Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This USB TV Stick is currently made by Hauppauge, and not by Pinnacle as listed; I assume that Hauppauge bought out Pinnacle and did not change the name yet. I currently own two USB TV Sticks; this one, and an ADS PTV-384-EF Mini Hdtv Usb Tv Tuner(See separate review for that one).
First computer specs for the usage: Dell XPS630i with an Intel 3.16 Ghz E8500 Core Two Duo processor, Two Nvida 8800GT video cards in SLI Configuration, Two Western Digital Raptors in Raid Zero Configuration. and plenty of Hard Drive space spare, Windows XP Pro 32 bit operating System. System is more than capable of any USB TV Stick's required specs.
Sensitivity: Excellent; if my ADS Tech USB can pick up 12 TV stations in my difficult reception area, this USB Tuner can pick up 16-18.
Picture quality: Excellent to Poor, depending on signal strength. The ADS Tech has a much better picture than this tuner, however this USB Tuner does pick up weaker stations and has an excellent picture on strong stations; and it also has an on-screen signal strength monitor to help you set up your antenna. Be aware that none of these USB TV Tuners provide any included antenna with good reception except in strong signal areas; you will need a good external antenna for poor reception areas.
Computer reliability in usage: Very Poor; this USB TV Tuner will fail to reload the currently used channel after any channel search for available TV stations, and must be turned off and back on again to get channels. In addition my computer began to crash with the usage of this TV Tuner; until finally experiencing a hard crash that required a full roll-back of the computer to the original factory settings. I always keep a full recovery program ("Norton Ghost", "Acronis True Image", and "Shadow Protect Desktop" are excellent recovery programs); and I also back up my Data often to an external hard drive, and lost no Data. However trying to fully remove the Software supplied with this TV Tuner also hard crashed the computer again and I was forced to again do a full Data Recovery from my external hard drive. Finally removed it all in computer "Safe Mode".
Was originally going to tell how to use this USB Tuner stick since instructions are non-existent with the stick and it can be confusing to a newcomer; but this thing is so unreliable I will summarize below instead.
Summary: If you like your computer don't buy the PCTV HD Pro Stick. If you do buy it, have a good recovery program as mentioned above, and back up your data before installing or using this product. I have used, and still use, the ADS PTV-384-EF Mini Hdtv Usb Tv Tuner; not as sensitive but it actually works.
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Bring digital and analog TV with full DVR functionality to your PC. The Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick is a USB TV tuner that brings you free high quality digital programming on your computer. The USB 2.0 powered USB TV tuner and mini-remote are so small that they can fit in your coat pocket. Can't stand missing your favorite TV shows? Schedule recordings ahead of time in HD and SD with no service fees. Phone ringing? Pause live TV with TimeShifting and pick up where you left off when the interruption is over. You can even record from external analog sources, such as a camcorder, DVD player or game console. Supports the following TV Standards: ATSC (HDTV up to 1080i, SDTV) NTSC (cable, over the air) ClearQAM (HDTV up to 1080i, SDTV). Inputs: TV/FM antenna (F-connector/Coaxial) S-Video, Composite Video (RCA), Stereo Audio (1/8-Inch). Recording Formats: MPEG-1/2 DivX4 MPEG-4: compatible with PSP or iPod (Trial Version). System Requirements: Windows Vista (32-bit) or Windows XP with latest service pack Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz, Pentium M 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 processor (for HDTV reception, a Pentium 4 2.8GHz or Pentium M 1.7 GHz or equivalent AMD Athlon 64 processor is recommended) RAM: Windows XP - 256 MB (512 MB recommended); for Windows Vista - 512 MB (1 GB recommended) Free USB 2.0 port Sound / graphics controller with support for DirectX 9 Hard drive with minimum 1 GB free space (20 GB recommended for TV recording) DVD player/burner Internet connection for registration/activation. Package Contents: USB 2.0 TV tuner for ATSC/ClearQAM/NTSC and FM radio reception, Mini remote control including batteries, Portable telescopic high-gain antenna, A/V Adapter cable, USB extender cable, Printed quick start guide, CD with Pinnacle TVCenter Pro and VideoSpin editing software.
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