Customer Reviews

Pinnacle PCTV USB2 ( 210100387 ) TV Tuner and Video Capture Device

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

 

 

i purchased this product, it worked great for 2 days and now suddenly no longer responds (reinstalled, rebooted etc no help). i looked for help by posting problem on pinnacle support forums and have received no answer for 2 days and counting... i have now been on hold with the non toll-free tech support for 55 minutes and still no answer... avoid my mistakes and look elsewhere...

I own a top of the line PC: Athlon 64 3500+, Nvidia 6800, WinXP Pro card, etc. etc.
Pinnacle PCTV crashed the WinXP Pro during the install phase and freezes the Windows XP ever since. Both Pinnacle Tech Support and Forums Suport do not read the questions and send irrelevant answers. They also suggested replacing my PC - What a joke! Don't buy it unless you are SURE that you can get reimbursed in full if it does not work for you! Don't even dream on counting on Pinnacle's support.

After reading a couple of negative reviews, I tempered my enthusiasm for buying one of these but did so anyway since the price was right (I received a $20 rebate). In short, the device has far exceeded my expectations. My intended use for it is on the road with my Dell 700m laptop (with XP SP2), which has a 1280x800 display resolution. Given some of the reported driver problems, I was a bit concerned that the laptop's rather unique screen size might pose a problem with the PCTV, but was wrong. Install was trivial. On system reboot after the install, the software runs a comprehensive diagnostic to make sure everything is in order. For me, everything worked as advertised. I also installed the software on my desktop just to see the comparison, especially since my desktop is a two monitor system. If anything, it works even better there, although I can't drag the TV window over to the 2nd monitor.

The image is far superior to the 7" LCD TV I have for use during power outages we may get in Florida courtesy of hurricanes, and at about 1/3rd the cost, not to mention at a tiny fraction of both the weight and the size. In fact, at full screen it is at least as good as any TV set at a comparable distance. This was a pleasant surprise, although I personally would consider it a waste to use my desktop as a full size TV. The fact that you can record using it is gravy. The (measured) power draw on my laptop's battery is nominal, almost no worse than running without it.

I would have rated this product a 5, except for the following annoyances, none of which is fatal:
a) as I'm sure Pinnacle is aware, the driver needs more work. In messing with the "fine tuning" controls, I blue-screened my laptop's system. While I have not experienced any spontaneous failures of this sort from the software (unlike my experience with products from larger companies ... hear that Sony?), it is something that shouldn't happen and indicates some elements of the driver are not quite right. I have now run the product for a number of hours with no other failures, and that includes bringing it up and down, plus competing with other processes for system resources.
b) you can manually set most channels, but the interface does not show Channels 2,5, and 7, one of which is used by one of our local stations (however, it does pick it up under auto-scan). It's a mystery as to why these channels are not present for manual setting. Perhaps more annoying, there does not seem to be any way to retain two sets of channel settings, say one for cable and another for antenna.
c) the system comes with a remote control, which I won't use, but does not come with an antenna. I would suggest to Pinnacle that it makes more sense to provide an appropriate travel antenna and skip the remote. I now have to locate a suitable antenna to replace the length of coax I've been using for tests (the coax actually provides a startingly clear picture on some channels).

Since my install was problem free, I can't say anything pro or con regarding Pinnacle's support for the product as I have no pressing reason to contact them.

All in all, I think this is a superior device, so long as you plan to use it with an appropriate machine (USB2 is a must, and your hardware probably should be of relatively recent vintage, for example). The device is very light and compact and so makes a nice addition to my travel machine, not to mention provide me with an exceptional emergency TV.

If I could give it NO stars I would. IT'S A RIP-OFF!!
Those reviewers who found this product OK are only using it as a TV device, not for external video capture. Sure, it works adequately as a TV device (so the one star is probably justified after all) but it is emphatically NOT a video capture port as supplied. Pinnacle's own bundled software does NOT support video input (neither for live display nor for capture) via the temptingly-annotated Composite or S-Video ports. It only 'sees' inputs on the UHF (TV) antenna input. Pinnacle have been promising to include this functionality for over 6 months but, so far, NADA!! Of course, the only way you can get to see the deluge of negative feedback this generates is to purchase the product to gain access to the support forums. The public aren't allowed in...
Here's kicker #1 - if you're prepared to spend the same money again Pinnacle will sell you their Studio 9 application which (I THINK) supports these external (non-TV) video inputs.
Now for kicker #2 - alternatively you can buy (again for a comparable ADDITIONAL cost) a third-party app called ShowShifter which has absolutely no problem seeing, displaying and capturing the extra inputs in this Pinnacle-branded product but somehow Pinnacle don't know how to do it (or maybe they do but they prefer to force you to pay twice for the same horse).
If you're looking for video capture as opposed to just watching or recording off-air TV then DON'T BUY THIS DEVICE.
One final point (Amazon, are YOU listening?!) - Pinnacle manages to get around potential accusations of criminal deception by cleverly avoiding any claimed Composite or S-Video functionality on the packaging - IT'S STILL A RIP-OFF, the inputs are clearly shown on the box . What's worse Amazon are close to being duplicitous in this rip-off by clearly labelling the two offending non-functional inputs thus implying that they actually DO something. They don't, not out of the box, but they will if you're prepared to purchase additional software (if you must buy this product I'd recommend ShowShifter - I know it works and besdies, I'd resent playing into deceitful Pinnacle's hands by paying them twice).

