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| Date Reviewed: 03/27/2006 |
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Strengths: It is really versatile, it has all the connections needed to connect either a video camera, dvd, vcr, etc. Good quality imaging and sound for the FM radio.
Weaknesses: It is ONLY for the Media Center format, however, I was able to bypass by doing some research and downloading drivers for it to work on Windows XP Pro.
Summary: I would recommend it to someone who wants one of these with all the necessary connectios (thus eliminating the need to purchase seperate adapters/connectors)but who is a little more computer literate, I would not recommend it for someone who wants to use it on ANY OTHER format, other than Media Center, unless you know what your doing. It's just to say, you'll have a hard time.
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| Date Reviewed: 03/18/2006 |
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Strengths: NA
Weaknesses: NA
Summary: Works great - mostly. Noticed when I view a signal on the RF connector signal looks fine when there is no card next to it in the PCI slot, but when I installed a SoundBlaster X-Fi in the PCI slot next to it the signal got static and went away when I moved the card 1 slot away. This did not effect the other video inputs. If you do not have a way to run your signal via S-Video or Composite Video (RCA video jack) or enough free PCI slots to keep one empty next to this card it would be a major problem. Apparently the RF port is sensitive to local RF interference off of PCI cards immediately next to it (maybe only the SB X-Fi - only one I tried). If you have Windows MCE, using the S-Video or Composite connections requires you to have a remote, ir receiver and transmitter (not that the hardware is actually required but MCE is hard coded to look for it so you cannot setup the signal without it - there is no way to bypass it), which this OEM package does not have so you would be better off buying the retail bundle. Only reason I did not give 5/5 stars.
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| Date Reviewed: 06/23/2005 |
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Strengths: Easy install. Good quality video/audio. Great bang for the $$. Works well with Beyond.
Weaknesses: Limited docs. No outputs (but to be expected at this price). Probably should have gone for the version with the remote.
Summary: I was using an entire LCD for Bloomberg TV while I worked. Now, I can take advantage by just having a small window for the TV feed while using the rest of the space for other stuff. Sound quality is good. Very flexible and good value for the price. If you are someone who switches channels often, you might want to get the version with the remote control.
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| Date Reviewed: 01/08/2005 |
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Strengths: Goods: Audio and Video quality. Tech support.
Weaknesses: Other: Software and documentation.
Summary: 2005-01-08 06:57:57 I bought this pci card for my second, new computer a Dell Gen 4 system and had problems installing the card in this new system not due to the card. The Dell PCI slot has a plastic retaining bar, no screws, but the problem was with the back side of the card near the MB. Dell uses a permanent clip on the back side to hold the card in place but the clip was in the way of the hole and I finally had to bend the metal on the card to force the card into the narrow and difficulty to reach slot. Once this fiddling was over the rest was easy sort of.
The software with the OEM version of the 150MCE only contains the drivers so all other software can be downloaded from the Hauppauge site. E-mail tech support was pretty good as I got 3 emails answered correctly within 24 hours of sending each one.
Now onto the card: I have owned and used the AVER MEDIA TV Studio card for years and always had a tough time bettering its quality until now. I tried the Hauppauge 250 and 350 cards but thought the recorded TV was of poor quality. Also tried several AIWs including the 9800. I record from cable with no tuner or cable box in between.
The Hauppauge software is weak for my purposes but TV quality is good with this software, as good as my TIVO on highest quality. Actually the quality puts the AVER MEDIA TV Studio card to shame but that card is at least 6 years old. The 150MCE does not work with Intervideo WinDVR ver 3 as this is my favorite software for recording TV I am in search of a replacement like Snapstream Beyond TV ver 3.51 (prior versions are claimed to not work with this card) or SageTV.
I have not tried the FM and probably won’t as I work the TV issue only. No remote with the OEM version but I don’t need that either. No cables either, OEM comes with pci card, CD and poorly written 1 page document. Documentation online is also poor for this new card.
I was initially stumped with the audio connection as the card has IN RCA for L and R audio, IN S-video, and IN RCA video and no out jacks. Well this card records sound from through the card directly in selectable MPEG1/2 in VCD, XVCD, and DVD settings. Audio quality is selectable based on the software you use. While the audio quality is very good it records louder than you hear it so turn down your TV if you burn to VCD or DVD or playback recorded files on you computer. I have read of a tweak to the registry that clears this up.
