TV Tuner cards.. advice?

[firestar]

Just wondering how these things work? My girlfriend and I are moving in together and we have 2 PCs (her's has a 21" monitor) so we're thinking of using that as a 2nd tv in the bedroom.

How does it work? How would it work with a remote, and would it work with shaw digital cable?

Any help greatly appreciated :)

[Evolve]

Dsl dude is your guy for this :) He will have the answer for sure

[dSl-DuDe]

Yes, most of the ones on the market come with remotes, unfortunately they only work with analog cable if you want to use the built in tuner control and full PVR (digital recording capabilities)

To run with Shaw Digital you will either have to use the composite or S-Video input into the tuner card and you will have to change channels via the shaw box. To record a show you would have to set a timer on the shaw box, aswell as set a timer in the recording/tv viewing software

If you just want to watch TV via Shaw Digital and not record i suggest any capture card off ebay as long as it has appropriate current drivers and is based on any of the BTxxx chipsets. You can easily pick one up for $10-20 US, a remote isnt really necessary if you're going to be using the shaw box. If you're planning on recording shows I'd suggest a PVR based capture card for around $60 USD which has a built in encoder for speedy recording and doesn't tie up your computer's CPU

Hope this helps
Shawn