Outstanding with Vista Media Center | Kworld USB2.0 Tv Tuner Atsc/qam Watch Record Digital HDtv On Pc

32 bit XP driver is crap | Kworld USB2.0 Tv Tuner Atsc/qam Watch Record Digital HDtv On Pc

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	• Kworld USB2.0 Tv Tuner Atsc/qam Watch Record Digital HDtv On Pc KWORLD - TMCC KWORLD - TMCC, 2008 average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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Fragile looking

Did not work for me because it had no analog tuner. However it feels very fragile and the USB connection was not the most stable.

Outstanding with Vista Media Center

I bought this KWorld 340U at a local electronics store since it was on sale. I am thinking about canceling my cable service since it has just gotten too expensive over the years. I wanted to see if Windows Vista Media Center, this tuner and an antenna could serve as a reasonable alternative to the HD DVR I currently rent from the cable company. The short answer is yes. Long answer is below...

I am using it with a Dell E521 (dualcore AMD x2 3600, nVidia 7300LE, 4 GB RAM, Vista Home Premium) and it works well, though honestly I wouldn't try running it on a computer any slower than this. Watching or recording a HD broadcast uses about 50% of the processor and it can drop a few frames here and there if something intensive is going on in the background like a virus scan. But most of the time it works great. Video quality is outstanding. I have a 22" widescreen LCD with 1680x1050 resolution connected via DVI. It has more resolution than all but the most expensive 1080p HDTVs, so you can see the peach fuzz and caked-on makeup on your local newscasters' faces.

I installed the software which included the driver and a clone of Windows Media Center (which I promptly uninstalled). After that Windows Media Center recognized the tuner instantly. I hooked up a set of rabbit ears I had laying around and it scanned and found all the ATSC channels in about five minutes. (The dinky antenna in the box didn't pick up any channels inside.) Then it downloaded the program guide from the internet. It is much easier to use and has a more attractive interface than the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD supplied by my cable company.

I can schedule recordings, pause live broadcasts, fast forward, rewind and do everything a dedicated DVR can do without a monthly service fee (like Tivo) or paying the cable company $100+ a month.

Apparently it can also pick up unencrypted digital cable channels but I haven't tried that since there's no jack near the computer. Also note that it does not pick up NTSC (traditional analog) broadcasts from the antenna. But those are going away in a few months so this is not too much of a drawback.

Highly recommended. It is "certified" for Windows Vista and I see no reason to pay more for a Hauppauge or other name-brand tuner. This probably has the same chip inside anyway.

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32 bit XP driver is crap

The gizmo itself seems to be alright. It gets reception as good as my other tuners, but the driver for XP that came with the CD caused my machine to blue screen. I had to get an update from the manufacturer's website, which was hard to find by way of thier menu. I ended up just googling it. Anyway, the newest driver works better. It's not perfect though. If I load it after I load service pack 3 for XP, then all my tuners quit working. At least thet's what I think is happening. So I load it while it is still service pack 2 then I load service pack 3, and it works okay.

Don't even bother with the drive on the CD. Go get the latest driver available.

I don't know about the other software that comes with it. I use sagetv, and it works okay with sagetv.

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Kworld ATSC 340U HDTV USB 2.0 Stick Worried about which kind of TV tuner to purchase? Don't understand complicated terminology such as "digital free-to-air vestigial TV", "ATSC HDTV", or unencrypted QAM cable TV? Not to worry!! With KWorld ATSC 340U HDTV Dongle, you don't have to fret anymore! It not only supports all of the systems mentioned above, but it also provides you with many more functions.