Customer Reviews

OnAir GT - Mobile DTV Receiver & DVR for PC (HDTV-GT)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

My history of PC-based HDTV tuners and PVR software:

1. Pinnacle Pro USB Stick - Kept saying there was no signal when there was a fine signal - returned.
2. ATI 600 USB - Catalyst Media Center software would not display some channels, was resource intensive, slow to respond, and unreliable - returned.
3. SageTV - user interface did not display correctly on my PC - abandoned.
4. BeyondTV - unreliable - often said it could not display or record due to no device or signal, even though both were present - abandoned.
5. Hauppage 1600 PCI - did not try their software but worked better with BeyondTV, but still unreliable - returned.
6. OnAirGT - Software is reliable and responsive. Only weakness I've identified so far is that the scheduler is not sophisticated, e.g. like TiVo, on the other hand you don't have to pay for it - I ordered another.

Conclusion:
The most important criteria is quality and reliability. OnAirGT was the only software/hardware I tried that was reliable and responsive. User interface is reminiscent of foobar2000 music player and VLC video player - not flashy or polished but works reliably and has the options I need. Its not designed to be a media slinger or media center, just allows you to watch/pause/record TV, which it does simply and well. In the beginning, I was hoping to use BeyondTV, or SageTV, so I could have a good software that would work with any tuners I acquired. Since I could not make either of these softwares work reliably, with any tuner, my hopes were dashed, and I opted for OnAirGT hardware and software, which works well all the time. I no longer question if a show that is scheduled to be recorded will be recorded, or if I'll have to reboot in order to be able to watch TV, or finish the program I'm watching, or get around a problem channel... I use TitanTV to assist in program scheduling and after a long fiasco of dissappointment am mostly satisfied (there are a couple of minor annoyances that I've learned to work around, which I would mention if I had more time... as well as some features I've discovered that made me smile :-)

I've tried several usb tuners and this one works the best. Great HDTV reception. It also has analog reception which is good because there aren't many over the air HDTV signals where I live yet. The supplied software is simple to use and works well but not allot of bells and whistles. This unit doesn't seem to load the CPU as much as the others I've tried.

This device truly fit the bill. I was looking for a way to watch TV on my computer while I'm away from home and this product really works. Included in the box is the OnAir GT itself, a small antenna, mini-B USB cable, S-video cable attachment, carrying pouch, and instruction manual.

Setting it up was extremely easy but I'd recommend forgoing the initial setup and going immediately to the company website to download the latest drivers/tuner program. It installed in minutes and before I knew it, it was up and running. The clarity is very good especially in digital and just outstanding in HD. More than this, it allows for recording of any content displayed and I was able to easily record the opening of the 2008 Olympics opening ceremony in all its HD glory. In addition, it allows for scheduling of future recordings and they can either be one-time deals or repeated occurrences. It has an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) that works well enough to display what's immediately on in the future, but for week away recordings you will have to set it up manually. This comes in handy for those shows you want to catch but don't have time to get it while it's on TV. It will easily save them for later but beware that HD recordings (for this product and all others) is HDD intensive and creates very big files.
Perhaps the best thing about this product is that it works on slower computers. My laptop is only a 1.7Ghz Intel Celeron M, 1GB RAM, 400Mhz FSB, and 64MB video card machine. This product allowed me to watch TV without taxing my components or overheating my computer. This is one of the main reasons to get this instead of a Hauppage or similar product. (As a side note, check the company website to make sure your video card is supported.)
Lastly, as I mentioned before, you have the ability to watch cable or OTA TV but you can also hook up a peripheral such as a game console, VCR, etc. by the composite or S-video cords that are included. I was able to play my slim PS2 successfully on my computer with no delay in responsiveness at all. This is probably one of the better ways to get a game console to be played on your computer, especially if you do not have video inputs on your PC.
Overall, I am extremely satisfied with the product and its capabilities. The price is a bit steep but it is definitely worth it for watching TV (and acting as a DVR) or hooking up video peripherals.

It was difficult for me to find a tv tuner for my laptop that did not require a much higher processing speed, dual core processor or windows media center software. I had tried a pinnacle product and it was crap. I just wanted to get my cable onto my laptop with HD channels included in a viewable state. I was very pleased with the GT after my experience with pinnacle. The antenna that was included actually managed to pick up most of the local HD channels, but none of the analog and you may need another antenna if not connecting to cable. I was able to schedule recordings and replay without a problem. I did not care that the program guide did not work because I always go to my comcast tv guide anyway. I only give this four instead of five because there was no instructions to go with using the software, although information is available on-line.

