backdrifter Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 I'm an extreme noob about home theaters and media centers so please be polite :p I have an ordinary desktop pc with a 22" monitor and since I don't have any budget, I want to make this into a mediocre TV setup. I want to use the monitor as a TV screen and I also want to make use of Vista Media Center. I currently watch TV over an aerial antenna and in couple days I'll be getting cable TV. My plan is this: I'll buy a cheap PCI TV tuner for my desktop. Something like this: or this: Will Media Center work with these cards? They're recent products but they're cheap, I see XP MCE in their supported operating systems list, is there a special feature they need to have to be supported in Vista Media Center? I also need to know, can I use TV recording functions with Media Center using a cheap card like that? (or pausing live TV and resume later?) And one more thing, I can't seem to afford Microsoft's Media Center keyboard, can I use any wireless keyboard to control Media Center efficiently? Do I need a mouse or does a keyboard will be enough? Any info will be appreciated :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pc_Madness Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I also need to know, can I use TV recording functions with Media Center using a cheap card like that? (or pausing live TV and resume later?)And one more thing, I can't seem to afford Microsoft's Media Center keyboard, can I use any wireless keyboard to control Media Center efficiently? Do I need a mouse or does a keyboard will be enough? Any info will be appreciated :) AVerTV Super 007 - it says its compatible with Windows 7 on their site, so I'd guess its compatible with Vista. Its only an analog card though? Are you sure you don't want digital? I have no idea if will play nice with your cable TV though. You can use TV recording with any TV Tuner. You can use a keyboard just fine, but I'm not sure how your going to record, I don't think theres a button for that, so you may find there are some buttons missing. Arrow Keys = movement, Enter = Do stuff, Backspace = go back. You'd be better off with a Remote though if you can afford it. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeChipshop Member Posted October 19, 2009 Member Share Posted October 19, 2009 As far as i know, Vista/7 media centre has far broader compatibility the XPMCE. If their website say's Windows 7 on their site then go with that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts