| Reviews : Kworld ATSC/NTSC Hybrid HDTV Tuner |
Technical Details
- DIGITAL HDTV TO PC USB
Product Description
Watch HDTV programs (ATSC) or Analog (NTSC) TV programs on your PC or Laptop. Watch live high quality digital 1080i format HD TV without service fees from anywhere on your laptop, the options are unlimited with full support for both analog (NTSC) and digital (ATSC) reception.PlusTV HD Hybrid Stick is pocket sized and easy to install in any PC or laptop. It's the perfect traveling companion for road warriors or college students who carry a notebook computer. To install, just plug it into your PC or laptops' USB 2.0 port and connect a cable TV or a TV antenna. Load the software from the installation CD and you're ready to start watching analog or ATSC digital TV on your PC or laptop screen. PlusTV HD Hybrid Stick also includes a portable digital antenna, so you can receive digital TV while you travel!Similar Products
Customer Reviews
By Jeffrey Liss (NYC)
I bought this a little over 2 months ago for my Acer 8930-6306 laptop with 18.4" HD LCD. Set up was simple, basically plug and play. After I loaded the CD, I chose the antenna option (not cable) in the set up and chose only the digital option. 26 over the air local digital channels were found in my area (NYC), such as CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, PBS, WOR, WPIX, Weather Channel, etc; and many of them were in 1080iHD. The picture is quite beautiful. I really can't believe it. I watched some of the NFC playoff games on my laptop, along with the Super Bowl, and it was the best picture I've ever seen. It was so beautiful that I went out and bought a 40" Sony Bravia Z series HDTV LCD.
I'm using a Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT (Graphics Card), 4GB DDR3 Ram and a Intel Core 2 Duo processor P8400 (2.26 GHz). I mention this because one needs a good graphics card, strong processor and sufficient memory to get this to work. I'm using a USB extender in order to save one of my USB ports since the USB adapter is big. The included antenna is small, but quite powerful and sits very well on my desk, attached to the USB adapter.
Windows Media Center Edition offers a slightly better picture than the Arcsoft Total Media 3 program (included on the CD) and set up was simple. All one has to do is click set up TV in Windows Media Center and Windows does the rest (I chose widescreen 16:9), including the download TV Guide option (every 2 weeks). The picture is amazing and quite a sight to behold using Windows Media Center.
The sound, which comes from my laptop's 5.1 Dolby Digital internal speakers, is adequate.
There is very little documentation that comes with this gadget. But K-World does offer free technical support and when I had a question, a person picked up immediately (when I called) and was very helpful.
If you are looking to watch TV on your laptop and you have a HD LCD screen, along with the proper components and live reasonably close to a metropolitan area, this is the gadget for you.
By Spacejockey (Central Coast)
I got this product nearly a month ago, on sale for almost less than half its listed price, and thus, I have been pretty satisfy for what I got.
The actual tuner itself does get a little warm but not to the point of hot, as noted by other users of other tuner sticks. I would suggest either using an USB extension cable or else, glue some sort of small rubber spacer piece onto the bottom of the tuner so it would support the weight when used with a laptop; even though the tuner stick itself is relatively light, the 3+" length, combined with the antenna cable once attached, would still put downward stress onto your already well-abused USB port- which is usually set around quarter to just less than half an inch from whatever work surface your laptop would be resting on. Do you really want your USB ports to even bend at any angles for such short distance!?
The non-shielded cable from the antenna would have to be treated carefully too, especially where the cable terminated into the special coax plug! Since the common coaxial cables are a lot more thicker and beefier of construction, with the coax connectors crimped on, they could take a lot more rough handling than the this Kworld version. I didn't realized it at the time but from twisting and untwisting the coax connector on and off the tuner sticker itself, I was grasping the black rubber boot that was molded onto the connector and the cable itself (what I would considered the most normal thing to do); the two wires within were probably soldered onto the special plug instead of being crimped and thus, I literally twisted the soldered wires apart underneath the rubber molding. This was my conclusion since I could not disassemble to check. All I knew was that, at some time, the antenna stop working and I was not getting any signals.
So, be careful and just grasp and turn the metal hex ring of the coax connector without over tightening it.
The user interface of the actual TV program could use some refining too, as it is very basic and not intuitive. The viewing window could only be resized either as default small or full screen and nothing in between.
I have been using this tuner stick in public areas some ten or so miles north of central Seattle and as any other such USB tuner, my reception for various HD and SD TV channels are competely dependent on the very exact placement of that eight inch long antenna. With a nudge of even an inch in any direction, I could either get a much stronger signal or loose whatever I got completely. It appeared that even sitting by a window does not matter as much as where I place, through much experimenting, the antenna. I guess in the end, it's all about trial and error and finding that tiny sweet spot for any one particular channel.
In conclusion, for around thirty bucks, it serves its purpose of being extremely portable and letting me satisfy my TV craving from time to time when I am away from a real HD TV and on the road.
By Maskar (New Jersey)
I tried different products and finally settled with this one. The tuner is so small and light weight, but does its job perfectly. I used this and was able to tune properly to all the HD channels in my area and didnt face any issues.It also worked with my cable connection.
The software provided with this is too good and this is compatible with windows media also. The only problem i faced was that there was no proper manual for this one.
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