PCTV HD Pro Stick USB2 HDTV Tuner for Free HD
by Pinnacle Systems
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List Price: Our Price: $45.00 You Save: $54.99 (55%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of PCTV HD Pro Stick USB2 HDTV Tuner for Free HD
Customer Review: Can't get it to work with Microsoft Media Center Edition (MCE)
Summary: 3 Stars
The Tuner worked for me.....once I got Pinnacle online Chat support. I tried the Antenna and it works, but with limited channels (buy an amplified antenna if you don't have cable).
I set it up for my Cable service and the Pinnacle software included and my only complaint is the channels are not the same as the TV Guide that comcast has (Media Center had the same guide as Comcast).
Otherwise, the I had a lot of channels with the cable plugged into the stick.
I think the problem connecting this to Media Center is that its designed for a 32 bit Operating System. My computers have Vista Home Premium 64bit. I looked on Pinnacle and there is driver for 64bit, but I couldn't get it to work.
I think I'm going to return this and get the Media Center Extender that syncs up your TV with your computers so you can watch TV via my wireless home network.
Hope this helps.
I also tried the Pinnacle HD Stick, same results.
Customer Review: Watch Out - Can Destroy Your Hard Drive
Summary: 1 Stars
The antenna that comes with this product has a very powerful magnet in it's base. There is no warning about the presence of the magnet on the package - and as you know, magnets and hard drives do not mix well.
I was just unpacking the product with my laptop in my lap. The antenna latched on to the palm rest of my laptop, and I had to pull it off. Evidently, the hard drive on my laptop is right below the palm rest, and the magnet was strongly attached to it. By the time I could pull the magnet free, all of the data on my hard drive was gone AND the hard drive could no longer even be used. I had to replace it entirely.
I contacted Pinnacle about this. They are not taking any responsibility for the fact that they packed a strong magnet into a device that was made to be used with a laptop computer - and did not even put any warnings on the package. Be very careful about getting this antenna anywhere close to your computer - or poof! Bye, bye hard drive.
Customer Review: Could not record HDTV with this device
Summary: 1 Stars
I was able to watch HDTV and digital TV broadcasts received over-the-air using the attenna provided with the Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick. But I could not successfully record TV programs with Pinnacle's Media Center software. I have a 3.0Ghz Pentium 4 with HyperThreading, 2 gb of RAM and a SATA hard drive on my Windows XP system but I think you need a more powerful system to be successful. I noticed that while watching HDTV, my CPU utilization was around 80%. When recording TV programs, the CPU utilization was about 100%. The resulting recording was of poor quality and unwatchable. I tried various recording settings to see if it made any difference but it didn't. I was able to uninstall the Pinnacle software but it made changes to my system that cause some game programs I had to stop working. I tried to do a XP system restore but was unable to do a roll-back. Bottomline: I would not recommend this product.Customer Review: Does what it says
Summary: 4 Stars
Picked up both analog and digital signals - software was easy to install, channel set-up took a little while (5 mins or so in total for all available channels), and using the software is at times un-intuitive, but it does what I want (OTA signals in HD) so no real complaints. I haven't tried any competing products, so I have no idea what to expect. As the title says it does what it says - nothing fancy, nothing bad either. Remote works fine in line of sight from at least 15 feet - the included aerial functions (again with no competing product it's hard to give it a rating). The HD channels are cool - sports (really what I got it for) are much more involving than analog equivalents. I currently receive 34 analog and 21 Digital Channels in Cary, NC, which is more than I expected. Some are SD versions of HD, so it's hard to say how many UNIQUE channels I get... overall a not bad (in fact interesting) buy.Customer Review: Will not pick up digital cable
Summary: 1 Stars
While the specs indicate it can receive digital cable, it does not. This is the 800e model - it picks up HD digital TV over the antenna, but can only receive analog cable through the coax input cable. Since most cable providers are going digital, very few analog stations will be accessible through cable with this device. Unfortunately, it is a product whose time has passed. If all you need is to pick up the over-the-air HD signals, then this product should work fine for you. If you need to receive digital channels through your cable, you will need the 801e model. Be forewarned though - Windows Media Center only receives analog channels. You will have to upgrade to Windows 7 for Media Center to be updated to pick up digital cable channels.