KWorld PlusTV USB ATSC/QAM TV Tuner - KW-ATSC340U - Watch & Record HDTV on your PC!!
KWorld USB 2.0 Digital HDTV Tuner Stick

well I was a little bit worried about buying a tunner for my computer, but I took the risk on this tunner, and I'm surprise of the quality of the picture, also I'm glad that it came with an antenna most tunner do not. It picks up alot of channels in my area that I've never heard of in my life. CONS: It doesn't come with a remote control
 
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I bought this TV Tuner to use with Laptop and it was only after I received it did I realize that it picks up only HD Channels. I was a little disappointed at first but looking at the quality of just the FREE HD Channels I was really really impressed. The antenna that comes with it picks up all the local free HD Channels without any problem. I plugged my non-HD cable into it and once it had no problem scanning the free HD Channels that I was receiving without an HD subscription. The only issue I had (and resolved, which might help others) was that in 1 or 2 of the channels the picture would be fine at the start and then it would become choppy. But then I went into the Root Settings and turned of "deinterlacing" which seemed to fix the problem. You can also experiment by turning On/Off the Hardware accelerator. This product is great for its price. I feel like I have an HDTV with this plugged into my laptop. I would definitely recommend this to people who travel and want to watch TV while you are out.
 
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Not sure what's going on--we're in a pretty urban area here but all I can pick up at my office is 4 channels--none of which I've ever heard of--a kids' channel, shopping, Christian, and one other I forget. At home, I can't get any channels. No major networks or local channels. It was easy to install and the picture and quality are pretty good but I thought I was going to be able to see all broadcast channels. Maybe it's the antenna.
 
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I don't have cable so can only talk about ATSC. The tuner is decent, better reception than my 5-year old boxes but is not as good as one built-in in a newer Panasonic plasma. So there is nothing exceptional about it. The plastic cover on my first one was not snapped together which made the electronics rattle on every slightest movement. I returned for a replacement. While the process seemed simple enough, the turn around time with Buy.com was way too long. They got the return unit but did not ship the replacement until 4 business days and one complaint letter later! Amazon does much better in this regard. The replacement looks ok. And yeah, they should include a USB extension with it. Unless I miss, I cannot seem to manually tune to some weak channels with TotalMedia. Closed caption does not seem to work, recording and time shifting are fine.
 
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I keep coming back again,again, and again. I love your large selection,great quality and LOW! LOW! Prices. You keep providing great STUFF, and I will keep coming back:)
 
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I was able to use new Buy.com Visa to get $30 off this item so the price was great that way. I had no problem installing and have been able to pick up 18 digital channels on my laptop. Sometimes on rescan the # of channels will be different (less) but that is an antenna issue not the tuner. I have a digital converter box connected to my regular tv and understand that it is very important to have antenna positioned properly to pick up the most stations. All in all I am happy with this product and am enjoying HD quality tv on my laptop. Would recommend!
 
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This is the 2nd kworld tv tuner Ive purchased. this one is my first digital. It worked out the box, and one month later is dead. now I have to deal with chinese manufacturer to try and get it replaced. Its cheap, and you get what you pay for. Better luck to you if you try this one.
 
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Was easy to install and configure. The picture was very clear. The antenna provided worked better than expected.
 
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Easy to set up and use. Good picture. Compact unit.
 
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The enclosed CD software includes a device driver that works fine with Vista Home, but the TV/DVR software is a total waste and doesn't work. The product does work with Windows Media Center...but the signal you get with the skimpy antenna that topples over only gets one station. It needs a suction cup, magnet, or heavy metal weigh on the bottom. Kinda dissapointing on the signal strength since I live in a flat terrain suburban area within 20 miles of the TV transmitters.....I had to connect it to an external antenna to get it to work. Finally, if you use Windows Media Center, you will probably need to go into the manual setup to get the subchannels, since Microsoft's software only uses the main (xx-1) channel in their online setup and program guide.
 
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This thing is easy to use. Just pop it into your USB and follow the easy to use software instructions. You'll probably need a minimum of 2gig of ram to run it smoothly. I have 1 gig, and it runs pretty well but it is choppy sometimes. My biggest complaint is that I can't get it to record anything. They have you sign up with TitanTV which looks like it would interface really well if I could just get TitanTV to work in the tuner's software. i don't know if it's me or my system or what, but I can't get it open in my software and there I can't choose to record anything. I also can't seem to record live TV by just pushing record. That's the main reason I give this thing a less than stellar rating. Other than that it's great. It finds lots of channel and the picture is really clear when it's not choppy.
 
