Entered CNET Catalog: 09/10/2003
SKU: 0785428009414
Manufacturer: Hauppauge Computer Works Inc.
Manufacturer description
With WinTV-PVR-usb2, you can Watch, Record and Pause live TV on your PC or laptop, in a window or full screen. Record your favorite TV shows to your hard disk, or pause live TV and create your own instant replay! You can also record your home videos to disk, then burn them onto CD or DVD! Create professional quality DVDs from your home movies or TV shows right on your PC! The WinTV-PVR-usb2 uses a hardware MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 encoder, so you don't slow down your PC while recording. With MPEG data rates from 1 to 12Mbits/sec, you decide how much hard disk space your videos will consume (the lower the data rates, the less disk space your videos will consume, but with lower video quality). WinTV-PVR-usb2 is easy to install. Just plug it into your PC or laptops USB 1.1 or 2.0 port, connect to any kind of TV reception (cable, antenna, etc.) or a VCR or camcorder, load the software from installation CD. Then start watching TV and recording your TV or videos! WinTV-PVR-usb2's pause feature gives you control of what you watch in your WinTV window. Get personal "instant replay": stop the action when you want to analyze a key scene, and instantly rewind and replay the action again. You're in control with WinTV-PVR! Record your TV programs or home videos and play them on your PC or DVD player! If you have a DVD burner in your PC, use the WinTV-PVR's MPEG files with the included MovieFactory to author your own home DVDs. You can also record your home videotapes with WinTV-PVR, and then burn them onto DVD.Product summary
The good: Easy to install; includes video-editing software; good image quality.
The bad: Weak FM receiver; A/V cables not included; lacks IR blaster.
The bottom line: The Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-USB2 offers admirable image quality, but you'll need to bring your own A/V cables.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 02/08/2006
The front panel contains stereo audio inputs and composite-video and S-Video inputs. Two coaxial connectors (TV and FM radio) are located on the back panel along with a USB 2.0 port and a power connector. The unit comes with a USB cable and an FM antenna, but no other A/V cables are included in the box. The Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 matches the Hauppauge's image quality, but it has cables. The included Hauppauge remote control works with an internal IR sensor to change channels, pause, rewind, fast-forward, and record, but it does not control your set-top box. For that, you'll need an IR blaster, which isn't included.
Installation of the WinTV-PVR-USB2 is straightforward, and all connections are clearly marked, so there's no confusion as to which cable goes where. The installation disc includes Hauppauge's WinTV software for watching, pausing, and recording live TV and Ulead's MovieFactory 2 DVD-authoring program. The WinTV program integrates with TitanTV's EPG (Electronic Program Guide) for advanced program scheduling. Hauppauge's proprietary software works fine, but other programs, such as Windows Media Center are more intuitive.
Like the Diamond XtremeTV, the WinTV-PVR-USB2's TV tuner performed admirably. Some of the stations showed minor background noise and artifacts, and there was the usual image softness that is prevalent in all PC tuner cards, but the overall viewing experience was very good.
We experienced an annoying delay in changing channels on some tuners such as the ConvertX PVR PX-TV100U, but not so with the WinTV-PVR-USB2. What did annoy us was the varying degrees of audio squelching that occasionally occurred when we switched channels, which distracts from a pleasant TV viewing experience, especially if you have the volume cranked up. Recorded programs looked as good as the original signal, and the unit did a great job of rendering a direct video signal from our set-top DVD player, delivering clean audio and video.
The FM tuner, however, was weak and had trouble locking in on local stations. We suggest using an externally mounted antenna if you plan to listen to FM radio through your computer.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16out of 16 user reviews
worked fine, but device overheated
Pros: easy to use
Cons: overheated and quit working
out of 16 user reviews
Pretty Good But Video Quality Is Course
Pros: Easy to hook up; does what it is advertised to do; reliable
Cons: Took some work to get it to start working; video is not sharp but is passable
out of 16 user reviews
Great Buy, Everything is easy to use.
Pros: Same as Tivo, but must be watching the show if you want to rewind.
Cons: Can't change the channel when recording, wire can get in the way
out of 16 user reviews
Easy install, low audio levels
Pros: Easy install, works as advertised
Cons: Audio levels too low
Setup was a breeze. Worked out of the box as advertised.
Somewhat blocky video if RF input signals are low (off air)
Only complaint is low audio output both in FM and TV modes.
out of 16 user reviews
Super little product.
Pros: Ease of use
Cons: No one off switch
out of 16 user reviews
A pleasure . . .
Pros: pleasing picture quality and audio through usb 2 connection, many mpeg recording options, reliable.
Cons: wish the record/pause controls detached from the screen, lag time prevents use for gaming, cost a little more than I wanted to spend.
I had no glitches setting this up on a 3.2 mgh, 1 gb RAM HP zd8000, and very few since, in sharp contrast to a cardbus from another manufacturer that repeatedly crashed my computer in the two days I tried to make it work reliably.
