HVR850 USB2 Tv Stick Tuner

I bought this solely based on the fact that it is meant to be compatible with Windows Media Center 7. It IS compatible and works quite well, however it has the following faults:

There is a very thin line at the top of the screen that looks like the encoded audio stream that is interfering with the video. You sometimes saw this line in VHS tapes that were not "tracked" correctly. This line does not appear if you use the Hauppauge provided TV software, only in WMC. I have not been able to find a way to eliminate this line.

Changing channels is quite slow. It could take 3-4 seconds to change channel. Perhaps this is true for all PC TV tuners, I wouldn't know, but I find it fairly annoying.

Another point, which is mentioned fairly clearly in the feature list on the Hauppauge website, is that this tuner WILL NOT GIVE YOU CLEARQAM. This means you CANNOT view digital cable using this tuner, so no HD cable. It will only pick up analog cable. This tuner will also pick up ATSC, which is digital over-the-air signal using the provided small antenna. You can also plug in your own antenna if you wish. The provided antenna is not really powerful enough to pick up weaker signals, for me it could only really pick up the CBS HD signal.

That said, this is a good product that for the most part does what it says on the box and does it well. I get a decent picture from analog cable and a very nice picture from the ATSC antenna (when it picks something up). I don't regret buying it, but I was willing to pay a little extra to get a brand name product and am not sure whether it fully delivers. I would like Hauppauge to address the above mentioned WMC issues, especially since they make a big deal of advertising that this tuner is WMC7-compatible.

I have two of these and they are awesome. This was purchased for the bedroom computer/tv, but my first has been in use in the living room for 2+ years. I highly recommend for anyone that doesn't want to be tied to cable or satellite tv...FREE TV is always better!

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After recording the video quality was decent, but after burning video to a dvd the sound didn't go with the video. I went to a forum and it seemed like a lot of people couldn't get it to work either. Also the support people weren't very helpful.

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I have two of these connected to my Home theater PC.

Work beautifully with windows 7 media center.I recommend this product.

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I love these Hauppauge tuner sticks and have owned a few of them. They work great for the non digital channels I get from Charter cable. The stick comes with a short USB extension cord which is usually necessary since the body of the stick is too fat to sit next to other USB plugs on the back of your computer. I have used these with laptops and desktop and they seem to work great. Picture quality if good (not fantastic but fine for me) and the price isn't bad. A regular coax cable screws onto one end and the other inserts in the USB extension. I did not need to use the CD as my Windows 7 rig identified the stick just fine. I use this with SAGE TV software but I know from past experience it works with Windows Media Center and with the DVR software that comes with it. Also has connection for FM but I don't use that.