HP / Compaq 5188-1744 Media Center TV Tuner and Win 7 64-bit?

[Stevereno911]

Newb here... looking to determine if a HP / Compaq 5188-1744 Media Center TV Tuner is compatible with Windows 7 64-bit? If so, will I need to install drivers or additional software? Thanks.

[usually_quiet]

There are no Windows 7 drivers or Vista drivers for your device, which is not surprising since it was already 5 or 6 years old when Windows 7 arrived and did not include the ATSC tuner needed for use after June 2009 . Get something else to use with Windows 7.

Doing a search yielded an ebay listing which provided the real manufacturer and model number of the card, "FM Asus Falcon2 PVR-416 PCI Card". However, ASUS does not list your card on its support website, so perhaps it was a product manufactured just for HP and they are the only ones providing support for it.

My search also found this thread at tom's hardware: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/2280-63-phillips-asus-tuner-cards.

...and this support page from HP
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&softwareitem=pv-20048-1

[Stevereno911]

Thanks for the quick reply. Can you recommend a different card that would be compatible with Win 7 64-bit? All I'm really trying to do is bring composite video and line level L&R audio into my PC from a Comcast cable tuner. Just want to view it on my PC in a resizable window that can be dragged to either of my two monitors.

[usually_quiet]

Thanks for the quick reply. Can you recommend a different card that would be compatible with Win 7 64-bit? All I'm really trying to do is bring composite video and line level L&R audio into my PC from a Comcast cable tuner. Just want to view it on my PC in a resizable window that can be dragged to either of my two monitors.

If you want to use Windows 7's Media Center to watch and record composite output from your cable box you need a TV card with an analog tuner, in addition to composite video and stereo audio capture capability, plus an MCE remote with an IR receiver that includes an IR blaster. Windows Media Center will not allow you to set up for composite input with a TV card without the MCE remote with IR receiver and IR blaster.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116024
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16880101007

If you only want to watch TV and don't need to record programming, you could use Media Player Classic Home Cinema, VLC or Pot Player with just a simple USB capture device.

This Hauppauge USB capture device is a good product that is known to work with a number of third party programs if you do not like the included software.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116048

If you need something less expensive, this will probably be OK, but the Hauppauge device above is a better product. KWorld's included software is probably not very good. The manufacturer's website had Windows 7 64-bit drivers listed.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100112

[Stevereno911]

Thank you for all the great information. Much appreciated!

[usually_quiet]

Thank you for all the great information. Much appreciated!

Actually, not so great. I made a mistake with my link for a TV tuner device to use with Windows Media Center I just fixed the mistake.