BUYER BEWARE !!

David Harte
United Kingdom

It didn't work! The support people at Pinnacle is useless. My question number is 041007-000056 and since 10 days ago I am still waiting for some help from Paul (the guy at the support line).

Avoid this product, it has serious engineering problems.

Though this product doesn't deliver the video quality of a tv, it is perfectly adequate for watching and recording cable. The drivers and software have no conflicting issues with my Windows XP pro OS. Setting up times and recording shows are self-explanatory. Works very nice, stays out of the way, and best of all, is USB 2.0 compliant. For an inexpensive way to watch tv on your laptop on the side, this product will work well for you.

After sitting around in a drawer for years I finally got mine working in XP! You need to download the driver and make sure you have a real USB 2.0 port and that it actually works. I couldn't get the stupid thing to work for years because Pinnacle wouldn't provide drivers and the USB ports on my Intel motherboard didn't work properly. Now I've got a new computer with good USB 2.0 ports that work OK and the driver is installed but the ironic thing is there are no more analog TV channels to watch now!
A good way to test the USB ports is to get an internet radio thumb drive like the one from Muzee and plug it in and try it. It is just a flash drive that's formatted like a CD-Rom with the internet radio player program on it and when you plug it into the USB port the PC thinks it's a new CD-Rom drive and uses Autorun to automatically start the program and run it so you don't have to load any software. It will only work if your USB 2.0 ports work properly. You also need a fast computer such as a 2.8Ghz P-4.
After getting the driver installed you will have to decide what you want to use it for. It will work with TV DVR programs like Chris TV or Sage TV but you can just use Media Player Classic or even Vidcap32 if all you want to do is view the video. Note that you have to use a program the has the ability to change TV channels and select the correct input to use, either the TV antenna or RCA or S-Video inputs but they can't all do that.
The driver is a file called "PCTV 70e 80e 100e 320e 330e 800e 880e.zip" from Pinnacle Systems Gmbh. To get the file go to pctvsystems dot com, select Support then TV Tuners and under Downloads you will find an option called Download > Driver. Then under External USB products there is a listing for Analog products and under that you will find PCTV USB2 (100e). Click on Download and it takes you to the Pinnacle FTP site to get the driver, PCTV 70e 80e 100e 320e 330e 800e 880e.zip.
When you unzip the file there are both 32 and 64 bit drivers and it's supposed to work with XP or Vista. I didn't try it with Vista but it works OK with XP.
Also I found this unit will work OK with software that comes with ATI tuner cards called Catalyst Media Center to record or receive channels. By feeding composite video into it you can record in 1 hr. increments until you run out of hard drive space which is great for copying the programs on old VHS tapes or saving security camera footage.

As a TV tuner it functions OK. It isn't anything spectacular, but when one considers the comparatively high resolutions that computer monitors produce (as opposed to traditional PAL/NTSC televisions) the quality is rather good. A previous reviewer claimed that the A/V inputs were not functional. That is absolutely false. I currently have my Xbox plugged into it and am playing it windowed on my PC. My complaints are that 1) There is a video lag with the inputs, 2) The provided software is sketchy at best, and 3) Pinncale demands extra money to 'unlock' different encoding methods, (i.e. Mpeg-2, Mpeg-4, VCD, etc.) In short, it does what it says, but that is about it.

I bought this Pinnacle device for the promise that it would allow me to transfer my VHS videos -- chiefly home movies -- to DVD format. It simply did not work. I get good picture and good sound but the two do not sync even though my cpu and hard drive meet all of the specifications to run both hardware and software properly. I tried defraging the hard drive and suspending all tsr programs but got the same results. The remote works ony hap-hazardly even though there are fresh batteries in it and the test program provided indicates that the device is receiving the signal. I can go on but by now I am sure any reader will have got the message. If I could send the device back for a refund, I most certainly would.

This is the second Pinnacle product I have bought that has not lived up to claims made. Well fool me twice but no more. The bottom line: Boycott anything Pinnacle!