Hauppauge WinTV HVR 1600 Model 1178

[Svnla]

I am planning to buy one for $60 AR of $20. Anyone here use it? Good, bad, ugly?

http://www.hauppauge.com/pages...ucts/data_hvr1600.html

Specs:

Dual tuner ATSC/NTSC board for Windows XP and Vista.
Watch and record hi-definition ATSC digital TV on your PC!
Analog cable TV, too!

Dual tuner TV receiver for your PC. Watch ATSC digital TV or analog cable TV, in a window or full screen.
Watch and record all ATSC formats, including the highest definition 1080i format!
Now also supports clear QAM channels with the new WinTV v6 application
Includes TV scheduler, the new Hauppauge remote control and IR blaster to control satellite and cable TV set top boxes.



WinTV-HVR-1600 has these great features

Watch and record ATSC high definition digital TV or analog cable TV on your PC, in a window or full screen! ATSC HD is the over-the-air high definition TV standard for North America.

Two tuners on board: a 125 channel cable ready TV tuner and an ATSC digital TV tuner. Connect both cable TV and ATSC digital TV to the WinTV-HVR-1600 at the same time.

Includes Hauppauge's WinTV2000 application. Our WinTV2000 application allows you to toggle between cable TV and ATSC digital TV channels.

Includes an IR blaster to change the channel on your satellite or cable TV set top box. Connect your set top box to the WinTV-HVR-1600 via S-Video.

Bundled software includes a TV scheduler plus ULead's® DVD MovieFactory? authoring and burning software.
WinTV-HVR-1600 model 1178
product code 74021


Digital ATSC HD TV features
ATSC over-the-air digital TV receiver built-in. Supports all ATSC formats, up to the high definition 1080i format!

Supports Dolby Digital AC3 audio
Record ATSC digital TV to your PC's hard disk using high quality MPEG-2. TV recordings will typically consume 5 Gb of disk space per hour for ATSC high definition.


Digital QAM features
If you are using digital cable which broadcast the local ATSC channels, you can receive these QAM channels with the new WinTV v6 application. QAM is only supported on product codes 74021 and 74041 (found on the tuner label).
Note: not all cable TV networks send clear QAM channels
Note: if you have a WinTV-HVR-1600 poduct code 74021 or 74041, click here for the latest software which supports QAM WinTV-HVR-1600 MC model 1101
product code 74551




Analog TV features

125 channel cable ready TV receiver built-in. With dbx-TV stereo decoder, for great TV sound.

Composite/S-Video and audio inputs, for cable or satellite set top boxes or VCRs.

Record TV shows to your PC's hard disk using the built-in high quality hardware MPEG-2 encoder. While recording, the hardware encoder does all the work so your PC continues to run at full speed!
1-2 Gigabytes of disk is used per hour of recorded video.



WinTV version 6 application
Click here to see WinTV v6 record controls




WinTV-HVR-1600 model 1178
back panel showing connectors

WinTV-HVR-1600 brings over-the-air high definition ATSC digital TV and analog cable TV to your PC. Watch and record TV in a window or full screen using high quality MPEG-2.

ATSC digital TV is the over-the-air digital TV for North America. ATSC digital TV typically requires an antenna for reception, and is currently broadcast in 200 cities, with over 1500 TV stations. Note: ATSC digital TV is NOT digital cable TV or digital satellite TV. The WinTV-HVR-1600 cannot receive digital satellite TV directly. To receive digital satellite, you will need a satellite receiver set top box.

ATSC digital TV brings you sharper pictures and enriches your PC?s multimedia experience with Dolby Digital AC3 sound. WinTV-HVR-1600?s ATSC digital TV receiver adds great features to your TV viewing: high definition TV reception, automatic identification of channel names plus records high-definition digital TV programs to your PC?s hard disk in an MPEG-2 format with no loss in quality.

Two tuners to simplify connections The WinTV-HVR-1600 has two tuners: one for analog cable TV and one for ATSC digital TV. You can connect both cable TV and an ATSC digital TV antenna at the same time. And our WinTV2000 application allows you to toggle between cable TV and ATSC digital TV channels.

