Studio PCTV pro (tv tuner) $29 after MIR @ Compusa (Win XP compatible)

[Chrono]

the card rocks

 

[Pakaderm]

Hmm, so many complaints about this card, yet I've had zero trouble getting it to work in Windows 2000. I'll check tonight which drivers I'm running. I do know they are NVidia drivers, but I can't recall which ones.

-Pakaderm

 

[geckojohn]

I am running Windows XP and can't get this card to work. I am using the new drivers... When it asks for the location of the drivers, I try to install from the cd. Is this what I should be doing?

Whenever I go to the tv program, it loads up and then my computer crashes. Any tips or what i should do? I have two pci slots open...

I am running on a Athlon 1.4. Sound blaster live, network card, modem, and geforce 2 gts.

 

[dannybin1742]

this is a pretty good card a great price, but i previously had one, and the tech support really sucks from pinnacle, there is no place to download ENGLISH drivers for the card online, and the thing only worked once in a while under windows 2000, you couldn't even use the studio capture part of it. on top of this all, there are no drivers specifically for xp or 2000, you are taking a gamble to see if the included nt 4.0 drivers work under 2000 or xp. personally i'd go witha hauppauge card, they have generally better features and excelent driver suppost plus they have drivers specifically for win xp.

 

[dannybin1742]

geckojohn:

the best way i found to get it to work in windows 2000 (it being very simmilar to xp) is when it asks for the drivers, either point it directly to the inf file on the cd, and if that doesn't work, copy the inf files it want to your hard drive, then when it asks for them again go get the files from you hard drive....but like i said before, pinnacle sucks at making drivers for their tv cards, in fact all they ever do is release updates, i doubt they will post xp drivers in the near future either, oh yeah and for anyone who's registration numbers don't work or can't find them, just put in zeros until it stops you, that always works.

 

[TechManager]

Anyone else have an annoying hum after install?...

Bought this card last night and installed in on Win2K fine. Except!- I get an annoying hummmm all the time after installalling this card. The hum comes through my speakers it gets worse when I move windows and open apps. It doesn't seem to matter if the Pinnacle software is open or closed or weither I have the external audio "jumper" installed or not- it just hums all the time! Very annoying! Anyone else having this happen? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[lytylim]

techmanager

Try muting your line-in to stop the humming. PCTV Vision should automatically unmute it when it starts so you can hear TV and automatically re-mute it when exiting.

 

[geckojohn]

Bump for suggestions or Windows XP install success stories...

 

[zippin44]

There's a ton of info about a simmilar card, the I/O magic PC TV (it'a a Pinnacle PC TV non-pro version) at www.dbsforums.com, in the PVR forum. Search for either Iomega or PVR. Thread has been going on for months.

 

[Dealoholic]

I got mine at Compusa in Rosedale, Minneapolis MN.

Beware that Compusa has two UPC versions in stock. The UPC for the deal is 288411. This is priced at $50 before rebate. The second UPC is priced at $69 before rebate.

 

[Pakaderm]

Ok, if anyone is wondering I'm running the card successfully with no crashes.

Windows 2000
GeForce 2 Pro
Nvidia 12.90 reference drivers
TV software in the box

Works like a charm...

-Pakaderm

 

[AvantG]

techmanager,

I get the same annoying hum, but only for the first minute or so while Windows finishes loading. Then the hum disappears... eh?

Another thing that scared the bejeebies out of my wife, the "TV" is turning itself one by itself! Anyone else with this problem?

 

[mschark]

I just picked one up today at the Overland Park store in Kansas City. They just got 10 in stock. Took the lamers about 20 minutes to find the shipment in their backroom. Whatta joke!

My impressions: I'm not that impressed....but I have yet to really tweak it. The install went fine with Win2K. No errors or crashes. My problems is with the video quality using the supplied software. The picture is full of jaggies. I know there are different codec to download, but I have not tried them yet. When I get back from a ski trip, i'll have more time to tweak it. Also, the software package wasn't as advertised....where is the Title Deko, and Real Producer?

FYI: I also purchased a I/O Magic PC PVR from a previous deal at C-USA. Using the supplied software, the picture is actually better than the Studio Pro, even at full screen. They are almost the some card...they both have the same Conexant 878A chip and they are both Pinnacle cards. The Studio pro has a better way to hook the audio up internally. The sound is much better and you have greater control over it. There is also another chip on the board, but I dont know it's purpose.

I will tweak it some more. I am trying to decide which card to keep...then sell the other one.

 

[stt1stt1]

The only problem I experienced so far is that Channel 2 picks up sound that is not its. When I changed channel 3 to 2 or last cable channel (like 80) to 2, the sound worked for 5 seconds and then it would pick up some radio station and stayed that way. Do you have the same problem ?

I think I know what you are talking about. Does it sound like a computer talking? I believe it's the secondary channel of audio. I'm not exactly sure what it is, or how to describe why it's there, but go into the audio settings and switch it to Stereo Channel 1. Actually, I think it's that SAP programming; you would also get it on your TV. If changing to Stereo Channel 1 instead of Stereo Channel 1+2 doesn't fix it, I'm not sure what to do. Try that first tho..

Thanks a bunch Pakaderm. Your suggestion worked. My audio setting was set at Stereo Channel 2. Now I am a happy camper.

