Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 PCI TV Tuner with Remote Control (1045) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I wanted to put a TV in my child's play room, which also had a computer. This device enables me to use the computer as a TV. It works great, my 4 year old has no problem using it.
I installed the device in my only PCI slot, hooked my cable coax into it, started my PC, and the drivers automatically loaded. I have XP SP2. The whole process took about 10 minutes. The software then starts and after about 5 minutes, goes through the cable channels to store the channels. Then, you are ready to go.
The unit is equipped with a remote. The remote points to an "eye". The eye is attached to a medium-sized small cord that is attached to the PCI card (under the coax cable). You are able to position the eye where you want it, although the cord the eye is on is not long. If you have a desktop sitting on the floor, it will barely reach the top of a computer desk. I taped the cord just under my keyboard shelf, so the remote needs to be pointed low.
The functionality of the software is great. You can change the channel with the computer or remote. There is a button to enable "full screen" on the computer, but not on the remote. The picture is excellent. The ability to pause live TV, or record ad-hoc or timed works extremely well.
This is a great product.

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Item #: E92725. WinTV-PVR-150 puts TV watching under your control! Watch TV on your PC screen (in a window or full screen), digitally record your TV shows, or pause live TV and create your own instant replay.Create your own Digital Video Recorder! The WinTV-PVR-150 turns your PC into a digital video recorder. Record TV program or home videos to disk, play them back to your PC screen or burn them onto DVD. With data rates from 4.4MBits/sec up to 12Mbits/sec (or as low as 1 Mbit/sec with VCD formats), you decide how much hard disk space your videos will consume. At DVD quality, a typical one hour TV show will take 2 gigabytes of hard disk space.WinTV-PVR includes WinTV-Scheduler and WinTV-Editor. Trim your videos, cut out segments, put them back together, all without losing any video quality with WinTV-Editor! With WinTV-Scheduler, you can control your TV recording on a daily, weekly or random schedule. Automatically record your favorite programs so you'll never miss your TV shows again!WinTV-PVR's pause feature gives you control of what you watch in your WinTV window. Get personal "instant replay" to stop the action when you want to analyze a key scene. Instantly rewind and replay the action again. You're in control with WinTV-PVR!Ever been called to the phone, had to answer the door, or went for a snack and missed part of the big match? With WinTV-PVR, you'll never miss the action again. Just click on WinTV-PVR's "One Touch Pause" button to pause your TV program, click again to continue watching where you left off. Then fast forward to catch up to the live broadcast.Record your TV programs or home videos onto DVD or CD, and play them on your DVD player! If you have a DVD burner in your PC, use the WinTV-PVR's MPEG files with the included Ulead DVD MovieFactory to author your own home DVD's. Turn your TV shows or home videos into DVD movies!WinTV-PVR-150 contains a highly integrated MPEG-1/2 hardware encoder, plus a high quality video digitizer. WinTV-PVR-150 can

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Hauppauge 01200 WinTV-HVR-850 USB2.0 Hybrid Video Recorder 1200 (HAUP1200) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I just received this product 10 minutes ago, and now I am watching TV on my computer!
First of, install is a breeze. This is the content of the package:
- The external tuner
- A digital antenna
- A USB extension cord (It is really nice for them to include this because this would have been the first thing I'd buy if it didn't come with it.)
- Software CD
I run Vista Home Basic. The install was a breeze, the manual was very detailed. Plug the tuner in first, and then follow the prompt.
After installing the software (the installer doesn't look that professional, but does work), I booted it up. It asks whether it should scan for channels. I said yes.
After about 10 minutes, this is what it found: 8 analog channels, and a whopping 9 digital channels. Obviously your results may vary, but I'm impressed with just the included antenna out of the box. It's basically picked up all digital broadcast channels (FOX, 2 PBS, 2 ABC, NBC, 2 CBS, and CW). Once these digital channels are picked up, they look super sharp. I doubt I'd touch those analog channels at all.
Channel switch has a bit of delay, esp between analog channels. But it's tolerable. With 9 channels, channel surfing isn't a big problem.
Now, in terms of computing power, it's taking about 90 MB of RAM right now, and

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The Hauppauge 1200 WinTV-HVR-850 Hybrid TV Stick External TV Tuner/Video Recorder will bring high-definition television directly to your PC. This handy device lets you watch your favorite TV shows through your computer and record them digitally for future playback using high quality MPEG-2. More economical and versatile than a DVR, or digital video recorder, this PC Video Recorder, or PVR, gives you virtually unlimited options for saving and playing back your favorite TV broadcasts and clips. Play and Record Television Digitally The WinTV-HVR-850 is a simple-to-use device that brings over-the-air high definition ATSC digital TV as well as analog cable TV directly to your PC desktop or laptop. With the additional included antenna, it can also receive analog TV broadcasts. More versatile than a DVR, the WinTV-HVR-850 is a pocket-sized device that simply plugs into your PC's USB port. It features a built-in digital ATSC over-the-air TV receiver. If you live in one of the more than 200 cities in the United States that receives ATSC digital TV, you'll have immediate access to as many as 1500 digital TV stations. ATSC digital TV is the over-the-air HDTV standard for North America. ATSC broadcasts range in resolution from standard definition up to the high definition 1080i format. (To check the ATSC digital transmissions in your area, input your zip code at titantv.com.) A portable digital TV antenna, which can be used to receive digital TV up to 10 miles from an ATSC transmitter, is included with the PVR . If you live in an area where you can't currently receive ATSC digital TV, the WinTV-HVR-850 can still be used to watch and record analog TV from cable TV or a TV antenna. (The WinTV-HVR-850 cannot receive digital cable TV or digital satellite TV.) Once the WinTV-HVR-850 is connected, you can begin to record your favorite shows in high-quality MPEG-2 directly to your hard disk using the Hauppauge SoftPVR MPEG-2 encoder. Television recordings will typically consume 5 GB of disk space per hour for ATSC high definition, while analog recordings will typically consume 1.5 GB of disk space per hour. You can also use the included WinTV-Scheduler to program your computer to record your favorite analog or digital TV shows for play back at any time. Compatibility with Microsoft's Windows Media Center means that you can watch TV as well as your recordings with Windows Media Center. The included WinTV application also lets you watch your shows in a window or on full screen. More about PVR Technology PVR stands for PC Video Recorder. The WinTV-HVR-850 is a PVR that allows you to play television through your computer and record the broadcasts digitally. PVR doesn't use standard videocassettes; instead, it uses your computer's hard disk to store the broadcasts. Once you record a television show to your PC's hard drive, you can burn a CD or DVD that will allow you to play the show back on another computer or on your television. With video editing software (not included with the WinTV-HVR-850), you can even edit the shows. This is a great feature if you want to save clips from movies or sitcoms, or keep your favorite player's grand slam or TD kick-off return for posterity. And just like a typical VCR, the WinTV-HVR-850 offers you several recording options, depending on your play back needs. If you want the highest quality recording for playback through your HDTV, all you need is enough hard drive space to support high-quality recording. By using the lowest recording option, you can use your WinTV-HVR-850, along with an inexpensive video camera, as a low-cost on-site video surveillance system. In fact, the possibilities of how you can take advantage of the WinTV-HVR-850 are endless. What's in the Box WinTV-HVR-850 high-speed USB TV stick with cable TV and ATSC antenna connection; USB extension cable; portable antenna; software on CD-ROM; and quick installation guide.

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