Rating: 
Summary: New User
Review: After looking for a PVR/Video Capture device, I found most of the reviews rather unhelpful. I hope to update this in the future as I learn more. Day One: Very Easy to Set Up. Connect cable to device. Takes a few minutes to recognize all the channels. Tested the software. Viewing and recording very easy. Used Titan TV for advanced recording, very easy. Quality looks good so far on small window. Some lost of quality in larger size windows on computer. A slight delay (a couple of seconds) from live tv. FM Radio software sounds/works ok. Haven't yet burn to disc or imported from VCR. So far I am pleasently surprised considering reviews I have read on the web.
Day 2: Problems (1) It appears that you need to use the same usb 2.0 port you install on, otherwise a failure occur. (2) When rebooting computer make sure you don't plug it in until reboot is complete. -- Update: Seems to reboot ok now, maybe because I am using the same port. (3) Ulead software has aborted 2 of 3 times. Update: Burned a copy of a tv program using SVCD, looked real nice on tv. Still working on efficient editing with Ulead (4) Tried two other programs (Nero/showbiz) to import, but they do not work with device. This is not a big problem since wintv2000 produces mpg files that these programs can use. Otherwise, so far so good.
Rating:
Summary: Quality and functionality overshadow bugginess
Review: As promised, this device turned my computer into a TiVo-like system. The quality of the video image is superb--as good as it gets until you move up into high-definition TV. Setup was quick and didn't require any tweaking of my graphics card or sound card. Running the video over USB2 doesn't seem to slow down my system at all (2.2GHz Celeron with 256MB RAM).
I have the same kind of "plug-unplug-and-play" problem on Windows XP Home that the other reviewer mkirpalani has; it's annoying but the thing is still fully functional after you unplug it and plug it in again. Hopefully this can be fixed with a driver improvement from Hauppauge--hello Hauppauge engineers?
The included TV and FM radio software work great, but they aren't completely intuitive. Once you learn how it works it's OK, but it definitely feels like an early version of the software. Again software upgrades should improve the user-friendliness.
The remote control unit works exactly like a TV remote, allowing me to lie in bed across the room and vegetate. The added bonus is that you can rewind and pause and fast-forward through live TV, and record stuff on the PC's hard drive too.
I think the speed and efficiency of the USB2 technology are the key to getting high-quality video and stereo audio from the WinTV, and this thing uses it to maximum benefit. Overall this is an amazing and high-quality device that just needs a few small software improvements.
Rating: 
Summary: Best video interface I've found
Review: Getting an interface to record my vhs tapes in to burn DVD's was pretty mach a giant pain in the @ss, but the Hauppauge products are the best ones I found. I tried the pinnacle card, but it didn't have a stereo audio input (it also locked up every time I launched it, but that turned out to be a motherboard problem). I tried the Hauppauge internal card and was pretty happy, but had some problem I can't recall now. Went to the ATI all in wonder, and the video recordings looked like they were reflecting off of aluminum foil! Went back to the Hauppauge internal card, but it wouldn't re-install properly (evidently, the un-install feature doesn't uninstall everything, leaving a conflict). Went to this USB 2.0, and it has worked great. The only problem is you get some occasional loud popping sounds in the audio which show up on your finished DVD's. Other than that, it's a great product. MAKE SURE WHEN DOING VIDEO EDITING THAT YOU HAVE A HIGH END MOTHERBOARD. I UPGRADED TO THE GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY 865P FOR $100.
Rating:
Summary: Solid product & easy to install
Review: I initally bought the Avermedia MDVDEZUSB External Video Capture Device. That thoroughly depressed me with the concept of USB video capture since I couldn't really do anything with it.
I returned that, and then decided to spend a little more money to get this product. This thing took all of 10 mins for me to install, and in no time I was watching TV on my computer. The quality of the pictures was really good, even in full screen. I also transferred some footage from a VCR tape to the computer without trouble and then proceeded to burn a DVD - all of this was smooth and easy. I have USB 2.0 connections, which may have helped (the box says USB 1.1 will limit the ability of this device slightly).