 

[grandmasterk]

<< Bought this TV card a couple of Christmas season ago for $15 ($50 minus $20 off $50 cpn and $15MIR) at OD. Great card, but the FM tuner doesn't work with win 2k/XP. You can use it to record tv with the software, but there's not timer feature. I haven't found a software to use it for timed recording that works with xp yet. You have to download the updated software for it to work with XP. No crashes at all for me. Watching the Raiders vs Patriots game on it as I'm typing this. >>




The Fm function does work with Win 2k. With the drivers that came with it out of box. Of course, one can only have either the radio or tv on at the same time

 

[Chrono]

I have windows xp
works like a charm.. minus the crappy audio (noise in the background and etc.)

hehe
any suggestions on how to get rid of his humming noise? happens when I move my mouse
lol
horrible
oh well

 

[TechManager]

<< techmanager

Try muting your line-in to stop the humming. PCTV Vision should automatically unmute it when it starts so you can hear TV and automatically re-mute it when exiting. >>



OK- I'll give this a try tonight!



<< techmanager,

I get the same annoying hum, but only for the first minute or so while Windows finishes loading. Then the hum disappears... eh? >>



Mine buzzes very quietly all the time, and gets very loud when I click in the title bar and move a window around or when I double-click an icon (on hard disk access?). Almost like it's buzzing when the power supply gets hit? It's a Gateway PIII 866 SB Live Value sound card.

 

[wasssup]

so has anyone tried out s-video input using the WinXP beta drivers? I can't get it to pick anything up...i just set up a triple boot system two days ago (Win98 SE, Win2k SP2, and WinXP), but the drive I installed Win98/2k onto decided to die, so now i'm back to just WinXP...(i did test it on Win98SE before the hd problem and got the same problem)

I don't have an antenna down in my basement, so I dunno if the reason it doesn't work is because I don't have an antenna connected to it (??? this would be a stupid reason, but considering the overall quality of the drivers I wouldn't be surprised)...i'm still not convinced it's a hardware problem.

 

[wesbc]

Looks like a bunch of stores just got restocked. I just checked 2 zip code and all the stores have it in-stock.! Grab em while you can.

 

[KamakaziRcr]

<<

<< Bought this TV card a couple of Christmas season ago for $15 ($50 minus $20 off $50 cpn and $15MIR) at OD. Great card, but the FM tuner doesn't work with win 2k/XP. You can use it to record tv with the software, but there's not timer feature. I haven't found a software to use it for timed recording that works with xp yet. You have to download the updated software for it to work with XP. No crashes at all for me. Watching the Raiders vs Patriots game on it as I'm typing this. >>




The Fm function does work with Win 2k. With the drivers that came with it out of box. Of course, one can only have either the radio or tv on at the same time >>



Thanks for your input, but my manual specifically said only tv viewing (no capture or fm radio). The explaination to this is my card is supplied an older version of the manual and drivers. The US Pinnacle site confirms this also, but Bira already replied that the German Pinnacle site hosted the updated drivers that opens up all the feature in 2000/XP.

 

[Sesopedalian]

Dealoholic - There are some Yap phone cards there for long distance at 1c minute! Also, 2 TV cards there as of 2 pm yesterday. I did not buy one, as I already have this POS card.

 

[leonc]

Hey Pakaderm,

I'm confused by one thing in your story about the cable setup. You mentioned
that the cable guy said that they are different frequencies (cable and modem)
so a splitter from Radio Shack wouldn't work, but then you said he gave
you a splitter and it works. Did I miss something or was the cable guy
lying initially.

 

[RadioactiveMagpies]

This card really is a POS! I own the ati tv wonder and just picked this card up yesterday because I thought a FM turner + remote would be cool...oh..fun fun fun...NOT!.
I have tried this on 2 different installs of win98on 2 seperate harddrives, one I formarted and installed that night. Computer - Abit BH6, celeron 566@850, geforce mx400, Diamond monster mx300, Linksys LNE TX100. 640 megs ram. Even on a fresh install of win98 with just video,sound, mouse drivers, windows update i get the same problems...or maybe they are just "features".

ISSUE 1
After installing it, the sound is horrible, there is a slight irritating hissing noise that seems to be interference or just a crappy card, NEVER there with my ATI TV WONDER.
ISSUE 2
The software is buggy sometimes, won't save the cable scan and fine tuning. Rescanning takes soo long, and it does seem to be able to pick up any channels with quickscan.
ISSUE 3
Going from full screen to windowed gets crashes(screen goes pink,green lines on top, computer freezes, in no particular order but the sounds still plays...) I suspect its some kinda of conflict with memery range or DMA, or whatever...tried many changes, bios, control panel, nothing works. Think it just crashed a few times too for no reason.
ISSUE 4
15% restocking fee to return this thing to compusa for a refund. Maybe I'll take it back to get a new unopened box? sugesstions? ebay?

Rebooted my computer too many times to count.
Went back to my ati tv wonder card, which I hate less, alot less!
This thing is like playing the lotto, except you lose, you waste a day of your life messing around with your perfectly good computer.

 

[KamakaziRcr]

Everyone with the hissing/interference sound. With the tv software off, go into your volume control (start->programs->accessories->entertainment->volume control) and turn mute your aux, line in, mic, phone and whatever else sound inputs you might have. This should get rid of the hissing/interference sound. Then turn on your tv software and configure the audio appropriately to what input you have it connected to your sound card. My card works FLAWLESSLY with FM now in WindowsXP. I just have to find a PVR software. Make sure you seat the tv card high on the pci rows (close to the agp slot).

 

[Nutzo]

Check Ebay, There are a few people selling OEM copies of Cyberlink Power VCR II for < $20 shipped. Already bought one for myself.

I tried the demo of Power VCR II & it worked great with the 3rd party drivers.