Customer Reviews

Pinnacle Systems 8230-10023-51 PCTV HD Card - PCI

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

 

 

I got this item off of Woot a few weeks ago, and it's been sitting in the box/clear plastic casing until today. So far (after 3 hours or so), it looks good. The card initially did not like scanning for over-the-air channels without an external antenna, but when I ran out to Best Buy to get one, it was appeased. I've since disconnected the antenna and returned it to Best Buy, and everything seems to be OK. I guess it just wanted an antenna to be present at the get-go, and then it doesn't bother checking again? Maybe I just did a mis-configuration during the initial install; I can't blame the manual on this one, as it was (shockingly enough) well-written and easy to understand. One thing I noted is that scanning for channels is definitely worth the wait for the Best Quality mode. It takes *forever* (especially scanning for over-the-air HD), but you will only get the channels that look good (no fuzzies, for example). If you don't care much, then Quick and Normal are both fast, but Quick obviously won't search as "hard" as the Best Quality and Normal modes will.

The software that comes with the card is OK. It's a bit confusing at first, but a little bit of looking around and playing with it has sufficed for me to learn it. I have managed to get some strange errors when trying to set Favorite Channels; I think a developer somewhere needs to check his code. I had to uninstall/reinstall to fix it (hence the 4-star rating). Recording is good (I've not seen the lack of sound/picture mentioned in a previous review), but it is highly system-dependent. I believe the minimum requirements for HD recording/viewing are a gig of RAM and 2.8 GHz on the processor; I meet the RAM requirements but only have a 2.4 GHz proc, but it still works fine.

The remote is sound...after you connect the receiver to the card. Don't do what I did and expect the remote to work right out of the box (well, after you put in the batteries); it won't do anything, and you might think it's broken. Once the sensor is installed, though, it works great. Being able to channel-surf from the comfort of my computer chair is hard to beat ;)

It's also got a built-in radio tuner for both Internet radio and radio-radio. I know that this isn't a hard thing to do, but it's nice. Sometimes you just want to listen to the radio instead of watch TV, especially when that game you want to follow isn't televised and you have to listen to it over the radio instead. It's a nice touch on the part of Pinnacle.

Overall, I'd recommend this card. I've used products from Pinnacle before and found them wanting, but they seem to have gotten this one right. Not a bad buy!

I bought this card so I can watch HDTV on my PC. I was not expecting super duper HD experience on PC, but was simply wanting a better quality than my expereinces with WinTV, Lifeview PVR, Avervsion, etc...

I was also looking for a TV card with ClearQAM demodulation capability. Most of the ATSC TV cards only demod over the air (OTA) modulation with is a 8-VSB modulation, but cable TV uses a 64-QAM and I prefer watching the unencryted HDTV from my cable company than figuring out where to aim my HD antenna...

Out of the box (if you can call the clear plastic casing box), this card is small, simple looking and easy to install. Once it is installed, I turn on my computer, pop in the CD, the software installation is a cinch, but there is no ClearQAM channels. Upon a closer look and a search on the web, I found that this product is ClearQAM ready (not ClearQAM already). To actually see the ClearQAM channels, you need to download the beta version of the TV software from Pinnacle. That make you think that there must be something really wrong with the software, else they ship it with the box.

The beta software installation looks just like the included software, but this time in the configuration stage, there was the ClearQAM scanning, and it found all the unencryted HD channel from Comcast cable. I think the software could have done a better job asking whether the user is connected to cable or antenna, as it took a while to find the right button.

So I started watching. Although I do indeed receive HD and standard TV, the HD program is choppy, it stops or the picture turn into rough pixels when there is an action scene or if I attempt to run something else. Recording HD results in similar choppy pictures and sounds.

The standard TV is okay, but when I start to record, the sound and picture stops. The recorded file is okay.

I tried to accelerate my PCI bus, but the problem remains. I then find on the box it says minimum system requirement for SD is Pentium 4 2.4GHz and for HD is Pentium 4 2.8GHz. I only have a Pentium 4 2.4GHz with 768M of memory so it is insufficient.

At this point, unwilling to upgrade my system just to find out if the problem will go away, I returned the product. The search on the web I don't see many people with my problem so I am willing to believe if only I have a better system...

Overall, I think the concept of a ClearQAM enabled TV card is good, the installation is straight forward. Maybe a little too much system dependent, so I give this product a 3.

After reading a number of so-so and negative reviews, I almost didn't buy this tuner, but I couldn't resist the (relatively) low price. Pinnacle just recently (June 2008) posted an upgrade to their PCTV program, so if the claims others have made about outdated software were an issue for you, they aren't anymore. Also, I think most people who've had problems with this tuner are using Windows Vista. I personally can't stand Vista and use Windows XP Pro on my system. I followed the simple set up procedures which involved first installing the card into my PC, connecting my cable and the included FM antenna, and then installing the software. Once the software was installed, I ran it, and it picked up every channel I currently get from cable, including all the "free" HD channels, which included 10-15 local stations. I've been using it for a few days and so far no problems. One suggestion though, make sure the remote receiver is directed straight toward where you will be sitting while using the remote, because it's a little picky about getting a signal from the included remote if there is something in front of it or if it's aimed off to one side or the other. All in all, this is a great tuner, and I'm glad I wasn't turned off by the negative reviews.

