party support (both drivers and applications for Win2K/XP) for these kind of boards.

If the Haupauge doesn't have a BT878 chip, then get the Pinnacle.

Robert

[dphirschler]

This question would've been real easy to answer last week with the price being $29 after rebate (for the Pinnacle PCTV Pro). I can't vouch for the Haupauge card, but I think Valnar is right. Both are essentially the same board.


Darryl

[ChepChep]

What store had that rebate offer for $29 bucks for the card?
I think I want the Pinnacle one then!
Thanks for all your help in deciding!

[Valnar]

My Pinnacle board also bypasses all Macrovision, so it makes it the perfect analog capture board. I can't see a reason to get any other, unless I can find an analog->DV external device that also bypasses Macrovision, but none do. If such an animal exists, I can just use a firewire card in my PC for both analog and digital transfers.

Robert

[Kyle]

CompUSA did have the Pinnacle studio PCTV Pro for $30. The price seems to have gone back up to $90 though. I bought it last week when it was cheap and it works great. The WinTV-GO FM Radio pci card is $20 cheaper so it might be a reasonable choice.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Kyle on 2001-12-23 08:19:53 ]</font>