Reviews for Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 MCE Kit

WinTV-PVR-150MCE

Strengths: good picture excellent tuner sensitivity hardware video encoder

Weakness: price difficult to justify compared to "VE" model

As mentioned above, the hardware performs very well. If you get the MCE or "media center kit" versions, you also get a nifty TIVO-esque remote control (otherwise, it's the less great Happaugue remote).

This card is a good bet if you want seamless integration with Windows MCE or if you just need the lower CPU requiremetns that come with hardware video encoding.

If you just want a 2nd tuner for your existing MCE system, go with the cheaper "VE" model.

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Picked the lesser of 2 evils

Strengths: price, easy install, mega help sites, great tweaks

Weakness: wont let you record with avi codecs, although the mpegs do look good, albeit they take up space

I was going crazy with all the different tv cards available. Some are dirt cheap, yet the reviews tell you why they are cheap. I finally narrowed it down to the 2 main players in the market..ATI and Hauppauge. now, I know there are others, such as pinacle and nvidia and also ATI and others do make a combo tv card/graphics card, but I only wanted a tv tuner card for now.

Price was org 150 at cir cit but it was marked down to 99.00.

Tv tuner win2k is ok, but you can add others at a small cost. Remote works fine. I also will be using this to transfer my vhs tape collection to the pc and then convert/encode for making them into a dvd. I'll sell the tapes on fleabay and hopefuly brel even. Other crads are cheaper, but the quality suffers and you dont wanna sacrafice viewing quality.

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Works Well, Support Sucks

Strengths: Good quality video, fairly easy to setup, works with MCE, nice remote

Weakness: Technical support wasn't helpful

I have DishNetwork service and I was trying to configure the 150MCE to work on my Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. It was easy to get the 105MCE to tune in over-the-air channels and install the USB IR receiver. It was not so easy to set up S-Video input from the Dish box and worse to get the IR blaster to work - the IRBlast.exe program doesn't work and Windows pops-up a "Infrared Configuration Failed" message every time the computer starts.

Eventually, through the Hauppauge FAQs/message board, I found some more information about getting the S-Video input working. And, after installing the latest Microsoft updates (update roll-up 2, and IR update), I was finally able to get the 150MCE working correctly.

Video quality is good (for SVideo/composite video input). The supplied software is OK for making recordings of live video sources. However for PVR functionality, you will need to install one of the included (trial versions) of Beyond TV or Sage TV (or MCE).

Tech support responded to my question about s-video config and IR blaster config within 24 hours. But their response had nothing to do with my questions - except that the IR blaster wouldn't work with MCE. After 2 more emails where I tried to explain to them that the MCE box says "works with Media Center Edition" and not getting any helpful information, I eventually found the Windows MCE IR update, which fixed the problem.

After a month of use with MCE, I'm satisfied with the quality of the programs captured (720x480 best). Also, the MCE remote can be used with the XBox 360 with Media Center Extender configured to remotely control/view Media Center options.

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Great product.

Strengths: Easy to use and install. Works well with my XBOX 360.

Weakness: Can't seem to record HD channels on cable.

It works well for recording tv shows to my spare computer. I then use my XBOX 360 to play, fastforward, rewind, etc. via Media Center. It's totally awesome because it can automatically record a series everytime the show is aired.

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WinTV-PVR-150MCE

Strengths: Reasonably priced hardware encoder with a decent included remote. Works with regular XP and MCE. Lots of 3rd party software supports this card.

Weakness: Included software is less than spectacular.

Running this with XP Pro, took a while to get the remote to work, finally figured out just needed the 'Update Rollup 2 for eHome Infrared Receiver' support.microsoft.com/...

The included software didn't work for me, so i use Dscaler to watch tv, or when using it as a video in....Also used it with SageTV, worked great.

Overall, quality seems as would be expected for the price, which is very reasonable. Works great for college kids like myself or others with limited space.

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WinTV-PVR-150MCE BNDL MPEG2 w/Certified Mce Remote &...

Strengths: Media center remote control. Hardware encoded TV tuner

Weakness: NA

Easy to install and compatible with MCE. Hardware encoded so doesn't take too much memory. Picture quality is great and just as what I expect. The price is affordable for this card. However no HDTV is supported.

