Because of the flexibility, portability, ease of use, price and QAM capability, the Volar Max is my selection for best all around HD/Digital tuner.
The Volar Max card is part of a new line of budget hybrid tuners from AverMedia. There is one RF port for connection for either cable or an antenna coax input. The Max can tune both analog and digital broadcasts but not both at the same time (so you can’t watch a analog show and record a digital/HD show for instance). It also can be used to tune local FM radio stations if you are using an antenna.
It works with Microsoft’s Media Center (both Vista & XP versions) and comes with a quite full-featured Media Center on the install CD. The Max is unique as it will setup as both a analog and digital tuner under Microsoft’s Vista Media Center (VMC) and XP Media Center Edition 2005 (MCE) without any software hacks.
The tuner supports unencrypted QAM (cable digital/HD) using the Aver MediaCenter (AMC) from the CD. The scan for both digital and analog cable stations takes quite awhile (10-15 minutes each), but you should have to do it only once. One of the cool things about the AMC is it will also do a separate scan for digital cable music stations. Cable companies often leave their digital music stations unencrypted, so even if you have basic cable using this tuner and the AMC you may be able to get several (I get 40) no ad music stations. The AMC will also let you record both FM and digital music, something VMC and MCE will not.
The Volar Max also works with clearQAM under Windows 7 beta Media Center.
The digital tuning is excellent on weak over the air stations and for multi-path situations. The analog quality is not the best, but acceptable, especially if you are using cable. If you are doing over the air, the analog side won’t be good for anything anyway after February 2009 unless you like to watch snow;)
Using the H.264 recording compression technology, you can record your favorite TV shows into 320x240 resolution and play on your iPod! It also takes up one fourth the hard disk space as compared to the standard MPEG-2 format.
There are now two options for the hybrid version of the Volar Max. The cheaper Windows Kit version (tuner and USB extender cable only) will work fine if you plan to use:
Microsoft Media Center (Vista or Windows 7)
Coax input (over-the-air or cable)
Otherwise you will need the full version which includes the AverMedia Center CD, A/V dongle cable, and antenna.
Although neither package include a remote, you can get a Avermedia proprietary remote or a Microsoft Media Center remote that will work with the Max
here.
System Requirements
CPU: Intel® Pentium® IV 2.8GHz, (Hyper-Threading) or Equivalent AMD Processor or Higher
Intel Centrino Mobile 1.6GHz
Operating System: Windows® XP / XP MCE 2005 / Windows Vista (x86 or x64 bit)
