Hauppauge 1143 WinTV HVR-1500 Notebook Express Card HDTV Tuner/Video Recorder

by Hauppauge

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 17 x 17 x 27 inches ; 12.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0018M03C4
• Item model number: 1143
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 29, 2008

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description With the Hauppauge 1143 WinTV HVR-1500 Notebook Express Card HDTV Tuner/Video Recorder, you can watch live HDTV or cable TV on your laptop PC. Just plug this card into your computer's Express Card/54 slot, and you can watch and record your favorite television show at up to 1080i resolution.

Plug this card into your laptop's Express Card/54 slot and watch live HDTV or cable TV at up to 1080i resolution. The WinTV application offers an elegant interface to watch TV in a window or full screen. View larger. The Hauppauge 1143 WinTV HVR-1500 Notebook Express Card HDTV Tuner/Video Recorder offers: Live HDTV or cable TV on your laptop PC at up to 1080i resolution. Support for NTSC analog cable, over the air TV, ATSC digital over the air HDTV, and Clear QAM digital cable TV. Built-in 125 channel cable-ready TV tuner. Dolby-TV stereo decoder for Dolby-quality audio. The card supports NTSC analog cable, over the air TV, ATSC Digital over the air HDTV, and Clear QAM digital cable TV. View connectors. Watch Analog, Cable and Digital TV on your Laptop The WinTV HVR-1500 Notebook Express Card couldn't be easier to install. Simply plug it into you laptop's ExpressCard/54mm slot, and you're ready to enjoy the full benefits of television from the convenience of your computer. Why miss your favorite show or the deciding playoff game just because you have work to do? With this card, you have the option of watching your favorite television programming in a window or on full screen. The card supports NTSC analog cable, over the air TV, ATSC Digital over the air HDTV, and Clear QAM digital cable TV. NTSC is the analog cable TV standard, and ATSC is the over-the-air digital HDTV standard for North America and typically requires an antenna for reception. Clear QAM digital cable allows you to watch unencrypted HDTV stations from your cable TV provider without a set-top box. The card features a built-in 125 channel cable-ready TV tuner, allowing you to watch Analog TV and Clear QAM Digital TV by connecting to a cable box with the included adapter cable. Also included is a portable ATSC antenna with MCX connector lets you watch ATSC HDTV at up to 1080i format. For analog cable TV reception, you will need an analog cable TV connection. If you have a digital cable set-top box or a satellite box, the WinTV-HVR-1500 can connect via either channel 3, Composite or S-Video inputs. For ATSC over-the-air digital TV reception, a high-gain antenna is recommended. (To check the ATSC TV broadcasts in your area, go to TitanTV.com and enter your postal code. Note: depending on the strength of your antenna, you might not be able to receive all broadcasts listed at TitanTV.) Schedule and Record your Favorite Show When coupled with the included Hauppage's SoftPVR software, you can record your programs directly to your computer's hard drive with one click. Analog TV recordings typically consume 1.5 GB of disk space per hour using Hauppauge's SoftPVR for Windows XP and Media Center. High Definition TV recordings typically consume 5 GB of disk space per hour. With WinTV-Scheduler software installed (also included with the video card), you can also turn your PC into a virtual personal video recorder, or PVR, and schedule and record your TV shows automatically. Other features include a Dolby-TV stereo decoder for Dolby-quality audio, and a remote control for the ultimate in convenience. The WinTV-HVR-1500 is compatible with Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Media Center and requires an available Express Card/54 slot for operation. What's in the Box WinTV-HVR-1500 Express Card/54 TV tuner, cable TV adapter cable ('F' connector to MCX), portable ATSC antenna with MCX connector, audio/video input cable, WinTV Installation and Utilities Software CD-ROM, and quick installation guide.

Product Description

The 1143 WinTV-HVR-1500 Notebook Express Card from Hauppauge is a hybrid ATSC/NTSC/QAM Notebook Express Card TV receiver for notebook computers running Vista Home Premium and Ultimate. Watch, pause, and record television on notebook computers with available 54mm notebook express card slot. Watch and record cable TV, over-the-air ATSC high definition digital TV or clear QAM digital cable TV, in a window or full screen on your laptop computer. Schedule your analog and digital TV recordings, using high quality MPEG-2. Use Hauppauge's SoftPVR and SoftMCE for analog TV recordings. Supports all ATSC digital formats, including 1080i,. Supports clear QAM channels with the new WinTV v6 application. It's pocket size form factor makes it the perfect travelling companion for use with notebook computers. Ships with standing portable antenna and remote control. Compatible with Vista Home Premium and Ultimate, Windows XP, XP Pro and XP Media Center Edition with Service Pack 2.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars There are only two choices for an Express Card tuner; this is one and it was never tested for AMD based Laptops, November 14, 2010

By 

videobruce (Buffalo NY) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hauppauge 1143 WinTV HVR-1500 Notebook Express Card HDTV Tuner/Video Recorder (Personal Computers)

What I don't like about the all too common USB "stick" tuners is they hang out so far, begging to be pulled out or broken off Add a heavy coaxial cable to the mix and all I can see is a disaster waiting to happen. This is why I choose a Express Card tuner.
The card originally was intended for and sold by HP, but HP dropped sales a year or two ago and Hauppauge is now selling it under their name. The front end (tuner) is only average compared to current ATSC/QAM tuners. Most regular TV sets are better.