This card is supposed to record avi format with VirtualDub or Premiere Pro but I have not tried it yet.
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| Date Reviewed: 11/03/2004 |
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Strengths: Low price due to OEM package
Weaknesses: None
Summary: This is basically a cost reduced version of the Hauppauge WinTV PVR 250. I purchased this card for use with Snapstream's Beyond TV. It works well with Beyond TV v3.5 but I don't believe it is supported by earlier versions. The picture quality is excellent and the setup was almost effortless. I only had to point Windows XP at the driver disc then run the Beyond TV Setup Wizard.
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| Date Reviewed: 03/16/2005 |
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Strengths: Low cost, lots of inputs, works with 3rd party software
Weaknesses: no outputs, drivers on cd outdated, limited documentation
Summary: Overall, I really like this card. I even have 2 in my HTPC. In comparison, I like the 150MCE version over the retail 150 version because not only is it lower in price (this is an OEM, not retail), but it has additional inputs as well (CATV, FM, composite video, L/R audio, and S-video). The retail 150 only has CATV, but does come with a remote and an IR blaster for changing the channel on your cable box. However this can be done other was and there are some better remotes out there too.
I'm using XP Pro with a 3rd party software (Snapstream Beyond TV 3) instead of Windows MCE and it works great. I did update the drivers, as to the ones on the CD were not the newest, but I had no problems when testing out the old drivers.
The card features only inputs and not outputs. True this is a capture card which it does very well, but having some type of output would be nice. Combine this card with a good video card and sound card and you should have a good mix of inputs and outputs. The installation process was the same for any other PC card. If you have ever installed cards in your PC before, this is no differenct. Even though the documentation is limited, the installation process is straight forward.
I currently have 2 150MCE connected via standard cable and using Beyond TV 3 with XP Pro and I really like it. I also have one of my 150MCE card connected via the s-video in from my cable box along with the audio L/R. This way one card is doing double duty (1 input for standard cable and the other for the digital channels from the cable box).
This is a great card and would highly reccommend it. Pair this card with a great PVR software (does not have to be Windows MCE) and you are in business. Search around as you can find various prices on this card, but overall it is still cheaper than the retail 150.
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| Date Reviewed: 11/19/2004 |
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Strengths: Great picture quality. Low price.
Weaknesses: Lack of support from third party PVR softwares because it's a new product.
Summary: Over the years, I have used ATI TV card (2/5), FusionHDTV II (2.5/5), and FusionHDTV III Gold QAM card (3/5). The analog picture quality of this Hauppauge 150 card (5/5) is FAR better than all of them! The picture is very clean and smooth. It's really a supprise to me that such a low price card can bring hardware encoding, FM radio (with included T antenna), and 4 line comb with such a good quality.
The installation in MCE 2005 is effortless. But it won't work with other softwares such as GetAllMedia, yet. The new chip in this card will require code changes. But I'm sure this card will become so popular that all PVR softwares will support it.
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| Date Reviewed: 12/31/2004 |
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Strengths: Excellent image quality, hardware encoding, low price, first rate dvd's and effortless recording.
Weaknesses: None
Summary: Actually, I have had a 150 retail for about 3 months which I run with the superb, and free, GBPVR. I liked it so much, I bought a 150 mce from buy.com for $65. It arrived in 2 days with free shipping; I just received it.
It works just like the retail, but it does not have a remote. It does have an FM radio instead. It works side by side with the retail in an XP Home (non-mce) system. It uses the exact same drivers, but this does not cause any conflicts. With GBPVR, you simply set up the EPG with zap2it and start recording shows. If you set 2 programs to record at the same time, GBPVR will automatically initialize them with no further configuration. It works in the background, so it will not interrupt an ongoing game such as UT 2004. It uses virtually no CPU resources on my P4, 2.8gig, 1gig ram system. I have used an ATI AIW 9800 Pro, and it always fails to start the recorder when I am playing a game. I believe MediaPortal conflicts as well, either because of directx or audio conflicts.
If you already have the WinTV 2000 software, the mce version will work with it.
