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PC HDTV! May 13, 2009

Posted by ctcoberon in Uncategorized.
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  • Advertisements about how to obtain Digital TV and its full implementation (starting in 2010) are appearing more and more in the media today.
  • However, what’s not covered is how you can obtain Digital TV on your computer (Desktop, Notebook or Netbook).
  • So, just over a week ago, I got my hands on the cheapest ($39.95) Digital TV tuners I could find, the AVLabs AVL680HD. This small USB digital tuner can be configured for use with Windows XP, Windows Vista and the Asus Eee PC. It took me about five minutes to install and configure the AVL680HD on a Windows Vista Home Premium Desktop PC with a 22” LCD monitor (resolution 1650 x 1050 pixels).
  •  Full HD, as we all know, is 1920 x 1080 pixels.
  • However, to get the best reception you do need the services of a good external antenna
  • . The small internal antenna, which comes with the unit, will only work if you are in an ideal reception area.
  • Besides paying $39.95 for the AVL680HD USB High Definition Digital TV Tuner, I also paid $5.95 for a 1.5m length of antenna cable (male to male).
  • The clarity was good and like most PC programs you can view Digital TV in full or partial screen size.
  • The AVL680HD has many excellent features that I have not yet fully examined. For example, the manual states you can enjoy watching or recording digital TV on your computer or notebook anywhere, anytime (if you have access to a good external antenna)!
  • You can also watch and record digital TV with the time-shifting function, you can even pause live TV! Plus, it offers schedule (time) recording and it supports electronic program guide (EPG) and subtitles.
  •  Unfortunately there is no EPG available for this region, as yet!
  • The unit comes with it own credit-card size remote and its own media center software called HyperMedia. But, like I stated above, I installed the unit on a Windows Vista Home Premium PC, which already incorporates Windows Media Center and therefore, the only software I installed was the Vista driver.
  • Operating the AVL680HD via the computers keyboard was simple and fast for example, to change a channel, you just press the appropriate numeric key or keys. If you need to record a program or change any of your settings while watching TV simply right-click on the display and choose one of options displayed. For the price of $39.95 plus cable this was a good buy!
  •  I have experienced a few little glitches like the ABC1 & ABC2 being a little jerky, whereas all other channels are stable.
  •  If you are a person who travels a lot and enjoys watching HDTV a small USB digital tuner might be the answer.
  •  Other brands which you may like to consider are; AVerMedia, Compro, Hauppauge, Kaiser Baas, Kworld, Leadtek and Pinnacle all of whom produce both single and dual USB DVB-T HD Tuners. Oberon Video & Disc will shortly stock the AVL680HD along with their many other Digital TV devices and accessories.

Comments

1. sc - August 15, 2009

My remote stopped working after a week. I tried updating software. I only have Vista Business(no Media center). Linux supported on the box. but to get to work is rocket science. I had some help and got another driver to load, but i cant get it to work yet in MythTV.

HyperMedia Center is years old.. nasty and locks the computer heaps too. and it doesn’t like dual monitors at all.. I starting to think it’s not such good value.

2. TV guru - September 7, 2009

Hey, you have a great blog here! I’m definitely going to bookmark you! Thank you for your info.And this is **Best HDTV** blog. It pretty much covers ###Best HDTV## related stuff.

3. pcspeak - September 30, 2009

I bought one yesterday. No luck at all with the teeny antenna supplied. So I built one, for $11.00.

Details can be found here:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/02/dtv_antennas_are_great_for_the_home.html

It works very well. Only glitch was buying the Matching Transformer.

the Dick Smith store had no idea what was wanted. (My wife was buying it. I wrote what I wanted on a piece of paper.) She went to Tandy, who insisted it was a ‘baluns’, and bought one, which was in a Dick Smith labeled bubble pack. Go figure.

Only thing I would like is to be able to look/change “Recording Settings” which is greyed out.

I have EPG, sort of, here. Neat to be able to right click on a listed program and simply click YES to schedule a recording.

For the money – Good value. 7/10


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