Everything works - almost - but if you don't have EPG data sent by your cable company, you'll have to use a 3rd party tool for guide information (like TitanTV). So, it's just lacking in the PVR department.

Both analog and digital do not work in any other program (except for SageTV), so programs like MCE and GBPVR that work better for scheduling can't suppliment the lack.

There is no timeshifting functions for analog signals, but the signal quality is quite good and the CPU usage is low for both viewing and recording.

This is a great product and the software is very stable. Like others have said, it will not work with either Media Center 2005, or Vista Media Center because the software encoder for analog video isn't supported by microsoft. If you are looking for a hybrid tuner that works in Media Center I would suggest looking at the OnAir Creator, It has the same tuner and also has a hardware analog decoder that is supported by Media Center. I don't know if it will work as a Digital Over the Air tuner in media center or not as I don't get any over the air signals in my area. Media Center does not support QAM tuners so that option is out. I gave this 4 stars do to the lack of a full feature tivo like electronic program guide. Scheduling manual recordings is pretty simple, but you need to know what channel the program you want to record is on, and manually set the time for it as well. Even with the lack of a good EPG I would highly recommend this item, It has some of the most stable tuner software I have ever used, and they regularly update and improve it all the time. Add in the NVIDIA decoders and this really sets its self apart.

I purchased this unit after doing exhaustive reasearch and found it to fit my needs for a tuner. Yes, it actually brought in crystal clear pictures as long as you are within range of the TV transmitter(s). I live about 40 miles from the transmiter and To get a picture I had to use an external antenna which I placed as high as I could outside and received great pictures in digital, and even the analog pictures were generally good, although some snow was present on a few of the channels. I tried using the antenna that came with it for my test at 40 miles, but was unable to receive reception from that far away. I drove to Phoenix (close to transmitters)and tried the tuner with excellent results on my laptop. You sometimes need to scan for channels more than once to lock in all available channels. The software works okay, but could be better. I am pleased with this purchase and would buy it again if needed. This tuner costs more than other brands, but I feel it is well worth it. In this case you get what you pay for.

The OnAir DTV receiver functioned as advertised after I installed it and I am very happy with the product.
It is much better than what I had before which was the Artec T14 USB DTV receiver. I actually bought two of them: One for myself and the other as a possible gift. The one for me lasted maybe a month or so and worked well until it crapped out suddenly one day...Installed the other one that I had and that one worked for a while, then it went south. By this I mean that with both of them Windows wouldn't recognize them. Tried everything to get them to work...Nothing. Both of them felt more than just warm, more than I would think should be and it makes me wonder if they literally cooked themselves. Who knows 'cause I don't!
So, if you want something that works and are willing to pay a bit more to get what you want, go with the OnAir. It's worth it. More features to boot!

I paired this product with an EEEBox PC running XP connected to my HD TV. It is able to decode all of the unencrypted QAM cable channels and the analog cable channels. I use it to watch TV as it replaced my HD cable box which costs $9/mo to 'rent'. The record-scheduling works well and for digital channels, you can use the play-back buffer so you can pause and rewind. The play-back buffer doesn't work for analog (you can only record analog unless you get the next model up of the receiver). The EEEBox is a 1.6GHz Intel Atom based PC with 1GB ram. It can keep up while recoding and displaying at 1920x1080 with this device. Rewinding and fast-forwarding with the play-back buffer is a little jumpy though... probably because of the CPU demands. The remote does not have a great range (maybe 12ft). In a larger room, you might want to program another remote to get more range.

The downloaded drivers and SW seems to work w/o problems. The exception is that there is some contention with the scheduler and viewer if the the device's USB port is changed. Make sure you don't have anything scheduled to record (past or future) if you switch ports. I found the driver will throw an exception when the viewer's channel is changed if you do this.

The interface isn't as good as a DVR's interface... especially when using the remote. I would say it is adequate. If I would do it over again, I would still buy this product.

I bought this tuner hoping to use it to record unencrypted digital shows from my cable. When I first connected it to my cable I could receive all the analog channels but only 1 digital channel. After checking their support page I discovered that it needed a strong signal so I installed a cable amplifier between the unit and my cable. I could then received 4 digital channels. Both of my digital TVs can receive 12 channels. I then purchased a more powerful cable amplifier and was able to receive 6 digital channels. I am not very impressed by the fact that this unit cannot receive digital channels that an ordinary digital TV can.