Included in the software suite are Hauppauge's WinTV Scheduler, Ulead's DVD MovieFactory 3 SE, and NanoCosmos's NanoPEG Editor. WinTV Scheduler is used for setting program recording times on a daily or weekly basis, and NanoPEG Editor lets you easily edit MPEG files by cutting and pasting selected clips. DVD MovieFactory is used for creating and editing movies in DVD, SVCD, and VCD formats; copying discs; and burning video directly to disc.
Installation of the WinTV-PVR-150 is fairly straightforward, but it's a somewhat lengthy process because there are so many applications to load. Once installed and set up, reception was clear on every channel we tested, though not as crisp as we found with the ATI TV Wonder Elite. The WinTV-PVR-150 produced an image with a trace of background blurriness and soft edges, problems we've come to expect from most TV tuners, due to the digital-to-analog nature of the current generation of TV tuner hardware. The ATI TV Wonder Elite produced a crisper image, but we were impressed by how quickly the WinTV-PVR-150 responded to channel changes, a serious problem for many cards. Programs recorded through the tuner card were nearly indistinguishable from the original live feed, while video from a direct signal supplied by a set-top DVD player was smooth and stutter-free, with no lag between the video and the audio.
