Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I purchased three of these and two worked right out of the box. One did not and is currently in the RMA process. The cards were meant to replace Hauppauge 150's that will not support QAM cable. (I also bought two Hauppauge 1255's and more about that in a minute.) After I got the scan done, it took me a minute or two to figure out the scheduling software -- but once familar with it -- it went smoothly.
The Sabrent cards come with a SMALL disc containing drivers and an application called BlazeTV. Don't lose the disc sleeve as it contains the applications serial number and you will be prompted to enter it. After getting the whole thing set up properly -- I watched a few channels and then decided to pull the card and install one of the Hauppauge 1255's. The Sabrent is a PCI bus card and the Hauppauge (this model) is a PCI-e. The performance between the two was impressive(!) and not in the way you might expect.
The Sabrent actually outperformed the Hauppauge, much to my surprise. In fact, the recordings from the Hauppauge were virtually unwatchable, while the Sabrents played in my native VLC without a hitch. (I did discover that by default the Sabrent is set up to record one CD size file and then begin another file for another CD size segment. It is quite possible that a 90 minute show could take 3 or more CD sized files. I corrected that by going into options and resetting the file size to a much larger value.)
I also tried a Hauppauge 1600 and was very dissapointed with it. Although it is a PCI card -- it requires two distinct antenna connections. (One for analog and one for digital.) To be fair -- all of my testing went on with an Asus K8N or P5RD1. Not exactly the fastest boxes on the market, but what I had on hand.
Bottom line for me is: Sabrent is well worth the price for the under $50 market. Hauppauge requires more horsepower -- but comes with a better application (WinTV 7). I will probably add a couple more sabrents to my little farm.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Sabrent ATSC and Digital TV Tuner PCI Card with Remote Control TV-PCIDG
This is a dual Hybrid Tuner that supports Both Digital and Analog signals to use your computer as a TV and digital multimedia center. Enjoy BOTH free air HDTV and Analog signals as well Analog/Digital Cable entertainment whenever you like from your desktop. Watch and record free-to-air HDTV on PC PCI card for ATSC and NTSC Full function remote control Time-shifting while watching live TV Schedule recording TV on PC Features : Watch Free to air HDTV / World Wilde Analogue TV on your PC, instantly playback or fast-forward live programs Digital Personal Video Recording You can record your digital / Analogue TV programs into your hard disk, and play them back in full original digital quality! Time-shifting: use time-shifting to pause the live TV With the bundled remote control, you can control everything including channel up and down, volume up and down, recording, playing and Time-shifting. Specifications : NTSC / ATSC HDTV in US, Supports 8VSB free channels Schedule Recording / Instant Record Stereo MTS / NICAM / A2 Watch free to air ATSC HDTV / World Wilde Analog TV on PC Rewind and fast forward live TV shows with Always Time-shifting recording Support HDTV receiving Automatic station searching Create favorite stations for convenient listening Digital Personal Video Recording Support US TV signals NTSC, ATSC TV Program Record Schedule record HDTV Ready Full Screen Display Screen Capture Multi-languages select per channel Time-shifting EPG Requirements : Windows XP+ Service Pack 2/Vista/7 CPU Intel Pentium IV 2.8GHz or higher One available PCI port. 512MB RAM or above 1G HDD space for Software operation (Recording-shifting) AGP Graphic card with 128Mb memory and DirectX 9.0C installed Sound card (or on board AC97 Audio) CD-ROM drive for installing software TV signal source (Cable or antenna) Retail Package Content : PCI TV ATSC HDTV/Analog TV PCI Card. Remote control Sensor Cable . Remote control Installation CD .
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