TV Tuner

[ProwlingTiger]

I'm wondering if anyone here uses a TV tuner on their computer monitor. I'm trying to find a good one that will allow me to input my cable, and if possible high definition cable.

I'd love to be able to record shows on it, but that'd just be a bonus. I've been looking at Pinnacle's HD Pro stick, but it's a bit high on the price range right now. If it's USB I'd prefer it to work with OS X but if I have to run Windows, no problem.

I've seen some that plug directly into the monitor, which looks kinda neat. I'm trying to tweak the most functionality out of my new monitor

Does anyone have advice on this subject?

 

[foshizzle]

Look at products from Elgato. The hybird is a fantastic USB tv tuner for your mac. I got one when i went off to college so I did not need to bring a TV. It pulls over-the-air HD, i.e., not discovery or espn HD, just the local news channels like ABC, NBC, etc. which is still good because all of the shows I watch are on those channels and in HD (24, Chuck, The office, SNL, others). The software is fantastic, comes with a TV guide, allows you to record and export to many formats and also stream over your network to other computers with the software (mac-only).

http://elgato.com/elgato/na/mainmenu/products.en.html

The 250 has a builtin decoder for SD shows, so it doesnt tax your processor. But it is also a bit more expensive and not portable like the hybrid (but looks like from your setup you will keep it in one place).

The software is also expandable, so you can add multiple tuners in the future (or now) and do multiple recordings at once, watch two shows at once. depending on your mac (new? intel?) this is all possible in HD, but all will work in SD.