Avermedia AVerTV Hybrid Volar MAX TV Tuner - MTVHBVMXR
AVerMedia AVerTV Hybrid Volar MAX USB 2.0 Interface

Hooked it up to the antenna, plugged it in to my usb port and was watching TV within 7 min using Vista 64-bit Media Center. Little antenna works quite well in any room, including basement. By air, I'm approx 15 miles from all of the TV station antennas. Try antennaweb.org to see how good your signal strength should be. It was very accurate in my case. Picture is crystal clear, every bit as good as cable. I was able to hook up my TWC DVR via the coax to capture (using Roxio Creator 2009) recorded movies to my lappy so I could watch them while on a business trip. Haven't tried the included software yet. Only one con, won't hold a signal while in a moving car so don't bother. A bigger antenna might help??
 
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I don't have a basic cable, so I go with the Antenna. It catches 2 movie channel and some news channels and some Spanish (useless for me :D).. but it's worth spending money. If you have a cable at your home then this product is awesome. If not then you have to rely on the signal, which is not bad.
 
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This item is not bad, but i do have some issues with it, for example the sound is very low, it freezes a lot dont know why, i have a new system with Windows Vista so memory is not an issue. overall it looks ok for now.
 
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I read reviews on other major brands (Pinnacle) and read too many issues with software and the unit getting too hot. I decided to go with the Avermedia Volar Max (based on reviews) and I'm very pleased. I've owned this for a month. I'm shocked at the reception I get with the tiny high-gain antenna. I get all but two digital channels and I'm supposed to need an outdoor aerial antenna at my location. The unit doesn't get hot. The software is decent, but I use it with Vista Windows Media Center and it works great! I'd highly recommend this product!
 
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Thank you for shipping me an excellent usb tv tuner by Avermedia.
 
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Easy to install (IBM laptop with Windows XP). The OK software is not intuitive or highly functional but is adequate. Very good tuner reception, even with tiny antenna provided. Nice for travel. Good value as I bought at about $50 with special deal/rebate.
 
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I really do like this thing. I'ts like having DVR sort of. It doesn't have the software as good as DVR where it can record the shows based on the show name but rather you gotta insert the times of when you when the recording to begin and end and the channel. The best part is that when it records you can set it up to record as video for the iPod. It's like making your own free movies and the quaility is great! Anyways, I would say get this product espeically if you have an iPod and wanna put videos on it. Oh, and another thing, don't let anyone on the computer while your video is recording. Well they could watch the show while it's recording but if it's recording silently(meaning it's in the toolbar but still recording) and someone is using the computer the video will be crappy...I missed some of Idol because of that...grrrr! So yeah, in all a good product!
 
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Now, instead of buying a new tv with digital tuner for the motorhome, I can use my notebook PC which I always bring along. This tuner works great. Only issue I had was when I downloaded and installed the latest version of the AverMedia Center software & driver...it wiped out the included manual/guide. So I downloaded a manual from their Web site, renamed it guide.pdf and stuck it into the main folder of the program and it now calls it up when I click on the (?)help button. Plus, this item only cost me about $50 because I opened a Buy.com credit card and got an additional $30 off!! Buy.com also dealt very nicely with me on a return of the expresscard version of this TV tuner which I found out was not compatible with my notebook PC. Overall very happy with the product and the service.
 
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I just bought my 2nd Hybrid, I liked the first one so much. With two, I can use my laptop as a PVR while I watch another program simultaneously on one of my other boxes. Aver Media Center 1.6.5 doesn't play back recorded files acceptably; there appears to be a buffering problem. Playback stutters. Windows Media Center however plays back the files perfectly. The documentation is not "minimal;" it's effing COMPLETE. It's in a PDF. Hit F1 in AMC and it pops up. Print it out. You know, on your Canon MF4150 that you bought from Buy.com that prints double-sided. "...find out what works by trial and error..."? Are you kidding me? Anyone who whines about the doc is a MORON. Install the software. Print out the doc. Is that too difficult far you?
 
