Buyers' Guide: TV Tuners

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Internal TV tuners require a PCI slot. External options connect via USB and are easier to set up. Hi-speed USB2 is often needed and devices typically require Windows ME, 2000 or XP. Check if you run Windows 98 or NT.

A Freeview digital tuner offers the best channel choice, picture and sound, but may need an outdoor aerial or a wideband aerial (you can check at www.freeview.co.uk). Analogue terrestrial TV tuners may give better results if using an indoor receiver. If a digital tuner receives radio it doesn’t always mean
digital audio broadcasting (DAB) support. Look for Teletext and subtitle support.

Digital tuners record to disk for maximum quality; analogue signals need to be digitally encoded – look for mpeg-2 hardware for realtime video and audio encoding; cheaper tuners need your CPU to do this in software.

Most analogue systems let you capture video from a VCR or camcorder. Look for composite or S-video connectors and stereo phono inputs. Typically, an hour of
mpeg-2 video uses up to 2GB of disk space. VHS-quality mpeg-1 gives just over an hour on a CD.

Better TV cards have personal video recorder functionality, letting you pause, fast forward and rewind live TV, and have an electronic programme guide to record shows to your PC.

Recommeded TV Tuners:

Nebula Digitv
This external USB2 tuner has a built-in web server to let you share TV over your network
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Twinhan Magic Box
A stylish external USB2 tuner with good software and an attractive price

Terratec Cinergy 400 TV
A PC Card-based analogue tuner with good software, it's a great buy for laptop users

Visionplus VisionDTV
A bargain price and top-notch features make this a must-buy USB2 digital TV tuner

Avermedia Avertv DVB-T USB2
The Avertv impressed us with its sheer simplicity, and its small size makes it ideal for notebook users
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