Questions about Hauppauge WinTV 350

[Danny Pansters]

On Wednesday 23 June 2004 05:26, Greg 'groggy' Lehey wrote:
> A number of software products use the Hauppauge WinTV 350 "Personal
> Video Recorder" (what a stupid name!).  I've been planning to get one
> for some time, but here in Australia the prices are ridiculous (more
> than double what they are nearly anywhere else).  So I've decided to
> have one sent from overseas.
>
> Question: are all WinTV 350s the same?  In Australia we have the same
> standards as in most of Europe (PAL, not NTSC), and the tuner
> frequencies are also the same as those in Europe.  If I buy a card in

There's only PAL and NTSC and any TV card should support both. WinTV and 
almost every other have a bktr 848/878 capture chip. That;s the one you want 
in any case. As for the tuner they all work alike and should support both pal 
as NTSC and the Fench standard (SEcam?) as well as 34xx audio (which is 
usually most easily dealt with by just plugging it from the tv card audio-out 
into the soundcard audio-in. A cheap bktr card should cost up to 100-200 euro 
max these days.

> the USA, will it work here, or are there two different kinds of card,
> depending on where they're sold?

No tuners are univrsal but they just have different definitions for different 
rendering tech.

> The web site is not of much help.  To help me decide, it would be nice
> to hear from somebody with experience with the cards who can tell me a
> definite answer to at least one of these questions:

Get a cheapo wintv with a bktr787 chip

> * Are there separate versions for different countries?

Possibly but it technically means nothing IMO

> * Does the device you have support both PAL and NTSC?

Yes and every one should as well as SECAM

> * Does the tuner on your device support both European and US
>   frequencies?

Yes any Phillips or other standard one should.

> * What kind of antenna connector does your card have?  US TVs tend to
>   have a screw-on connector, while European one tend to have a push-on
>   connector.

push on for coax there can be a lot of interference (even using cable 
broadcast via coax as is usual here in N europe)

> Other information, in particular where I can get them cheap, would
> also be appreciated.

Like I said before get the cheapest bktr supported card (beware these tuner 
cards may get overheated and burn out at least the ones from a few years ago 
could -- proof on pic)

> Thanks in advance

HTH,

Dan