I have owned ATI(AIW 9800 Pro), Avermedia(UltraMedia 500), Compro(VideoMate Live USB2), Dvico(Fusion Mpeg2) and Leadtek(Expert & Deluxe) capture cards. I wish I could have started with the Hauppauge 150. I would have saved much time and money.
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| Date Reviewed: 03/11/2005 |
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Strengths: Great quality. Able to tweak the card to further increase quality.
Weaknesses: WinTV 2000
Summary: Installed with no problems using the supplied CD. I have a Dell Dimension 8400 P4 w/ HT, 1 gig RAM, 260 gig hdd, Radeon x300 se. This card out performed my previous tuner card (Emuzed Angel Dual TV Tuner (OEM)) I would recommend this card to anyone interested in a TV Tuner. Overall this card is an excellent card in quality, stability and installation, just do not install the WinTV 2000 software as it is a bit difficult to install. If you have Media Center 2005 then you should consider this card.
82% of People (9/11) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 04/27/2005 |
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Strengths: s-video input, stereo inputs, great quality capture.
Weaknesses: none.
Summary: the built-in mpeg2 hardware encoder of this unit is excellent in both quality and speed. I have no problem capturing without any drop frame on my P4 custom made PC. S-video really put out a better analog capture over composite. highly recommended.
75% of People (3/4) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 03/28/2005 |
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Strengths: capture quality
Weaknesses: no mpeg1 hardware encoder.
Summary: i have used pvr250 and i must say i do missed mpeg1 hw encoding, but how many people do mpeg1 encoding nowadays when dvdr price are dropping to a super low price. anyhow, i still want to capture some shows in mpeg1 vcd format where quality isn't a concern, but rather duration. a good 6 hrs on on dvd5 will sure beat swapping the dvd every 2-3 hours. even without what i mentioned above, this card still give out nice quality capture.
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| Date Reviewed: 04/24/2005 |
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Strengths: simple and above average capture quality.
Weaknesses: analog capture.
Summary: if you want to get do some analog capture and don't want to mess around with many confusing setting..etc,
this capture card is for you. it will get the job done with an decent quality. keep in mind, this is for analog capture.
71% of People (5/7) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 02/13/2005 |
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Strengths: compatible with Windows MCE 2005, enables me to use my HDTV PCI card, FM tuner included, hardware based video encoder
Weaknesses: none
Summary: I bought this analog tuner card so that I'd be able to use my OTA HDTV PCI card in Windows MCE 2005. It turns out that MCE 2005 needs an analog tuner card to be present to be able to use HDTV / digital tuner cards.
This fits the bill just right. It's cheaper than the Hauppauge PVR-250 and PVR-500, and for my purposes, this card was the best value for money.
An added bonus was that it could tune in FM radio. I still use it when tuning in SDTV, and during those occasions, signal reception was strong with my indoor antennae, and image quality was good (for SDTV).
71% of People (5/7) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 04/25/2005 |
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Strengths: Cheap, good video quality.
Weaknesses: Tall card, almost did not fit in my HTPC case.
Summary: I use this card with GB-PVR which is free. It works pretty well with XP (not just MCE 2005 as stated) - the drivers are included on the CD. It was easy to install, except I could barely close my case, so if you have a small case, get the low profile card instead.
I am satisfied with the video quality, although I only use the S-video input to connect it to my Dish receiver. I don't know if the video quality is the same with the tuner, given that you would rely on analog broadcasts at that point.
67% of People (4/6) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 04/06/2005 |
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Strengths: inexpensive, popular, so there are many people in forums to help with trouble shooting.
Weaknesses: setup/drivers can be tough, fm radio did not work, a tight fit in some shuttle cases
Summary: i really like the pvr-150 mce because it works, and it didn't cost that much.
however, the tricky-ness of getting the drivers/software installed makes me rate this hardware down. although i am not using it with a Windows Media Center system, i still think that the drivers should not be that hard to install.
The included fm antenae does not seem to fit the card.
also, i have a shuttle sff pc that i put the pvr-150 in. it was a very tight fit. in fact, i had to loosen a screw on the pvr card so it would fit.
i almost wish i spent the extra $30 to get the retail version that comes with a remote control, but then i would've lost the fm radio tuner, which i can't get to work.
i use gbpvr software with it and it works nicely.
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