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It is easy to install but only works with over the air signal. I got 6 over the all channels, and most of them have reasonable good quality. However, it doesn't scan any signal when I connected it to my cable box, which is very disappointing.
 
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Setup instructions weren't as clear as they could have been, but once I figured it out, it worked beautifully. Found just about all the HDTV stations in my area and the display is great. Free subscription to Titan TV is a plus.
 
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very cool little gadget. free HD tv anywhere there is a signal- great for travel.
 
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My first one, so don't really know how good it is compared to other manufacturers. It works ok, some channels cut in and out at times. Most channels work good though.
 
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Difficult to install. Poor software. Scheduling recordings is nearly impossible. Does not work with Media Center. Scheduling is only possible with a lot of effort and time. TitanTV is worthless. Not even a hybrid, so cannot record regular TV even on cable. Pathetic!
 
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Pretty much Plug and Play although I have not been able to install the latest drivers. I live close to the antenna's, so I get GREAT reception even with the little antenna provided..... WHEN I get my rebate, it will be a great value.
 
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When I received the product I could not wait to set it up and watch live TV on my laptop (Dell Vostro 1000). For some reason the fact that this was an HD TV Tuner actually skipped my mind and I was not expecting anything significant in terms of the picture quality with the little antenna that came with the TV tuner. I followed the setup instructions that came with the product and in about 3 minutes I was ready to watch TV on my laptop. I was thoroughly stunned by the picture quality. I had never seen HD TV before (except at the stores) and I was super excited. I was able to see about 10 free HD TV Channels and each one of them were spectacular. On one of the channels I was watching GOLF and I had never seen a green in that color and clarity before. It was as if I was right there on the green watching the game live. Great product, super easy setup and very convenient. The other thing that I like about this product is that you can actually slide a portion of the body of the USB Stick to help protect the USB end when not in use. I was very impressed with that design. It makes it safe to store and for traveling.
 
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Installation was smooth. The card recognized stations quickly and reception seems to be quite sensitive. (as stated in the specs, reception is limited to only ATSC stations on cable and off the air). Picture and sound quality is not the greatest. Limited functions (No provision for any video input, although location for Video input pins seem to have been allocated on the Circuit Board inside). Actually one is limited to receiving only RF digital TV channels from cable or off the air.
 
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The one problem with this usb tunner stick is that it is so large that it cannot be plugged directly into my computer because it would not work. However, I had a usb extender that I use with it and it works just fine. I am using it with vista and windows media center, and it works great.
 
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I too was surprised at the value in this little tuner. It receives HDTV stations well and offers DVR capabilities. The software is fairly basic but is well designed and easy to use. I got it primarily for watching TV while traveling, watching in the airport or recording shows in hotels, etc. This will certainly do the trick!
 
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I like the Video quality very much, I had a basic comcast cable at home which I was using mainly for WGBH channel on my TV but Comcast stopped broadcasting that channel in the basic subscription and the PlusTV TV tuner helped me tune to that channel on my Laptop with even better picture quality with the small antenna. Easy to setup and whole bunch of other utility softwares which are nice to have. Recording is Excellent, I tried few minutes of recording and the video quality is same as original. Cons: The only problem that I felt is the small USB jack which is kind of loose in the USB port of my Laptop.
 
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I bought this with some trepidation; I've been stuck with tech gear before that I never figured out how to use. But this was easy to get working, and gives me a backup to my normal cable service. I doubt I'll use it a lot, but when I need it, it will be nice to have.
 
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A pretty good tuner for the low price that I paid, although I could not get the rebate because I had discarded the box. It's vastly superior to the crappy Pinnacle HDTV dongle that I bought earlier, both in terms of system resource usage and tuner sensitivity.
 
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The software is easy to install and easy to use. Even with the simple antenna that came with the tuner, it still pick up quite a few TV stations. However, there are complaints that KWorld does not honor their rebate. Since I just submitted my request, don't know what happened. This may be another consideration before purchasing.
 
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Compared this unit to an Aver A868 on the same laptop. Both units have good reception, but only the Kworld unit has a signal strenght meter. For both units, HD channels do very well. Both units get nice and warm as they run. A 3' USB extension cable works well with the KWorld unit. An old 300/75 ohm rabbit ear antenna works great over the antenna provided. Both units need a strong signal to view properly. Glad we bought the KWorld unit.
 