The product is a little pricey, but you get what you pay for I guess. The previous product I got was just $50 or so, but since it didn't work at all, the extra expenditure in this case seemed well worth it.
I would definitely recommend this product.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard to recommend this buggy product
Review: I owned a Win-TV USB for several years and it worked very well and was stable. This seemed like a natural step up for recording capability and USB2 speed. When it works, it works well. However the "power on" light almost never works whether the power is on or not. More annoyingly, the product is almost never recognized on Windows XP start up. If you try to turn it on, you get a "board not installed" type error. Then you have to either unplug the power or the usb cable to get Windows to recognize it - everytime you want to use it. Other reviews I have read make the same comments. For this kind of money, you should get "Plug and Play", not "unplug and plug-in to play". Wish I bought ATI.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to recommend this buggy product
Review: I owned a Win-TV USB for several years and it worked very well and was stable. This seemed like a natural step up for recording capability and USB2 speed. When it works, it works well. However the "power on" light almost never works whether the power is on or not. More annoyingly, the product is almost never recognized on Windows XP start up. If you try to turn it on, you get a "board not installed" type error. Then you have to either unplug the power or the usb cable to get Windows to recognize it - everytime you want to use it. Other reviews I have read make the same comments. For this kind of money, you should get "Plug and Play", not "unplug and plug-in to play". Wish I bought ATI.
Rating: 
Summary: Do not buy this product
Review: I've spent several frustrating days trying to get this product to work. I'm a very experienced PC programmer/user. Repeatedly installed the software, experienced problems with cryptic error messages, uninstalled it and tried again. Searched their website for updated drivers (which appear to be dated). Called Hauppauge "tech support" and was given a very cold shoulder...not too interested in helping...got no satisfaction. Getting an RMA and sending this crap back for a refund. DO NOT BUY!
Rating:
Summary: Do not buy this product
Review: I've spent several frustrating days trying to get this product to work. I'm a very experienced PC programmer/user. Repeatedly installed the software, experienced problems with cryptic error messages, uninstalled it and tried again. Searched their website for updated drivers (which appear to be dated). Called Hauppauge "tech support" and was given a very cold shoulder...not too interested in helping...got no satisfaction. Getting an RMA and sending this crap back for a refund. DO NOT BUY!
Rating:
Summary: Hauppauge needs to get their act together
Review: Installation is binary, it either works or it doesn't. I spent over 6 hours trying to install this and got nowhere. Tech support is below par and the "solutions" are downright ridiculous. Hauppage indicates that WinTV has alot of trouble specifically with Dell systems and goes so far as to suggest downgrading your BIOS system. An average user should never have to make changes to their BIOS just to install a USB accessory. The installation was like a space shuttle launch, complicated and flimsy and tech support offered shoddy "fixes" equivalent to chewing gum and dental floss. For this amount of money I expected a more solid product and reliable tech support.
Rating: 
Summary: Works well for short programs
Review: This is a very cool piece of equipment. The hardware was easy to set up and the software was simple as well. The TV signal looked great on my computer monitor, and I had no problems setting up viewing and recording sessions. Cutting and joining MPEG movies was also very easy with the included Nano MPEG editor. My only disappointment (and it was a big one) is that the recorder was not consistently reliable with programs longer than 30 minutes. I downloaded all the latest drivers from the Hauppauge website and spent a week testing all kinds of recording settings and I ended up with a hard drive full of pieces of shows. I tried recording a 4-hour miniseries, and the recorder stopped at 3:20. A two-hour recording only captured an hour and a half. Several 1-hour shows froze after the halfway mark. For my purposes (recording TV documentaries) this product is not useful and I'm returning the unit. If you're recording mostly short sitcoms, you may have better luck. Or if you're digitizing home videos, this may be a good option too, since if the recording fails, you can re-record the missing part(s) and join the pieces together with the MPEG editor.By the way, I have a 1.7 GHz AMD Athlon processor, 60 GB hard drive and Win XP. One minute of VCD quality recording (lowest setting) equals 10 MB of disk space.
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