Side note for any TV tuner card: Provided monopole antennas are almost useless unless you are in a 'good' reception area. Monopole antennas are not, have not and will not be a proper 'TV' antenna. Even a dipole antenna (rabbit ears) leaves alot to be desired.

Pros:
1. Hauppauge is an established American company (though the card is imported) and in New York State with support here. You aren't talking to India.
2. Full width Express Card slot. Depending on the Laptop, the card only sticks out around a inch (without the cable attached).
3. Adapter cable included for external antenna. No heavy RG59 'F' fitting hanging off of the card.
4. Memories for ATSC and QAM in one continuous list. No switching between OTA and CATV other than antenna feeds.
5. Works with the newest version of SageTV V7 though I don't like the user interface changes they made.
6. Works with WinTV7 and WinTV6. I use V6 since I run XP.
7. Optional Signal monitor program runs outside of WinTV and can be used when running SageTV.
8. Signal Monitor actually tells you something other than some meaningless percentage or some other meaningless number.
9. Card runs warm, but NOT hot. Averages around 90-95 degrees when measuring surface temperature with a IR thermometer.
10. Analog capture ability (software based) that I haven't tried yet.
11. Ability to save channel database if program has to be reinstalled or if you have a 2nd Laptop.

Cons:
1. Frequent lockups with no obvious patterns. Can crash right off the bat if processes are still loading at startup and I try to start the program too soon (my error) or run a couple of hours then lockup. I have to force a power down (hold power button four seconds) and power back up. I haven't been able to find the problem. I run as little at startup as possible. Processor usage averages 70% with a AMD M600 processor. It never peaks more than 80% so I can't believe it's ability of the processor, just the fact these were never tested with AMD processors. Typical Wintel stupidity. THIS WAS NEVER TESTED ON A AMD BASED LAPTOP!
2. Both WinTV and SageTV software packages leave something to be desired. SageTV tries to do too much. Their media player is useless, so is their DVD player. They would be best off to concentrate on the 'TV' portion and forget the rest. WinTV6 has separate packages instead of combining them into one as they did with V7.
3. No picture controls within WinTV and no right click options when in full screen.
4. Low video level (dark video, low brightness level). Seems be be a common problem with these tuners.
5. Low audio level even when cranked up full (could partly be a Laptop issue).
6. Not for beginners. ATSC/QAM (digital) TV is not your fathers TV!

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love it, July 12, 2009

By 

[e-mail] "Editor" (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hauppauge 1143 WinTV HVR-1500 Notebook Express Card HDTV Tuner/Video Recorder (Personal Computers)

I'm using this with a Dell Inspiron 1520. It plugs right in and voila! Television. It provides good sound, a quality picture, and a very confusing menu. Well worth the money, and I highly recommend it. This is the only 'television' I have in my house and I don't use it often. I live near Los Angeles where signals are strong, but I could still use a better antenna on some channels in the lower frequencies.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It is really nice to have TV on laptop!!, June 5, 2010

By 

Ghassan N. Azeez (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hauppauge 1143 WinTV HVR-1500 Notebook Express Card HDTV Tuner/Video Recorder (Personal Computers)

I bought this product so I can watch my favorite shows on my laptop which is dell inspiron 6400. it comes with nice antenna, but do not expect to watch all the broadcasting channels ( you still need to consider antenna booster).
this TV tuner is compatible with vista windows media center which is something amazing to use to watch TV. it also has a nice software to watch analog TV and listen to the radio,and it supports cable TV.
the product withdraws are few but it bring concerns, like it becomes really hot when you plug it in the slot ( i do not know if this is something normal but i plugged the tuner for a long time and it seemed to work fine with the high temperature it reached,that is why i did not call the manufacturer for details and which i may do in the future).
I do recommend the use of cool environment for the laptop when the tuner is plugged in (consider fans), also consider an external antenna if you want to watch all the broadcasting channels.

please remember to check what kind of cards is your laptop compatible with like is it express card OR express MINI card OR PCMCI(which is OLD nowadays).