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I was pleased with the the stick.It was easy to set up and the software that came with it does alot more than I expected. You can set your computer to record. I was able to to connect my roof top ant. or the little ant. which came with the stick. Both worked fine. I would say yes to purchasing the stick.
 
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The KWorld USB 2.0 Digital HDTV Tuner Stick works surpisingly well for its size and price. After reading other reviews, I didn't expect much and was pleasantly surpised by the quality of the picture received with this tuner. In my area, I can only receive 5 stations off-the-air with the included antenna. When I connect the tuner to Comcast cable I find that many of the stations come up with a padlock and will not open. Also, there is a problem receiving most of the cable HD stations with this tuner. They come in staticy and choppy. I get about half as many stations, on cable, with this tuner as I do with the tuner in my tv. I have not experienced the overheating problem mentioned in another review. I will be disappointed if my rebate is not honored, as indicated in a recent review, but I still have several weeks to see if it comes in. Overall, it is a great tuner for the price and I recommend it to anyone who wants to experiment with HD on their PC.
 
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I didn't really expect much for the extremely low price. Surprisingly it's not that bad. The interface is clean and simple to use. You can easily scan for your local channels and then you're off watching and recording HDTV. I use a decent Dell laptop mostly for when I travel since reception in the sticks where I live isn't very good. It's nice to be able to go out and know that your shows are being recorded for you back in the hotel room ;) Oh, and make sure you send in your rebates certified mail. It makes them think twice about trying to screw you.
 
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First of all, the product is fine. No problems. Beautiful video. You can't go wrong for the price. Software is just o.k., a little bit of a learning curve with QAM setup. From what i've experienced so far no problems can be blamed on the the tuner itself, or any tuner for that matter. Picture quality and signal depends alot on your computer, monitor, antenna etc. Simply said, over the air signals are PURE, however, QAM (cable) signals are compressed. So get a good antenna, and maybe a signal booster (amplifier) for perfect video and audio. If you hook it up to your cable you may get more free channels but lower quality because of the signal compression (especially the free channels that the cable companies are forced to provide) this has been my experience anyway. The over the air HDTV channels in my area are limited (about 6 channels) but the picture and audio quality is incredible (as in: BLEW MY MIND incredible)!! On cable I got about 12 free channels; the six above and some PBS stations, weather and some other stations I would never watch. The video quality was o.k. but not nearly as good as over the air. And oh, don't try to use a converter box meant for your television with your computer (through audio/video in) it's not meant for that, you can do it but the quality is horrible. Works good with a t.v. because it's designed for that. Wow I just previewed this.... they really should allow line breaks! :-)
 
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After I received my package, I connected to the USB port and windows vista try to get the drivers, but I stopped the process as the package comes with a cd driver. After installed drivers and arcsofmedia which is the software to control the tuner, the usb tuner doesn't have the ability to give any sound. I will try to contact customer support for this issue. Overall, I am not that satisfied with this piece of junk as it is slow down my pc and it is designed with a super high speed processor, not only that it requires a lot of resources from your PC. My USB stick was installed on a laptop Toshiba dual core 300 series, 1.7 Ghz, O/S Windows Vista Home edition,with 2 Gb Ram, 100 Gb free HD, still no sound at all. 2 stars is my decision for this piece of s***.
 
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K-World DOES NOT PAY THEIR REBATES. Even after multiple calls and multiple submissions, K-World used every excuse possible to avoid paying. Search the web for K-World, and you will see that I am not the only person having this problem.
 
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KWorld does NOT honor their rebates, so know that the price for this is 34.99--not 19.99
 