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No owner's guide in the package forces you to do it yourself and find out what works by trial and error, but it's fairly easy to figure out. The product itself has been working very well. I live in a massive apartment complex so there are some signal strength issues, but considering the fact that I don't have an external antenna and that I'm just using the tiny little bunny-ears that came with the package, I am getting good reception. Sure is cheaper than investing in a HDTV!
 
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Was easy to install, though the instructions included were minimal. Program help was decent though. Reception off little antennae was good. Fairly far away from stations, but picked up both analog and digital channels automatically.
 
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This is a great tuner. This is my first hd/dtv tuner, and i am impressed with the quality of it vs analog. No wonder we are switching. This thing can also pick up analog cable tv and some digital cable. My cable company locked out many channels except the local ones, which i can get most by antenna anyways. The built in antenna is pretty good with hd/dtv, and even on analog. It beats my 3ft pair of bunny ears for recption. The only thing i dont like is the software. Its hard to get used to and it menus and options are in weird places. It also crashes every now and then, but im sure thats vista's problem. Once you figure out the software its usable. Also, you can use this in Vista Media Center.
 
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Hardware is great and the antenna has good reception. The only negative is that the original software is sluggish at times when changing channels.
 
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I had this product for less than a month and i am really happy with it. I tried pinnacle before and ended up returning it twice b/c the Analog channel wasn't working and recording from vcr or other tv source wasn't working either. It doesn't get as hot as Pinnacle did. I was able to watch HD channels and SD channels but SD channels weren't that great. HD channels were fantastic. Also, i was able to transfer videos from VCR using this device. I have recorded from vcr for 5 hrs continuously without any issue. The only complaint i have is that you have to buy the remote separately.
 
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The tuner works fine for analog COX cable channels. I had no problem scanning 60+ channels. However, the software froze up every time I try to scan ClearQAM or OTA digital signals. It could not get pass a weak signal. I am giving it a 4 for good value and ease of use, not for performance.
 
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The main reason I purchased was to see the QAM channels available on my cable connection. It picks up about 30, including all the network's HD. I am pleased, and the little 'test' antenna actually works real well too. I have not got it to work side-by-side with existing tuner in XP-MCE, but the Avermedia bundled software works fine, so I am not going to waste any more time trying.
 
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I really like this product, it works well. After following the instructions and installing all of the software, Vista Media Center saw it right away and started working.
 
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This was my first TV tuner and I'm using it with Windows Vista. It works well and you can use the software that it came with, or Windows Media Center to watch TV. Instead of getting a new TV, I got this and a big monitor so I can use this as a PVR/DVR/Tivo and record as much as my hard drive permits! Awesome!
 
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This item works fine but setting up QAM channels is less than simple. Analog channels work great in Media Center. QAM is easier using Avers software although this software is less than spectacular. I haven't figured out how to get the media guide info into their software. Good signal strength though. I suppose all QAM capable hardware is less than simple at this point. Works fine with Vista 64. Better than other hardware I have tried.
 
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I've been looking for a USB TV Tuner that works on x64 Media Center, preferably with ClearQAM. Tried Pinnacle PCTV HD Ultimate, support sucked, drivers nonexistent... this product though has been great. It worked in Vista Media Center, ClearQAM works (though with beta drivers) in Media Center too. the included mini antenna has a suction cup or a hook... picks up 9 of the nearby digital OTA channels (10 mile radius) clearly... great product. don't hesistate to buy it...
 
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This tuner performed as advertized. It's working well on my HP laptop. You can resize the viewing window, move it around the screen and set it so that it is always on top. I have mine hooked up to Comcast and I get about 80 channels. The little antenna actually worked pretty well in my house. It was good for picking up 9-10 channels. The weak link in this package is the software, it's not real intuitive and it offten takes several clicks to do what one should do. It works, it's just a pain sometimes (like deselecting all the channels that are locked so they don't show up when channel surfing). One thing I will give it, is that it's quick. It starts fast and changes channels fast. As mentioned in the other review, if you use Media Center or Linix you won't have the AVer SW quirks. I like the product and would buy it again or recomend it to a friend.
 
