capturing/tuner question

[ccy333]

I am in the process of buying a new laptop and am looking for some help with the final components. I want to be able to watch and capture through the computer. I would like to find something that allows me to capture both HDTV (which as far as i can tell so far can only be done OTA) and Digital signal from a cable provider. I have found some articles of devices that allow this, but I want to make sure of a few other things before purchasing... I would also like to be able to have full compatability with a video camera. I have not got the video cam yet so im not sure what format i will be using but i was wondering if there are certian options that i need to consider when trying to assure compatiblilty between the two ( if this is even applicable).

I was also wondering if a product such as the pinnacle pctv hd pro stick tv tuner would allow me to do all of these things?

Thanks for the help. This is my first look into all of this and i am in the process of learning so i appriciate the help

edit: If there is anything else that i am not considering and need to be, please let me know

[bits]

I have heard good things about the DVICO FusionHDTV5 USB Gold and it may fit your needs for HD and anolog TV. Be sure to get a large HDD or plan on having at least one large external HDD for you laptop. HDTV is capped as a transport stream and can be pretty large, 4-8GB per hour. Also, DV avi, which is common for DV Cameras creates files that are 12.5GB per hour.

On the video cam I think most digital video camcorders use firewire to transfer the video to your computer, so there is no real need for it to be hooked to your external TV Tuner/Capture device.

[jman98]

Actually, HDTV capture doesn't HAVE to be OTA. Take a look at:
http://hdjunkie.com/tutorials.html
which has drivers for capturing HDTV directly from a cable box via firewire. I use this and it works fine for me. In fact, I no longer use my MyHD MDP-130 HDTV card for capturing anymore because I get a much cleaner feed from the cable box than I can over the air. I can't help you with the video camera question and the Pinnacle question, but myabe the link will be useful to you.

[bits]

Actually, HDTV capture doesn't HAVE to be OTA. Take a look at:
http://hdjunkie.com/tutorials.html
which has drivers for capturing HDTV directly from a cable box via firewire. I use this and it works fine for me. In fact, I no longer use my MyHD MDP-130 HDTV card for capturing anymore because I get a much cleaner feed from the cable box than I can over the air. I can't help you with the video camera question and the Pinnacle question, but myabe the link will be useful to you.

As I understand it the cablebox has to be a DVR, which usually has an upfront cost or a monthly cost. Also, I do not think there is a way to use an EPG...meaning you would have to manually start and stop recording. You may be able to use something like the Windows scheduler to stop and start but even that can be a pain if you are recording on a regular basis.

[jman98]

The link I posted contains CapDVHS, which is a scheduler for the capture program. It works fine and you do NOT have to manually stop and start recording. Your cable box does NOT have to be a DVR. Why do you think that? My cable box has no such feature. It's just a normal cable box that is set up to provide HD cable channels along with the standard resolution channels.

[bits]

The link I posted contains CapDVHS, which is a scheduler for the capture program. It works fine and you do NOT have to manually stop and start recording. Your cable box does NOT have to be a DVR. Why do you think that? My cable box has no such feature. It's just a normal cable box that is set up to provide HD cable channels along with the standard resolution channels.

According to FCC regulations, all DVRs that cable companys rent must have an active firewire port. While unfortunately you likely won't be able to record premium channels such as HBO, INHD, DiscoveryHD. All broadcast channels must be open. If any broadcast channels are encrypted a quick call to your cable company will fix this. This is a dream come true for all you TV archivers.

That is what the first paragraph says in the link you provided. I have a DVR cablebox and a cablebox and only the DVR has the firewire. The point is that just because you have a cablebox that does not mean you will have a firewire port. Conversely if you have a DVR then you probably have a firewire port.

CapDVHS is as you said... a scheduler but it is not an EPG. With a scheduler you have to do all of the scheduling manually, you have input the channel, the start and end time, in fact you have to make sure your cablebox is on the correct channel. How do you handle back to back recordings that are on different channels? Have you ever used an EPG? There is no comparison IMHO, especially when recording 0-10 shows a day at all hours of the day every day.

I did the scheduler thing long enough to know that it is better than nothing but not by much!