Newbie hardware question

[Tom1982]

Ok, so I have been looking a lot into building a HTPC and even tried with MythTV (didn't work out). I have decided to use Sage and that leads me to my question. I can't get cable where I live and don't want to pay for satellite. The only thing I really ever watch is FOX, NBC, ABC, etc channels that are broadcast over-the-air in HD (720i and 1080i). I want to get a tv card that will:
1) Allow me to watch and pause live OTA HD on my HD TV
2) Allow me to record HD TV (can be either one or two channels at the same time, really doesn't matter).
3) Allow me to playback recorded HD tv shows on my HD TV

So if someone could give me a plain "_________ card will do all that and work with SageTV" that would be awesome. I have read a lot of post on here but most people are looking for "cable compatible" cards and like I said I can only get regular TV and OTA HD. Thank you very much for your help.

[MeInMaui]

Many of us are very happy with the HDHomeRun (HDHR). It is an external box that connects to your SageTV computer via ethernet. It has 2 tuners and can receiver either ATSC (digital broadcast) or QAM (digital cable). I think it is a plus that the box does not have to be installed inside your computer, and you can install more than one if you eventually want to.

Aloha,
Mike

[ke6guj]

Pretty much any OTA card that Sage supports in the supported tuner list will work for you.

Items 1 and 2 are basically the same in Sage. ALL programming you want to watch gets recorded first and then played back either live or later on.

Item 3 is dependent on your video card for output to the HDTV, the tuner card has nothing to do with that. Either get a good video card or one of the HDextenders that Sage sells for you to output to a TV.



A good choice for a tuner would be the HDHomerun, it has 2 OTA tuners that you can use and runs around $170. I don't have any first-hand knowledge of any other HD tuners, and I personally use the HDHR in QAM mode myself.