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My PlusTV Tuner by KBWorld was a complete waste of time and money. Which is unfortunate, since I received this item as a very well-intentioned gift (upon my specific recommendation, no less). <p> The software that comes packaged with the TV tuner is bloated, slow, poorly designed and lacks basic functionality, such as adequate picture adjustment, channel and volume control. The "Scan for channels" function takes 19 minutes on my laptop with 1 gig of RAM (and it found no channels). Everything about the software is the exact opposite of good. <p> The antenna that comes with the software HAS A MAGNET IN THE BASE. It's a good thing I didn't put it near the hard drive of my computer, or any of my credit cards accidentally. Which engineer came up with that one? <p> And does he or she know what a magnet is? <p> The tuner itself is ugly, flimsy and has a poorly designed "cover" that I guess is supposed to "protect" the USB end of the device. It's more like a "roll-cage" in that it gives some lateral protection, but leaves portions of the USB end completely exposed. These ends include the mouth end (where dust/liquids inevitably end up) and the square flat sides (which have no lateral rigidity). In other words, the "cover" is 99% pointless and 100% annoying. <p> The only channels that the tuner picks up in my area are the free-to-air HD channels via the antenna. I have Comcast cable around here, and both the analog and digital (with a set-top box) variants did not show any channels. <p> And, to top it all off, the Engrish-laden instruction manual includes <a href="http://www.martinmccrory.com/public/two_easy_steps.jpg">this clip-art gem</a> <p> I recommend that you stick to brand name software when shopping for your TV tuner.
 
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Everyone knows that analog TV is over in Feb 2009. This is a pure ATSC tuner, a Digital Tuner, and an HD tuner. ATSC means digital, and that includes lower grade digital, and High Def. This dongle is just digital, which makes sense since analog will disappear. Installation of this device was easy, but only using the included software. I'm not sure what Vista Media Center wants, to recognize the device, but I didn't feel I need Media Center. The device gets very strong channels with the included mini-antenna. With a full outdoor antenna, everything is coming in OK, but a couple of channels are weak. With an amp, everything is fine. Watching TV, especially HDTV, on my 22 inch monitor is fine. I find the picture is almost too much, and I want to move back a few feet. But the picture is fine, though motion is not flawless. I don't know if this is the monitor or the USB device. Overall, i can watch TV this way, so the device works as promised.
 
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The included antenna was not strong enough to pick up any local LA channels that are about 50 to 60 miles. I have to use my outdoor Winegard SquareShooter HDTV Antenna. Even with this highly reviewed HD Antenna it was getting two or three less HDTV local channels than compared to my HDTV. But this is not my SquareShooter HDTV Antenna error but this USB tuner not being sensitive enough.
 
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Failed to install on two computers. "device in use" appears to be a common problem according to internet chat. Software help will just tell you to reinstall. Good luck. Buy will just exchange. This is a total washout and the money is wasted.
 
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I had my doubts about this item working where I wanted to use it. I am inside a building that is itself inside a huge hanger. I hooked it up and had it working in no time. The instructions were a little lacking but anybody with any computer experiance should have no problem. Using the small antenna that came with it the program scan found 37 channels, most of those come in reall good. I was truly surprised.
 
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Well the device arrived with a minimum of documentation and two additional pieces. An ATSC antenna and a CDROM with drivers, software and manual (if you can call it that) in the box. The setup was fast and easy (on my desktop, not so with my notebook; more on that issue later). The OTA ATSC channels, using the supplied antenna, were scanned and recognized quickly. The software recognized my ANALOG tuner card and allowed the analog channels to be scanned also. So far so "good". Not great but good. The instructions state that it is MCE compatible, but I haven't been able to make that work yet. The included DVR software is very spartan and has few features when compared to Beyond TV (which I currently use with my analog tuner) but does not recognize this device. The real drawback is that when connected to my cable-TV coax, a scan of the HD / Digital channels shows 350 channels, but only 8 are viewable. In comparison, the QAM tuner in my HD TV picks up 15 "in the clear channels". Another drawback is that the design of this USB device prevents it from being used in my TOSHIBA A45-S250 notebook because the USB ports on the notebook are "shrouded" and somewhat "inset". This prevent this device from being plugged securely into the USB port because of the molded plastic. Thus rendering it unusuable in that notebook. I was able to plug it into the side USB port on my COMPAQ notebook. All in all, if you want a cheap ATSC tuner and won't be using it with a TOSHIBA notebook, it is a pretty good deal for the money. If you want full QAM coverage, $ave your money for something more substantial.
 
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I liked this item so much, I bought a second one. Works great with my fast dual-core processor. However, my computer at work has a slower processor. It still works, except apparently there are a few channels that are putting through more data (must be the high-def channels), and so the processor is running at 95% to 100%, and it gets choppy. But all the other channels work fine. And on my home computer with the fast dual-core processor, all the channels work great, and the processor is only running at about 30%. Here's one issue I haven't solved yet. I recorded a segment from DTV, and then posted it to YOU-TUBE. Due to a translation error, the sound is not perfectly in sync with the picture on YOU-TUBE. Not sure why. But otherwise, the playback is perfect in Windows Media Player.
 
