Product Description

The WinTV-HVR-850 TV stick from Hauppauge is a dual tuner NTSC analog and ATSC over-the-air high definition digital TV tuner stick. Watch, pause and record TV on your desktop or notebook PC. It's pocket size form factor makes it the perfect travelling companion. Ships with standing portable telescoping antenna. Compatible with Windows XP and all versions of Windows Vista.

Product Details

• Brand: Hauppauge
• Model: 1200
• Platform: Windows
• Format: CD
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 3.00" h x 7.00" w x 10.00" l, .70 pounds

Features

• TV tuner allows for viewing and recording of television on PCs via high-speed USB
• Compatible with both digital and analog television signals
• Record your favorite shows in high-quality MPEG-2 directly to your hard disk
• Small size makes it easy to carry and ideal for laptops
• Includes Personal Video Recorder software for scheduled recording of programs

Amazon.com Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description The Hauppauge 1200 WinTV-HVR-850 Hybrid TV Stick External TV Tuner/Video Recorder will bring high-definition television directly to your PC. This handy device lets you watch your favorite TV shows through your computer and record them digitally for future playback using high quality MPEG-2. More economical and versatile than a DVR, or digital video recorder, this PC Video Recorder, or PVR, gives you virtually unlimited options for saving and playing back your favorite TV broadcasts and clips.

The Hauppauge 1200 WinTV-HVR-850 Hybrid TV Stick External TV Tuner/Video Recorder offers: Ability to watch television on your PC in a window or full screen. Portable, small size for on-the-go television viewing on your laptop. Compatibility with digital and analog signals. Ability to record your favorite shows with the WinTV-Scheduler software.

WinTV software makes it easy to record your favorite shows. View larger.

The small, pocketable size lets you easily take it everywhere. View larger.

Play and Record Television Digitally
The WinTV-HVR-850 is a simple-to-use device that brings over-the-air high definition ATSC digital TV as well as analog cable TV directly to your PC desktop or laptop. With the additional included antenna, it can also receive analog TV broadcasts.

More versatile than a DVR, the WinTV-HVR-850 is a pocket-sized device that simply plugs into your PC's USB port. It features a built-in digital ATSC over-the-air TV receiver. If you live in one of the more than 200 cities in the United States that receives ATSC digital TV, you'll have immediate access to as many as 1500 digital TV stations. ATSC digital TV is the over-the-air HDTV standard for North America. ATSC broadcasts range in resolution from standard definition up to the high definition 1080i format. (To check the ATSC digital transmissions in your area, input your zip code at titantv.com.)

A portable digital TV antenna, which can be used to receive digital TV up to 10 miles from an ATSC transmitter, is included with the PVR . If you live in an area where you can't currently receive ATSC digital TV, the WinTV-HVR-850 can still be used to watch and record analog TV from cable TV or a TV antenna. (The WinTV-HVR-850 cannot receive digital cable TV or digital satellite TV.)

Once the WinTV-HVR-850 is connected, you can begin to record your favorite shows in high-quality MPEG-2 directly to your hard disk using the Hauppauge SoftPVR MPEG-2 encoder. Television recordings will typically consume 5 GB of disk space per hour for ATSC high definition, while analog recordings will typically consume 1.5 GB of disk space per hour. You can also use the included WinTV-Scheduler to program your computer to record your favorite analog or digital TV shows for play back at any time.

Compatibility with Microsoft's Windows Media Center means that you can watch TV as well as your recordings with Windows Media Center. The included WinTV application also lets you watch your shows in a window or on full screen.

More about PVR Technology
PVR stands for PC Video Recorder. The WinTV-HVR-850 is a PVR that allows you to play television through your computer and record the broadcasts digitally. PVR doesn't use standard videocassettes; instead, it uses your computer's hard disk to store the broadcasts.

Once you record a television show to your PC's hard drive, you can burn a CD or DVD that will allow you to play the show back on another computer or on your television. With video editing software (not included with the WinTV-HVR-850), you can even edit the shows. This is a great feature if you want to save clips from movies or sitcoms, or keep your favorite player's grand slam or TD kick-off return for posterity.

And just like a typical VCR, the WinTV-HVR-850 offers you several recording options, depending on your play back needs. If you want the highest quality recording for playback through your HDTV, all you need is enough hard drive space to support high-quality recording. By using the lowest recording option, you can use your WinTV-HVR-850, along with an inexpensive video camera, as a low-cost on-site video surveillance system. In fact, the possibilities of how you can take advantage of the WinTV-HVR-850 are endless.

What's in the Box
WinTV-HVR-850 high-speed USB TV stick with cable TV and ATSC antenna connection; USB extension cable; portable antenna; software on CD-ROM; and quick installation guide.

Customer Reviews

Wow! Sweet
I just received this product 10 minutes ago, and now I am watching TV on my computer!

First of, install is a breeze. This is the content of the package:
- The external tuner
- A digital antenna
- A USB extension cord (It is really nice for them to include this because this would have been the first thing I'd buy if it didn't come with it.)
- Software CD

I run Vista Home Basic. The install was a breeze, the manual was very detailed. Plug the tuner in first, and then follow the prompt.

After installing the software (the installer doesn't look that professional, but does work), I booted it up. It asks whether it should scan for channels. I said yes.

After about 10 minutes, this is what it found: 8 analog channels, and a whopping 9 digital channels. Obviously your results may vary, but I'm impressed with just the included antenna out of the box. It's basically picked up all digital broadcast channels (FOX, 2 PBS, 2 ABC, NBC, 2 CBS, and CW). Once these digital channels are picked up, they look super sharp. I doubt I'd touch those analog channels at all.

Channel switch has a bit of delay, esp between analog channels. But it's tolerable. With 9 channels, channel surfing isn't a big problem.

Now, in terms of computing power, it's taking about 90 MB of RAM right now, and <40% of my CPU (Dual Core 2.1 GHz; it's keeping both cores busy.) There's certainly enough room to work run a couple of browsers to multitask.

Highly recommended!

PC TV Tuner done simple and right
This is an amazing product. I ordered to be able to capture video off of old VHS tapes. Not only does it do that well, it also can tune 22 digital stations off of my rooftop antennae and I am 40 miles from downtown Chicago where most of the transmissions occur! Digital reception is extremely clear and no stutter on my HP laptop.

Pros: Easy to install. Very good analog VHS picture. Excellent digital ATSC picture using a rooftop antennae.

Cons: Included antennae only picked up 1 digital station.

For the price and Amazon's usual excellent service, this is a toy to have for PC TV lovers.

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 850
Hauppauge 1200 WinTV HVR-850 HDTV Tuner Stick I am taking a Vista OS class, and found myself interested in the capability to watch and record TV on my computer. I am very pleased with this product; I was surprised to see how well it works for me. Using it with cable, the picture quality is very good, but not very good using the antenna. Ease of use and installation can be measured by the fact that I am a 71-year old grandma.