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WinTV-PVR-150MCE BNDL - Can It Work With Windows XP...

Strengths: Hardware MPEG2 Recording.

Weakness: Remote Not compatible with Windows Xp Home.

I purchase this product from circuitcity during sale to take chances if it work with windows xp home. Well the hardware installation was easy. But all keys of remote did not worked with Xp home. The most anoying feature was power off button which seems to not work. Every else control on remote worked smooth with "MEDIA PORTAL" Software with Media Center interface. Hope this helps someone.

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WinTV-PVR-150MCE Model 1062

Strengths: Low cost and many features (remote control, IR detect, hardware MPEG encoding)

Weakness: None so far

WinTV-PVR-150MCE Model 1062 1062 is advertised for use in MCE PCs yet works on my non-MCE PC. After installing the card and loading the software from the included CD and before using it, I went to the Hauppauge web site and updated all the drivers and applications. I do not have a need for the TV tuner, Remote and IR detect but with the rebate it cost less than the equivalent model 274 version that does not have these items. I purchased this card to convert my VHS home video tapes to DVD. The video quality of the generated MPEG files and subsequent DVDs is impressive -- I'm very satisfied. My VHS Tapes are all high-speed, 2 hours in length and the captures took 2 hours for each tape. Seems that there is a file size limit so during video capture, 4 MPEG files are created. I put the 4 MPEG files in the order generated into my DVD making s/w and burned to a blank DVD. The burned DVDs played perfectly on my DVD player without any noticeable audio/video lag. If I get around to using the TV, Remote and IR equipment, I'll do an update on here at that time.

Joe

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Sadly Disappointed

Strengths: Comes with a remote, doesn't require connection to sound card

Weakness: Poor Quality and configuration settings, single tunner.

To following are the Capture Options of the Video Settings:

Video
Output Stream: Program, MPEG1, DVD, VCD, SVCD
Rate Details: Constant/Variable, Bit Rate, Bit Rate PEAK
GOPs: 6,15
Video Resolution: 720x480, 480x480, 352x480

Audio:
Input Type: Stereo, Joint Stereo, Dual Channel, Mon
Audio Encode: MPEG1 Layer2
Audio CRC On/Off
Sampling Rate: 32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz
Audio Bitrate: 64, 96, 112, 128, 160, 192, 224, 256, 320, 384

Doesn’t let you select the recording options in the scheduler, it uses the last selected recording profile selection when you were in the main program. You are only able to capture in MPEG format with MP2 audio streams, although the options for AC3 or PCM audio are available they are grayed out not allowing you to select them as an option.

The quality of the recording is poor compared to an Nvidia Dual TV MCE Capture card, also It’s limited in that it only record one channel at a time. It does work within a system with a Pinnacle Pro-One RTDV Card, however it doesn’t support capture in Adobe Premiere v6.5, although it attempts to try and work, but Adobe crashes every time, also unable to capture successfully in MainConcept H.264 Encoders Capture function either. This card was able to work in a Microsoft Windows XP Pro System.

In overall the card is alright, but for about $40 more you can get the Nvidia Dual TV card that has a dual tuner and provides better picture quality. I was sadly disappointed by the purchase, because I thought that Hauppauge had a good quality reputation for great capture cards, but however I was sadly disappointed.

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WinTV-PVR-150MCE BNDL MPEG2 w/Certified Mce Remote &...

Strengths: Good picture quality. Remote.

Weakness: None so far.

This bundle is a good value for someone wanting to watch and record tv on their computer especially for an htpc. The picture quality is better than most cards on the market and this is a very popular card and works with all the tv software on the market. I use mine with GBPVR and it works just great. The driver for the remote on windows xp does not fully work for me. Windows installs its own drivers which work better than the ones from the manufacturer.

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In fact, many North American HTPC owners routinely install multiple single-tuner NTSC cards so they can record one program while watching another, many along with an additional OTA HDTV card . This virtually mandates larger cases, where greater numbers of PCI slots may be more easily used to accommodate more TV hardware. The products mentioned in the following sections are popular, affordable and...

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