I bought a new TV tuner yesterday. Its replacing the software encoder I had.
Now if Snapstream would just get their stuff together, I'd have my PVR system back up and running.
I was worried that the USB hardware encoder wouldn't have the same quality as the PCI version, but since USB2 runs at 480mbits, and DVD quailty is 12mbits, I can't tell any difference.
If you get a chance, check out Connard's blog. He's living in Kiev at the moment, and there is some very good info on the current political situation.
The link is on the left menu.