First and foremost you must have straight shot at the broadcast towers and get good reception for any tuner and software to work right.
In my old house in Carefree Arizona I had a straight shot at the broadcast towers that are on South Mountain in Phoenix about 45 miles away. Even though the distance was far, I could see South Mountain on a clear day and got most of the channels clearly with just a $12 pair of rabbit ears.
Now I live in West Mesa Arizona which is only about 15 miles from the broadcast towers. I don't get nearly as many channels clearly because there is a 3 story building in the way, (same tuner, same rabbit ears).
The old Hauppauge software could crash while trying to change channels to a channel that does not come in clearly. I have used version 1.8, 2.0 and now am using 2.4 which has not crashed on me yet. You don't have to use the Hauppauge software! You can use the device directly with Windows Media Center.
I also own an AverMedia USB tuner, that I bought on Amazon and is also about $50. It comes with no software and runs with Windows Media Center only. I would rate these two devices about the same when used with Windows Media Center.
Windows Media Center is much more user friendly software and does not crash. It also lets you find out the signal strength of each station you are interested in and displays the signal strength graphically. You can then adjust your rabbit ears to get the best position for the stations you want. (every broadcast tower is located in a different place.)
I like to record my programs with the Hauppauge WinTV software, convert the MPEG-2 TS files to XviD AVI format, edit out the commercials and save them on my 8TB MediaSonic file server JOBD box. You can't do that with the WTV files that Windows Media Center creates! You need the Hauppauge sofware that only comes with the Hauppauge device.
For my Hauppuge tuner I use Windows Media Center for setting up my rabbit ears using the signal strength wizard and sometimes use the program listing search features to find shows. When I find a show I want to record and keep, I go outside Media center to TitanTV.com and click on the show there and select record which downloads a little file that the Hauppauge WinTV softare uses to schedule the recording.
After the recording is made I convert the Hauppauge TS file to an XviD file with the TS2AVI script which I wrote. This free script that is well tested and runs on Windows.
Just google "ts2avi robert maul hauppauge" to find it in the Avidemux forum pages.
you will need to also download:
Winff, Project-X, Avidemux, and MinGW (use google to find them too)
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This Item  Hauppauge 01200 WinTV-HVR-850 USB2.0 Hybrid Video Recorder 1200 (HAUP1200) |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $24.99 | $79.90 | $79.99 | $69.90 | $149.99 | $199.99 |
| Delivery | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 18 | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 18 | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 18 | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 18 | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 18 | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 18 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Picture quality | ||||||
| Tech Support | ||||||
| Video quality | ||||||
| Easy to use | ||||||
| Easy to install | ||||||
| Sold By | DNE Express | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Silicondust Shop | Silicondust Shop |
| connector type | USB | USB | in,usb 2.0 | usb 2.0 | RJ45 | RJ45 |
| antenna description | Television | Television | Television | Television | — | — |
| connectivity tech | USB | USB | USB | USB | Ethernet | Ethernet |
| tuner technology | NTSC | — | ATSC, QAM | atsc,atsc/qam,digital | ATSC | ATSC 3.0 |
| platform | windows | windows | windows 11 | windows vista | windows | android |
| video output format | mpeg 4 | mpeg 4 | mpeg 4 | mpeg 4 | mpeg 4 | mpeg 4 |
Reviews with images
Awesome TV Tuner!!!
In short: I love this little USB TV tuner! I did have a few issues during the installation but all are sorted out and it now works flawlessly.My system consists of a desktop PC running Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate with external rooftop TV antenna. I read several people are having overheating problem and that's most likely attributed to the tuner trying to amplify the weak TV signal, i.e. the weaker the signal the more it tries to amplify thus the hotter it gets (uses more power). If you're using a laptop it will drain the battery in no time! The signal strength indication on the software shows the signal quality AFTER the amplification, so it is not a true indicator. If your TV has a built-in signal strength indicator (mine does) than it's the accurate way to tell whether you're TV signal is weak or strong. In my case I'm getting strong signals from the rooftop antenna that the tuner stays cool (or lukewarm at most) even after a whole day in operation. I do mount it on a small L-shape metal on the antenna connector side (see pics) and use the short USB cable to connect it to my PC. The metal mount serves as heatsink and cable strained relief, so I highly recommend it especially if you have overheating issue.As far as the software, I'm using it with Windows Media Center exclusively to watch, record, and playback. WMC does an excellent job in scheduling, recording and playback: it allows wake-up from sleep and record in HD content (video and audio, Dolby HD5.1 format), basically the native format of the source program. IMHO it works better than their software (WinTV). WMC also downloads the latest TV guide and you can configure your recoding schedule very conveniently. You can pause and rewind live TV, and do other cool stuff too.If you are using it exclusively with WMC like me, then you do NOT want to install their WinTV software, or it will conflict with WMC! The conflict shows up as the tuner gives "System not available, no TV signal found ..." error and some other obscure errors which occur intermittently. For instance, the tuner fails to tune for the first time you launch WMC but works OK after you close WMC and re-launch it. If you're getting these errors then most likely it's because of the driver installation fiasco.One way to tell if the tuner is configured properly is that the two LEDs (see pic) should be on right after the PC boots up or wakes up from sleep, and should stay on throughout regardless WMC is launched or not. To avoid the software conflict, you MUST install the driver package specifically for WMC from their website (make sure you uninstall their WinTV software first completely). After that reboot and the two LEDs should be on and stay on until you turn off your PC.Another observation: I'd recommend that you use an external hard disk if you're planning to do continuous recording for more than 2 hours since the internal hard disk might get hot after awhile. The tuner itself stays cool (provided you do as I recommended above).Happy watching & recording!