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Few things in life work as well as this device. It's so small and yet it captures and displays ATSC digital broadcasts perfectly. Later I bought a Star Wars amplified antenna, but it didn't work as well as the pez dispenser with rabbit ears that comes with the device, so I'm using the pez dispenser. The software is great. I like it MUCH better than Media Center. On a site dedicated to the review of such devices, this device was rated the number 1 USB tuner. It deserves it. I use it with 2 boxes: 1) 3GHZ Athlon 5800+/Vista/4GB/NVidia 8500 floor; and 2) Toshiba 1.8GHZ Turion/Vista/4GB/ATI notebook.
 
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This is a great USB tuner, easy to get up and get running. Pros: Can run on any computer with an up to date graphics card, take with you via your lap top, etc. Has QAM HD & OTA HD and works well. Beautiful TV picture. Cons: - The Avermedia Center software, would not work on my older computer (Graphics card issues). All in all, this was worth the money, I enjoy it daily.
 
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I can't believe how well this diminutive little device works. I am receiving every OTA digital channel available, and that using the included "mini-antenna." The antenna looks like a pez dispenser with 5-inch rabbit ears, but it picks up EVERYTHING DIGITAL. I bought a GE 24775 HDTV amplified antenna but took it back. Compared to the pez dispenser, the big-deal star-trek-looking *amplified* antenna was a joke. The Volar receiver is currently rated number #1 by a site dedicated to HDTV. This thing WORKS. I like the viewer software, too. I like it a lot more than I like Media Center. Environment: Vista Ultimate 32-bit, 4gb ram, NVidia 8500/512 video. BUY THIS PRODUCT.
 
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I'm not going to be held hostage by the local cable monopoly, but I want to watch the Olympics, so I've been researching PC-based digital TV reception. This device was rated #1 by a site dedicated to HD TV. Bottom line: so far, this appears to be an EXCELLENT device. It quickly scanned the available ATSC OTA broadcasts using the little bitty included antenna. The OTA quality, being digital, has been outstanding: definitely DVD quality. How about drop-outs, pixelization, etc.? That depends on the strength of the signal, so how well does the device handle weak signals? Can't say in truth, because I can't measure the signal strength, but there have been remarkably few annoyances. I'm glad I got this device. I highly recommend it.
 
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I switched to the AverTV after using a Hauppauge PCI card for a while. With the other card my MCE 2005 machine would crash once or twice a week. With the AverTV my machine is much more stable. The USB device was simple to install and worked immediately. The included antenna is really small so don't expect much from it unless you live next to the broadcast tower. This tuner does not have a hardware encoder which results in a lower price but it means more of your CPU time used for video encoding. I have a dual core AMD 2GHz and it uses about 30% when recording. I haven't used the included media center type software but I use it with Windows XP MCE 2005 and it works great. I've been using NTSC analog cable so far. Overall a good product that is simple to use and delivers what it promises.
 
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Things I like: portable, QAM, HD capable, price. Things I don't like: software. This tuner is great, especially for the price. Other HD USB tuners cost well over $100. The software that comes bundled with the tuner is kind of a pain. You can't just turn on the TV and start using it without going through the setup for channel discovery. However, once you go through the channel discovery it's fine. Editing your channels (i.e. adding/removing) is also a pain - the authors of the software didn't take ease of use as a primary concern during their design. Overall, I'd still recommend this tuner. I'll probably end up buying one more in time for the NFL season.
 
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Very solid tuner and would definitely recommend to those looking for a nice USB tuner. Pros: + Mobile (use on any computer in your house, take with you and your laptop, etc) + Does QAM HD & OTA HD + Works as expected. Beautiful TV picture once you get through the initial setup + Compatible with Media Center (XP & Vista), although I've only used the Avermedia media center software that came with tuner Cons: - The Avermedia Center software (what you use to watch TV) is not too user friendly. Has lots of quirks that makes it take longer than you'd like to to get something done. May not be a problem for those using Media Center
 
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