Ab Work Outs: ATI TV Wonder HD 650 Combo USB PC TV Tuner Review

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(More customer reviews)I first bought the ATI TV Wonder HD 650 PCIE card to go in my computer (a Gateway SX2800), but discovered that the card is about 1/8" too long to fit (runs into the DVD drive).So I returned the card and picked up the external USB version instead.I went with the HD 650 because it offered dual tuning and was on great sale at the local big box retailer ($30 PCIE and $40 USB).

I'm running Windows 7 and wanted a dual TV tuner to use with Media Center.I currently have standard definition cable running into the analog input (very basic cable, no fancy channels).I hope to get a digital antenna soon to test out the digital input, and if that works okay then I'll replace the analog TV with an FM radio antenna or leave the analog cable to allow recording of one channel and watching another.

So when I first got the unit, I plugged it straight in and let Windows deal with it.It appeared to recognize it and load drivers okay.Then I went to set it up in Media Center.That went okay, too, and it didn't indicate any problems.BUT then when I tried to watch TV all I got was a black screen.I discovered that I could unplug the unit and plug it back in and it would work perfectly fine.Fine, that is, until I exited MC.Launching MC again brought it back in the unusable state.Unplugging always fixed it though.There was also a scary incident where the computer blue screened and crashed, then couldn't find the hard drive to boot from.Not sure it was related the tv tuner or not, but after unplugging the SATA cables and re-seating them on the motherboard it was able to boot again.

Having to unplug it every time I wanted to watch TV wasn't acceptable, and I was afraid I would have to return it. I decided to try upgrading the drivers first.I downloaded the latest driver from the ATI website and ran the .exe file.Turns out that is not enough.You have to go into the device manager and manually update the driver by pointing it to the appropriate folder.Once I did that, VOILA it seems to be working as expected now!The picture looks really good (at least as good as it did on the TV's tuner) and all the TIVO-esque functionality is there (which is great!).

So getting it working was a bit of a pain and a little bit scary, but so far so good.Now to test out the digital tuner...

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Product Description:
Item #: Q50884. The ATI TV Wonder HD 650 Combo USB TV tuner loads your system with a complete set of media abilities, transforming your PC or notebook into the ultimate entertainment system. The tuner is flexible enough to be used with either your laptop or desktop PC, and is a great complement for watching TV in Windows Media Center. Attach an amplified high definition antenna or your analog TV cable and you can watch, pause, or record high definition TV on your PC. Even analog TV is made brilliant by the advanced 3D Comb Filter that produces a high-end television and video content experience with true-to-life images. The Motion Adaptive 3D Comb Filter, Edge Enhancement and Noise Reduction work together to produce an ultra sharp, pure image that rivals high-end TV sets.Your ATI TV Wonder 650 is a high-speed USB device that lets you enjoy over the air digital (ATSC) TV broadcasts on your laptop or PC computer. You can also receive analog (NTSC) broadcasts by connecting your home's TV cable line or external antenna to your ATI TV Wonder 650. Product Description: ATI TV Wonder HD 650 Combo USB - ATSC HDTV / QAMreceiver / analog TV / radio tuner / video input adapter - Hi-Speed USB
Device Type: ATSC HDTV / QAMreceiver / analog TV / radio tuner / video input adapter - external
Interface Type: Hi-Speed USB
Video Input: S-video input, composite video input - external
Analog Video Format: NTSC
Analog Video Signal: S-Video, composite video
Digital Video Format: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, WMV, H.264
Audio Input Support: Included
Cables Included: 1 x USB cable
OS Required: Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition, Microsoft Windows Vista. No returns.
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