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2011
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2012
In short: I love this little USB TV tuner! I did have a few issues during the installation but all are sorted out and it now works flawlessly.
My system consists of a desktop PC running Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate with external rooftop TV antenna. I read several people are having overheating problem and that's most likely attributed to the tuner trying to amplify the weak TV signal, i.e. the weaker the signal the more it tries to amplify thus the hotter it gets (uses more power). If you're using a laptop it will drain the battery in no time! The signal strength indication on the software shows the signal quality AFTER the amplification, so it is not a true indicator. If your TV has a built-in signal strength indicator (mine does) than it's the accurate way to tell whether you're TV signal is weak or strong. In my case I'm getting strong signals from the rooftop antenna that the tuner stays cool (or lukewarm at most) even after a whole day in operation. I do mount it on a small L-shape metal on the antenna connector side (see pics) and use the short USB cable to connect it to my PC. The metal mount serves as heatsink and cable strained relief, so I highly recommend it especially if you have overheating issue.
As far as the software, I'm using it with Windows Media Center exclusively to watch, record, and playback. WMC does an excellent job in scheduling, recording and playback: it allows wake-up from sleep and record in HD content (video and audio, Dolby HD5.1 format), basically the native format of the source program. IMHO it works better than their software (WinTV). WMC also downloads the latest TV guide and you can configure your recoding schedule very conveniently. You can pause and rewind live TV, and do other cool stuff too.
If you are using it exclusively with WMC like me, then you do NOT want to install their WinTV software, or it will conflict with WMC! The conflict shows up as the tuner gives "System not available, no TV signal found ..." error and some other obscure errors which occur intermittently. For instance, the tuner fails to tune for the first time you launch WMC but works OK after you close WMC and re-launch it. If you're getting these errors then most likely it's because of the driver installation fiasco.
One way to tell if the tuner is configured properly is that the two LEDs (see pic) should be on right after the PC boots up or wakes up from sleep, and should stay on throughout regardless WMC is launched or not. To avoid the software conflict, you MUST install the driver package specifically for WMC from their website (make sure you uninstall their WinTV software first completely). After that reboot and the two LEDs should be on and stay on until you turn off your PC.
Another observation: I'd recommend that you use an external hard disk if you're planning to do continuous recording for more than 2 hours since the internal hard disk might get hot after awhile. The tuner itself stays cool (provided you do as I recommended above).
Happy watching & recording!
My system consists of a desktop PC running Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate with external rooftop TV antenna. I read several people are having overheating problem and that's most likely attributed to the tuner trying to amplify the weak TV signal, i.e. the weaker the signal the more it tries to amplify thus the hotter it gets (uses more power). If you're using a laptop it will drain the battery in no time! The signal strength indication on the software shows the signal quality AFTER the amplification, so it is not a true indicator. If your TV has a built-in signal strength indicator (mine does) than it's the accurate way to tell whether you're TV signal is weak or strong. In my case I'm getting strong signals from the rooftop antenna that the tuner stays cool (or lukewarm at most) even after a whole day in operation. I do mount it on a small L-shape metal on the antenna connector side (see pics) and use the short USB cable to connect it to my PC. The metal mount serves as heatsink and cable strained relief, so I highly recommend it especially if you have overheating issue.
As far as the software, I'm using it with Windows Media Center exclusively to watch, record, and playback. WMC does an excellent job in scheduling, recording and playback: it allows wake-up from sleep and record in HD content (video and audio, Dolby HD5.1 format), basically the native format of the source program. IMHO it works better than their software (WinTV). WMC also downloads the latest TV guide and you can configure your recoding schedule very conveniently. You can pause and rewind live TV, and do other cool stuff too.
If you are using it exclusively with WMC like me, then you do NOT want to install their WinTV software, or it will conflict with WMC! The conflict shows up as the tuner gives "System not available, no TV signal found ..." error and some other obscure errors which occur intermittently. For instance, the tuner fails to tune for the first time you launch WMC but works OK after you close WMC and re-launch it. If you're getting these errors then most likely it's because of the driver installation fiasco.
One way to tell if the tuner is configured properly is that the two LEDs (see pic) should be on right after the PC boots up or wakes up from sleep, and should stay on throughout regardless WMC is launched or not. To avoid the software conflict, you MUST install the driver package specifically for WMC from their website (make sure you uninstall their WinTV software first completely). After that reboot and the two LEDs should be on and stay on until you turn off your PC.
Another observation: I'd recommend that you use an external hard disk if you're planning to do continuous recording for more than 2 hours since the internal hard disk might get hot after awhile. The tuner itself stays cool (provided you do as I recommended above).
Happy watching & recording!
Images in this review
