Customer Reviews

Kworld USB2.0 Tv Tuner Atsc/qam Watch Record Digital HDtv On Pc

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I bought this KWorld 340U at a local electronics store since it was on sale. I am thinking about canceling my cable service since it has just gotten too expensive over the years. I wanted to see if Windows Vista Media Center, this tuner and an antenna could serve as a reasonable alternative to the HD DVR I currently rent from the cable company. The short answer is yes. Long answer is below...

I am using it with a Dell E521 (dualcore AMD x2 3600, nVidia 7300LE, 4 GB RAM, Vista Home Premium) and it works well, though honestly I wouldn't try running it on a computer any slower than this. Watching or recording a HD broadcast uses about 50% of the processor and it can drop a few frames here and there if something intensive is going on in the background like a virus scan. But most of the time it works great. Video quality is outstanding. I have a 22" widescreen LCD with 1680x1050 resolution connected via DVI. It has more resolution than all but the most expensive 1080p HDTVs, so you can see the peach fuzz and caked-on makeup on your local newscasters' faces.

I installed the software which included the driver and a clone of Windows Media Center (which I promptly uninstalled). After that Windows Media Center recognized the tuner instantly. I hooked up a set of rabbit ears I had laying around and it scanned and found all the ATSC channels in about five minutes. (The dinky antenna in the box didn't pick up any channels inside.) Then it downloaded the program guide from the internet. It is much easier to use and has a more attractive interface than the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD supplied by my cable company.

I can schedule recordings, pause live broadcasts, fast forward, rewind and do everything a dedicated DVR can do without a monthly service fee (like Tivo) or paying the cable company $100+ a month.

Apparently it can also pick up unencrypted digital cable channels but I haven't tried that since there's no jack near the computer. Also note that it does not pick up NTSC (traditional analog) broadcasts from the antenna. But those are going away in a few months so this is not too much of a drawback.

Highly recommended. It is "certified" for Windows Vista and I see no reason to pay more for a Hauppauge or other name-brand tuner. This probably has the same chip inside anyway.

The gizmo itself seems to be alright. It gets reception as good as my other tuners, but the driver for XP that came with the CD caused my machine to blue screen. I had to get an update from the manufacturer's website, which was hard to find by way of thier menu. I ended up just googling it. Anyway, the newest driver works better. It's not perfect though. If I load it after I load service pack 3 for XP, then all my tuners quit working. At least thet's what I think is happening. So I load it while it is still service pack 2 then I load service pack 3, and it works okay.

Don't even bother with the drive on the CD. Go get the latest driver available.

I don't know about the other software that comes with it. I use sagetv, and it works okay with sagetv.

I have a Sony Viao Laptop with Windows Vista Home edition. I wanted a back up for my cable tv in case of electrical outages, or cable outages and to use while out and about too. This product seemed to fit the bill, and it does a fine job. I found the program that came with the device did not perform very well, but using it with Windows Media Center worked great and removed their program. I pick up all the stations around where I live and has a very good picture, even with the antenna that came with it, inside or out. Installation was simple, followed the instructions that came with the device.

Can pick broadcast signal but not that much. After 2 months of use, It won't pick up cable channels very well. I have Motorola Signal Booster but the stuttering is pretty annoying. The ArcSoft Totalmedia (bundled) software is pretty basic and you need to rename all the channels manually. You cannot add channels by rescanning it, or else you'll loose some of your working channels. If there's no heat issue on Artec T18AR, I would recommend Artec for best reception.. it can also pick up other (clear QAM) channels that are not include in your service (same as Samsung HDTVs).

You can also find KWORLD PlusTV 340U reviews on the internet with similar problems.

I purchased this to use during power outages during hurricane season, My little 5" portable will not receive the digital signals. It would never receive but one channel .To my supprise when I installed this device on my laptop it found 7 channels.I like it so much I sent my son,who lives in Iowa one for Christmas.They have weather related power outages and they can use it when they go camping.

I never got this to work on a windows machine Service Pack 3. The software wanted me to downgrade to Service pack 2. Also the kworld site is a dread, this product is not even listed. There is no driver support.

Stay away from this kworld product, spend a couple bucks more and get something thats actually listed on the manufacturers site!

Very satisfied. The TV reception on the computer is just like any normal TV. Highly recommend this product. Easy to install, setup and use. Came with other uses on the CD, photo, video etc. I do not use the program for that but it was an unexpected bonus.

Never buy one used that's all I must say. For the most part I think it was a perfect product and it serves it's purpose well. Great for laptops.

Did not work for me because it had no analog tuner. However it feels very fragile and the USB connection was not the most stable.

I'll try to keep this one short and to the point. First, I have been making a living by knowing how to use and service Windows; the PC this was installed on is a very stable XP box. Basically it worked OK for a couple of months, I got more channels than my analog TV, but the reception on several would cut out for a few seconds at a time for no reason; I could accept that. But then it just stopped working; no reception at all. I tried reinstalling, reconfiguring and even tried new drivers (which wouldn't install) basically have come to the conclusion that it's junk as none of the drivers included recognize the hardware even though Windows says it's still there. This will be my first and last Hauppauge.