This is replacing my old Fusion HDTV3 tuner card(ancient but still worked) for two reasons. I wanted the Media Center IR receiver that comes with it, and then just wanted the newer technology(tuner, compatibility with Windows7, etc).The AVerMedia Avertv Combo G2 is designed for use with Vista and Windows 7 Media Center. However, after Windows recognized a new device, my system wasn't able to install the drivers properly. I prefer when things are just plug n play easy, but it wasn't hard to download and install drivers off the AVerMedia site. I know, I know. There's an installation cd that comes in the box, but I've developed the habit of letting Windows install new drivers and/or taking the latest ones off a manufacturer's site. I get less funky software I never wanted that way. Installed and after Media Center downloaded some of it's own files, the new tuner card was recognized and the set-up went smoothly after that. I plugged both jacks into the cable; I know there's a few stations OTA that Time Warner doesn't carry but my apartment is in a bad area for an antenna.
It performs quite well. All the HD/Digital channels my TV gets are recognized, HD looks great, SD looks MUCH better than it did off of my old card, rivaling the looks of my TV's signal processor, almost. It should be noted that if you plan to use this for OTA, your standard/analog channels may not always be as clean as you want and when/if the signal degrades, so will the picture quality and this has little to do with your tuner card. Likewise, if you are doing OTA digital, your signal may degrade and drop occasionally.
As I said this card is designed for use with MCE, so I can only say that it seems to work seamlessly with MCE. There's one analog and one digital tuner so you can watch one type of channel while recording another type of channel. It does this well. I had several shows preset to record before installing this, forgot about it, and while I was flipping channels, I switched to a digital channel while a show was recording on the digital tuner and I got the message indicating that the digital tuner was in use. This is precisely how it's intended to work and I'm pleased with that. If I really want to watch 1 digital station while recording another, I'll switch over to the TV. Recording and time-shifting works without issue.
The IR daughter board and cable were really no hassle to install and worked fine.
Note: To anyone with a Harmony 300 remote, I was unable to figure out what model to plug in, in order to get all the keys right away, so the Harmony software found me a basic Media Center layout. I ended up using the learning function to fill in the rest of the keys. Small amount of tedium, but it's working perfectly now.
To sum up, I'm happy with my purchase and had a very minimal amount of difficulty in setting this up for use.
--Pros ---
* Worked in Windows Vista / 7
* More sensitive than the Hauppauge I had
* Free TV, booyah
--Cons ---
* Single tuner, but eh you know that when you buy it.
--Thoughts ---
* I bought this because I had a Hauppauge HVR-2250 and felt like one more tuner would be enough for our ATSC setup.
* Surprised to find out that it picked up more channels than my hauppauge, and better signal on the others. Quickly made this my primary.
* I ended up swapping this for an HD HomeRun because I could put the homerun on the other side of the house much closer to the antenna, which gave it even more channels. However, if I wasn't going the homerun route I would recommend Avermedia because of my performance had better results than the Hauppauge.
Buy AVerMedia Avertv Combo G2 - MTVCOMG2R (Retail Box) Now
Love what it does connected to rabbit ears to pull in local digital channels. Also works great with the cable.Read Best Reviews of AVerMedia Avertv Combo G2 - MTVCOMG2R (Retail Box) Here
AVerMedia Avertv Combo G2 MTVCOMG2R (Retail Box).Quality of picture is good. The card comes with all you need, such as remote control (has its own mind), cables, and IR blaster.
Remote does what it likes to do, and not what the buttons indicate. Volume button sometimes changes channel, changes volume, or anything else it likes to do. Channel button does many other things in addition to changing channels, but not predictable as to what it is going to do next.
Application crashes often. Windows Vista Home Premium's Media Center did not recognize the card. Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit Professional both work fine with the card.
While recording a program, a red circle flashes on the corner of the screen, if you have OSD set to "on". This red flashing light shows up in the recorded program, and ruins the recording.
We have cable service, and I connected it to the cable from the wall, without a converter box attached. I was able to get a few ATSC (QAM) channels, about 20 channels on FIOS. I have connected my satellite's receiver to the S-video, and it works well.
It takes way too long for the recording to start. It takes up to about 10 seconds for the recording to start, and during this time, audio and video are both frozen. When its application has to be reinstalled, it does not recognize its own previously recorded videos and it cannot find them.
In general, software has way too many problems to be listed, and it is not user friendly.
Playback function is practically useless. During video playback, it displays a very large annoying position finder/marker in the lower part of the screen blocking part of the view, and it is hard to get rid of. As soon as the mouse is touched, this very large rectangular position finder is displayed.
Avertv Combo G2 is too expensive compared to similar products with similar features.
The main reason I chose this over other cards was because the manufacturer added comments and offered solutions to reviews posted by users. I believe that shows care when manufacturer reads users' comments and feedbacks.
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Background:I tried this card to replace my ATI Theater 650 Pro dual tuner that failed after a heavy electrical storm. I loved my 650 but I am in a weak DTV signal area and I didn't get all of the local channels. Many channels cut out or didn't come up at all. Even before DTV these channels were weak at my home. So I tried this card because AverMedia had decent reviews and it seems to be newer technology.
Installation:
Installation was kind of quirky but not bad Windows 7 64 bit didn't pick it up automatically. So I ran the driver .exe and it loaded, but Windows reported that it did not load properly. However, device manager said it was fine; it did load and it works. I did not install AverMediaCenter as I am used to Windows MediaCenter.
Channel Setup:
I was able to set MediaCenter to access all available DTV channels and also pull in the analog output from my satellite dish box (on separate cables), just as I had done with the 650. Please note that the latest Haupphauge dual tuner cards only have one cable input. How do you combine signals from 2 sources into one cable? I didn't want to mess with that...
Reception:
The DTV reception (through MediaCenter) is at least 1 bar higher than it was with the 650 for every channel, using the same antenna at the same location, same cables, everything. EVERY local channel now comes in crystal clear HD video and sound, including some outlying channels that I never got before. I am delighted with this extra bonus I've been here for 20 years and never gotten reception like this!
What's in the box:
AverMedia sends a ton of extras in the box, including the low profile back piece, "IR expansion piece", S-Video to Composite Video adapter, 1/8" stereo to stereo RCA adapter, plus the remote and IR blaster/sensor. This gives me the flexibility to use the remote, control the satellite box, and record from a variety of sources video camera, VCR, DVD (via S-Video), etc. It does not appear to handle HD inputs from outside devices, however.
The Bottom Line:
This true DUAL tuner card works as well as or better than my ATI Theater 650 Pro in every aspect, it comes with all the parts needed to do everything I want to do, and the reception is the best I've seen in 20 years. 5 stars for sure.
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