Create your own personal Digital Video Recorder! Record cable TV or ATSC digital TV shows to disk with MPEG-2. Use the WinTV-Scheduler to schedule the recordings of your favorite analog or ATSC digital TV programs. Play the recordings back to your PC screen at any time.

Control your cable TV or satellite set top box with WinTV-HVR-1600?s IR Blaster. Both the WinTV2000 and WinTV-Scheduler can automatically control the channel on your set top box, so you no longer need to manually change set top box channels.

Are you using Windows XP Media Center Edition or Vista? If so, you can add WinTV-HVR-1600 as either the primary or as the second TV tuner. The Microsoft Media Center application supports up to two TV tuners, so you can watch one TV channel while recording another! And WinTV-HVR-1600 has Windows Vista Premium certification.

Technically speaking
WinTV-HVR-1600 contains two tuners: a ATSC digital TV tuner for over the air digital TV reception plus a 125-channel cable ready TV tuner. For ATSC digital TV, all 18 ATSC formats including 1080i can be watched or recorded to disk as a Program Stream. A highly integrated MPEG-1/2 hardware encoder based on the Conexant -418 is on-board for recording analog cable TV to disk. The playback of the recorded ATSC digital or MPEG-2 encoded analog program is done through a software MPEG-2 player. An on-board IR receiver and transmitter uses a software loaded set top box table for the codes to control a set top box.


System requirements

Processor requirements:

2.2 GHz P4 or equivalent (minimum) required for displaying ATSC high definition TV.

Microsoft® Windows® XP Home, Pro or Media Center Edition. Also Windows Vista Premium certified*.
Available PCI slot.
Graphics with 64 MB memory (or greater).
Sound card.
DVD or CD writer for burning Video CD's, S-VCD's or DVD's (optional).


Included in this package
WinTV-HVR-1600 PCI bus card with 125 channel cable-ready TV tuner, ATSC receiver, hardware MPEG-2 encoder, dbx-TV stereo decoder, S-Video/composite and audio inputs.
IR remote control receiver.
IR Blaster (infra-red remote control transmitter), to control satellite and cable TV set top boxes.
WinTV-HVR-1600 CD-ROM includes:
WinTV2000 application for TV in a window plus TV recording, pause and playback.
WinTV-Scheduler for scheduling your TV recording, and with link to TitanTV.com*.
WinTV MPEG editor for high quality cutting and pasting of your standard definition video movies.
Ulead® DVD MovieFactory?, to create your own videos on DVD or CD*


Model numbers

model 01178: WinTV-HVR-1600 with NSTC/ATSC/QAM support, on-board IR receiver and blaster, and English manual

model 01181: WinTV-HVR-1600 with NSTC/ATSC/QAM support, on-board IR receiver and blaster, and French/Englsh manual

model 01101: WinTV-HVR-1600 MC board only with NSTC/ATSC/QAM support, without remote control, with FM radio

model 01183: WinTV-HVR-1600 MC-Kit with NSTC/ATSC/QAM support, Media Center certified remote control and FM radio

 

[GullyFoyle]

This card is a good option for a cheap two-tuner solution. No doubt it will be well supported by third-party software. I see this as the successor the the venerable PVR-150. It does what that card did, plus adds support for the new digital video standards.

I spent most of my time focusing on the QAM support to work. The software support for QAM (digital cable) programs over the ATSC tuner is new, and a little raw. I have used GB-PVR and Sage, and support for QAM has only appeared in the last month or so. I have experienced some incompatibilities, crashing, and hang-ups, I blame on this being a newer technology. Over time, these issues should fade away.

This was my first capture card, and I was disappointed to learn the IR "Blaster" must be within 2 inches of your cable box IR reciever. The cable for it is four feet long, and has a funky 4-segment jack that you can't buy an extension cord for. So basically, it only works for a PVR/HTPC in your entertainment center.

 

[Tegeril]

I have two of these in my media center running Vista Home Premium and they are fantastic.