The colors and clarity of the screen images are very good in full size on a 17" screen, equivalent to many DVDs, though not quite as sharp in image or as crisp in delivery as our televisions. A little breakdown here and there, particularly for sports action.
The audio is very good.
The remote is okay, but must be pointed at the box to work effectively. I don't use it very much.
What a pleasure to view television on the computer in large size -- or in smaller size while performing other tasks. No need for these middle aged eyes to squint at the TV from across the room, or watch what the kids want to watch (i've split the cable input, so that the kids can watch what they want while I am watching something else with headphones on the other side of the room.) And in its no title display mode, the wintv screen can be made into any size, allowing me to do other things on my computer while watching.
I also like the mpeg recordings. There are more than half a dozen options, including DVD Standard play, long play, extra-long play, for example, enabling me save in very high quality or, if I don't want as large a file, in an acceptable quality. I've also burned DVDs with great success from recordings, simple and the quality is as good as the playback.
The pause function is also easy to use (this is the TIVO-like function), and is terrific for not missing a thing if you need to pick up a kid or have dinner in the middle of the game or show, but don't want to record.
Not usable for playstation 2, as there's about a 1-2 second lag time.
My biggest quibble is that the pause and record functions extend from the bottom of the screen, requiring that I keep space below the screen when I expand the no title display to cover the entire length of the computer. If these controls could be detached, the tv screen could be extended to the bottom of the computer screen without losing the ability to use the controls to pause, etc. A small issue.
For me, a very good purchase, though more than what I wanted to spend.
At first, it seemed to me that the audio and video were not exactly in synch -- there was a sluggishness to the overall audio/video effect. A rep at WinTV's support center, who was easy to reach, told me to reduce my hardware acceleration, which did away with the problem.
out of 16 user reviews
Excellent Product
Pros: Easy install, simple interface, FM radio feature is nice, excellent picture, remote nice add-on although rarely used by me
Cons: Expensive, no off/on indicator light, renaming channels is clunky
out of 16 user reviews
Took initial tweaking, but ended up working quite well with SageTV
Pros: -Have no issues recording programs, basically have Tivo on my home PC
Cons: -The software that came with it is clunky and was difficult to use. Sage TV was must better. Also, wished it still came with a remote with an electric signal rather than infared.
Forgot to mention that I am using a PC on XP (non Media edition) that is 1.5 years old with USB 2.0, 1 GB of RAM, and an 80 GB Hard drive. Also, I downloaded some updates to the drivers before I purchased Sage TV (so not sure if you need it for Sage).
out of 16 user reviews
Great Product BUT some dislikes
Pros: OK picture quality, awesome software for Tivo-style recording, great live pause function, just discovered it has a screen snapshot function, good remote
Cons: The main reason i bought this product was to play Xbox on my laptop, but to my dismay......the lag between the time I press a button on the controller and the time it does the move is too long!!!
out of 16 user reviews
Good hardware , included software ehhh
Pros: Great picture various saving capabilities
Cons: included software needs update
You must have USB 2.0 to use properly!
out of 16 user reviews
Good product, but what do you expect from free software
Pros: good quality pictures and video. Easy setup and install.
Cons: Included software quirky, but usable. Had to reset the IR control once, so far, minor issue. would be nice to have an update tool for software rather than manually determine the rev number and then download updates.
out of 16 user reviews
DOA and Manual Describes it first
Pros: Looks like it has a lot of features. But can only read the user guide.
Cons: Product was DOA out of the box and the problem was known well enough to be listed first in troubleshooting as needing to be replaced. If the problem is known well enough to list it as the first step in troubleshooting at the back of the user manual, fix
out of 16 user reviews
WinTV Scheduler crashes if...
Pros: Good product, easy to use, not too expensive, works fine with USB2.
Cons: Software crashes at the end of the first program if you schedule multiple programs one right after the other with no breaks in between. Version 2.4 11/28/2004
out of 16 user reviews
Device works great for me!
Pros: I wife and I starting homescholling our children (5) this year and we needed to record video from a satellite feed for playback during the following week. We record about 60-65 hours a week of video, then burn them to DVD. I went with the Hauppauge USB2
Cons: The only thing I have found so far is a couple of my children's classes run 5 hours (1 hour a day, 5 days) and the file size is a little over 8 Gig. The Ulead Movie Factory 2SE software included does not like a file that large. I have to break the MPEG
out of 16 user reviews
A Wow Product
Pros: Product is inexpensive and Set up is simple. Since it does not use Computer's Processor for DVR/PVR features, ther eis no slow down and you can do other things with system while you record. Included Titan TV software is free and includes directory and som
Cons: No recording out comercials on TV without the purchase of additional PVR Software like Sage or Snapstream, instead you have to manually pull out the commercials using an editing package.
out of 16 user reviews
Decent but wait for the price to drop
Pros: fairly easy to use, i recorded and burned the nfl playoffs with it
Cons: sometimes locks up and requires testing to determine which format you want to use based on hard drive space
