AVerTV Hybrid Volar MAX is a long name to describe the multitude of functions the USB TV tuner does. The USB based TV tuner stick has the ability to receive HDTV, Analog TV and FM radio on any Windows XP or Vista computer or laptop.

Unless you need specific subscription channels, you no longer have to put up with cable or satellite costs to get the High Definition TV everyone is craving for. The AverTV Hybrid Volar MAX does it all. For video quality, playback and speed consider this:

“The AVer MeidaCenter provides users more joy from Clear QAM digital cable TV. Advanced real-time H.264 recording compression significantly reduces CPU loading and the amount of hard disk space needed for recording. The optional 320×240 resolution enables users to save and playback video on an iPod.”

Don’t hold doubt either, the AVerTV Hybrid Volar MAX can truly present the details of HDTV in 720p/1080i resolution. With an exclusive Vista MCE Video Gaming Plug-in, the AverTV Hybrid Volar MAX resolves the (more…)

Our good friends at GizmosForGeeks cruised through CES’08 this year and one of their highly recommend products was the Pinnacle Video Transfer unit from Pinnacle Systems.  The point of this device is making the record, copy and transfer of your favorite video (TV, DVD etc) to your iPod [or other hand held device] quick and easy.

As seen here, USB is the answer for plug-n-play connection and the Video Transfer box gives three settings for video quality.  Your setting choice will dictate the file size and resolution quality.  The video input options include S-video or Composite video.

The Gizmo guys had a moment to demo the unit and reported the unit was easy to use, compact and simple in operation.

The Pinnacle Video Transfer box will be available later this month for just $129. (more…)

The Mac can easily and quickly become a DVR with the right software and hardware. This Mac only tip comes just in time for this season’s prime time TV.

Using a Mac, other than the one pictured, with a USB TV Tuner (like EyeTV Tuner) along with some DVD Burning software (Toast) you can watch, record and burn every season premier your wife demands while you’re watching real TV (Football and Baseball).

For all the details jump to Macworld. Thanks LifeHacker.

ReplayTV is not the first to introduce a USB dongle for DVR use, however, they are the first to integrate a format easily playable on Apple hand-held devices like iPhone and iPod touch.

The Personal HD system bundles both digital ATSC and analog NTSC technology and play over-the-air HDTV signals or old school analog TV source. So now you TV junkies can overload on adictively pathetic reality TV shows (well, except Survivor).

The real joy of the USB tuner is the software. The Personal HD specifically supports transfer of video to a format playable on widescreen hand-held devices made by Apple. Not to leave anyone out in the cold, the software can preserve multiple shows at once and even support USB devices from rival companies, such as ATI (AMD) and Pinnacle.

The ReplayTV goodie bag for the Personal HD system include direct encoding in a 4:3 ratio, intelligent keyword filter system to find shows by cast member names, show IDs or genre. Although the reply system isn’t out just yet, it will be later this fall at the tune of $100.

Source: Electronista

Laptops rejoice! Sewell is spinning out a very inexpensive USB to DVI adapter to offer high quality video displays for those tiny notebooks displays. The process is simple. The external DVI video unit has a USB port which you connect to your laptop (or PC) and a DVI port you connect to you external monitor, turn everything on and you’re done.

The $120 price tag might seem a couple dollars high, but considering there is 128MB of flash memory used for buffering and processing the video signal you wont be disappointed. Sewell claims the USB to DVI adapter drove a 20 inch DVI screen with no visible differences what-so-ever.

The USB bandwidth is more than enough to transfer the necessary video data to the USB to DVI adapter, and the 128 megs of onboard RAM does the rest to bring you perfect performance every time.

With this unit you can turn any laptop into a three monitor system: 1) Laptop screen, 2) use DVI output of laptop 3) use Sewell DVI adapter for monitor #3.

Source: Sewell via Slash Gear

AMD and ATi teamed up some time ago and now they are starting to crank out some products not even closely related to processors. The latest is the TV Wonder 600 USB HDTV tuner. Not at all Mac friendly the ATi TV Wonder features AMD’s Catalyst Media Center software which works seamlessly (so I read) with Vista Media Center and XP Media Center from Microsoft.

In addition to the ATi TV Wonder 600 USB tuner itself, you also get a slim credit card-sized IR remote and an A/V input adapter to grab video from a camcorder or VCR. Naturally, while it is being marketed more toward the notebook side of things, the TV Wonder 600 USB is perfectly suited for operation with a desktop computer as well.

Don’t reach for your car keys just yet, the TV Wonder 600 USB TV Tuner isn’t expected to ship for another couple months. No price points as of yet. (more…)

“Would You Consider Watching TV on Your Computer?” was the question for this week and I was surprised to see such a higher percentage (23%) who already do.

However, for the majority of voters wanting a boobless TV experience it would take an act of simplicity. So, for the simplistic 45% who would consider it, here is a product that fits the bill.

The Hauppauge WinTV HVR 950 USB TV Tuner is simple to setup and simple to use. If you can insert a USB stick and auto launch some software, than you’re set.

However, if you’re looking for some HD television then a couple items you’ll need to consider before jumping into the Hauppauge TV solution.

Since HD shows have a much higher resolution and thus need better reception/bandwidth you’ll need to make a couple of adjustments. First, update the standard antenna which comes with the Hauppauge WinTV USB TV Tuner to an amplified unit. This will boost the signal strength to insure there are no dropped frames. Second, configure your PC to have at least 2GBs of RAM for quick processing and avoid overload on the CPU.

You can also connect your coaxial cable directly to the USB TV receiver for that HD signal, but again keep the RAM up to 2GBs min.