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Receives all over the air HDTV channels in this area as well as any other TV in the house and that's impressive given the small antenna included in the box. The TotalMedia viewing/recording software is simple but functional. I could not get the tuner to work with Microsoft XP Media Center but I cannot say if that's an issue with the tuner or Media Center. In any case it works fine with the included software.
 
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I recently purchased a Kworld tuner with a rebate and mailed in the rebate form with the printed bar code from the box. Months later they sent me an email saying I sent the wrong bar code and asking me to send another bar code from the box. this bar code was not printed to the box but a sticker printed on a printer. Now It has been 4 months and I am yet to receive a rebate check.
 
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What plug and play is all about. Have used on 3 computers and works better than the TV card built-in my new HP desk top. Found more channels than my converter box and outside antenna in the attic on my home TV. Could not ask for more.
 
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The only problem I have is the software that came with it doesn't support Dolby digital. It even states it on their website forum. However when you play back a recorded show on windows media player, the dolby is there. The dvr part works well and allows you to put the recorded files on a mapped drive. Some dvr software doesn't allow you to do that such as beyond tv. One other note, I couldn't get beyond tv or wintv to recognize it. Haven't tried media center. Also, the antenna has a strong magnet on the base so watch where you put it.
 
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Bought this to use with Vista Ultimate Media Center. Didn't touch the software that came with it. Downloaded the latest driver from KWorld. One interesting problem I encountered was that it wouldn't work when attached to my USB extension cable. I didn't want it directly hanging off of my Media Center with the bulky RG-6 cable going to my antenna in the attic. Wouldn't work that way - no TV signal was detected. Finally directly attached it to the PC and it worked perfectly - wierd. Small issue - included antenna is virtually useless.
 
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I wanted this to catch some HD signals over cable and air. On cable (Comcast) it certainly did not pick up all the non-encrypted channels. My TV picks all the local broadcast HD channels over cable but not this piece. One more thing is people should be aware that your PC gets lots of Blue screens (I have not seen them in years since windows NT). I was running on XP pro/1.6GHz centrino/1GB/128MB ATI x300 video chip, All latest drivers and it used to get overheat in no time and crashes. This is certainly is not the piece to get HD channels.
 
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I picked up this tuner not really knowing what to expect. There were very few reviews about it that I could find. Once I opened the box and got it setup, however, I was glad I bought it. I have a high powered amplified antenna setup on the tv in our living room, and the little antenna that comes with this tuner picks up all the same signals. I was able to get about 25 over the air stations, all come in crystal clear with very little distortion. My only gripe is the software which is included. It works, but feels a little clunky and could be more intuitive to use. Just spend a few minutes poking around and make sure you go through every menu to find what you're looking for. The included instructions aren't really necessary or particularly helpful (plug in, install, use), but it's not that hard to figure out on your own. Overall, this is a wonderful product that does exactly what I what it to. If you're in the market for an HD tuner, you can't go wrong with this purchase!
 
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It work great if you have a cpu that 2G or better.Picture are good in HD, i only used the antenna that come with it. for the money that i pay, it's worth to have around your notebook bag.
 
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I bought this in an attempt to be able to get OTA HDTV outside on my deck in the summer, so I could watch weekend sporting events. I wasn't sure what to expect, given the relatively low cost. I plugged in the device on my laptop, installed the software, and let it scan for channels. Using the antenna that came with the unit, it picked up all of my local HDTV stations with ease and a strong signal. I even get reception inside my house on the 1st and 2nd floors. Reception in the basement is spotty, but is to be expected with OTA signals. Anyway, picture quality is awesome. It can turn your PC into a DVR, but I have not used that feature yet. I doubt I will record TV on my laptop, but it is a nice option nonetheless. Overall, extremely satisfied with the purchase.
 
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This is better than I expected. I bought it because the local PBS station went totally digital. I installed on Win XP with no problem. I don't get very good reception on the accompanying antennae, but when attached to my roof antennae, I get stations from over 60 miles away (Chicago). Very clear pictures.
 
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This HDTV tuner works OK, but only receives a few stations with the included antenna. When I hooked the Tuner Stick to my large outdoor antenna it worked much better and I could get almost all the stations I get with my HDTV.
 
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Computers > Components > Video Cards > Video Capture / TV Tuner