HTPC Building Series: The ATI TV Wonder 650

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We’re starting to wind down the layout of all the parts that are going into our Home Theater PC. First, let’s recap some of the main components that we’ve thrown into this project this far:

• The process of selecting the hardware for the HTPC
• A closer look at our chosen motherboard, the MSI MS-7411
• A look at how we will drive 7.1 sound from the HTPC
• The way that we will move content to the HTPC so it’s displayed on our television

We’ve come a long way to far. In this article, though, I wanted to talk about the TV card that we’ve chosen. Since we are doing this on a budget, we are hoping for a nice balance of good performance at an inexpensive price. This is why we’ve chosen the AMD TV Wonder 650. Amazon has it for 43% off of the retail price. This card supports both over the air HD broadcasts, as well as ClearQAM cable TV.

The TV Wonder 650 series of HD PVRs are loaded with the very latest in digital TV technologies. Features such as advanced 3D comb filter, noise reduction, automatic color control, and edge enhancement produce brilliant, sharp video that rivals high-end consumer television sets. Loaded with abilities, schedule, watch and record analog TV, “free-to-air” HDTV, unencrypted digital ClearQAM cable TV and FM stations, making the TV Wonder 650 the ultimate media upgrade for your PC.

These complete solutions even allow you to watch the latest DVD titles, author your own DVD, or convert your recorded TV shows to take with you on your Portable Media Player. The entire experience is then elegantly packaged within the attractive, easy-to-use 3D interface of ATI Catalyst Media Center software.

The card is new enough that Windows Vista will easily recognize it and pull in the drivers, and Windows Media Center will happily move along using this card to bring in all the channels that you have available.

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