I bought this card to replace an existing tuner card that doesn't have HD capability. I use comcast cable and Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.

I'll be switching back to the old card for the following reasons:

- The audio is completely messed up. Try searching for this product with the search term "audio sync" and see I'm not alone. The card works for a while then the audio gradually gets more and more out of synch with the video, until it's off by up to two seconds. Completely useless and unwatchable.

- The picture quality is poor. Compared to my old non-HD card, the picture quality is quite noticably worse. Who cares though, the audio problem is a show stopper.

I did not buy this from Amazon, I'm just hoping to save someone else the mistake of buying this thing.

This is now a great product. When I first purchased it, I used it on 32-bit Windows XP, and had to use the Pinnacle software it came with for watching TV. The software sometimes crashed, I would have to uninstall and reinstall, and it wasn't very usable software either. But it mostly worked. The software and the drivers have since become much better, so a lot of the reviews from several months ago are really outdated.

I've since switched to 64-bit Vista Ultimate, and use Media Center to watch television. I only watch over the air TV, not ClearQAM, but for ota it works perfectly. Even though the drivers are technically in beta, it hasn't had any problems whatsoever. I also use it with an Xbox 360 Media Center. It handles minor static during bad weather a heck of a lot better than the Pinnacle software did, too. If you're going to get this card, which is a pretty good card, I'd highly recommend getting Media Center as well.

I'd also like to note that although this tuner card works great alone, if you buy two of them, they will not work together, so avoid that.

I wanted a simple one with not allot of input crap. I mostly just watch expanded basic cable. It does come with a cable that allows all the inputs a person might want. It does digital cable too so wont be out of date in a year. remote works very well. easy easy install.
support sucks,long wait to talk to a less than inspired CS rep at pinnacle.
fm ant is weak but i dont want that mine is in a bad spot to be fair
picture is great and easily adjusted if needed- interface good.
they only have a xp beta HDTV software which you need to go to their site to get thus the call to pinnacle. Full of bugs, dont use it. I rolled back to the driver supplied with the card its solid with xp.

The product itself works quite well, as designed and stated by the manufacturer. The setup process is a little bit time consuming, however.

The real problem here is for Comcast users. The problem is not with this product, it's with Comcast's ClearQAM support. It's nearly non-existent!

You can currently get all of the basic channels in analog (which obviously precludes HDTV), however only your local channels will show up in HDTV using the digital service. Almost all other Comcast channels use encryption and are completely unviewable using this product.

So - comcast users, do NOT buy this product. You will not achieve the result you're looking for.

Yep, I just got one of these after three years of no tv. Off the top of my head, it (in combination with that terk antenna)is worth every cent. It does what they say it will do. So, why the four stars instead of the 'wishedfor 5 stars'? Simple--a 13 hour to 24 hour down load to get their update with a 5.6k dialup. They should have included an extra disk.

Anyway, oldtechno didn't get this to record or any of those type things--just to watch tv. My entire review is based on just watching.

1. It does everything they said (as far as I know)
2. The price is right for the quality of tv-ing I received. (Please take into account I got that card plus the 'terk' antenna combination).
3. Even though my system is too slow for most of the digital channels, it does display them. Some of them run fine--nice and clear (the antenna?)
4. If you decide to buy one, you might check with Microsoft's home page and make sure you've got all the downloads. I had to download four hours worth...two of them. One of them had to be done twice--that's irritating.
5. For those of you who purchase that 'terk' antenna, I want you to remember--it doesn't look exactly like the picture. You see the stand that holds it up...you see that 'rod' sticking out--and the swirls going around it?.....well, those aren't swirls. I thought (from the picture) one of the ham radio people had designed it and put in three 'halfwave' antennas together (don't ask me how) and this would have fit the description I saw in the photo. NOT SO. Take a pencil and a piece of paper. Draw a line straight up. Near the bottom of the line, draw a bow shaped line (one that looks like the bottom of the letter U). Draw several more, each one smaller than the other. Think of it as a Christmas tree draw by a five year old. Now take that picture and turn it one its side.......that's what the antenna looks like. Plus it has dipoles--that's a techno's word for rabbit ears. But I will tell you now--IT DOES WORK.

What's the bad side to this...?...for my part (just watching tv) there isn't one--other than the down loads.

Oh yes, before I go, I don't remember which it was, the card or the antenna instructions--it sends you to a 'antenna' site. DO THIS, it tripled the channels I could receive.

BYE!

Dont Buy it. ive tested it, At my Win XP PC it worked, but not as they say, so many bugs, to slow, and many other problems.
At Win Vista dindt Work.
Tested it At Win7 and it doesnt work at all
the quiality is the worst.
for this price there are to many that are much better than this. i would recommend it even for my worst enemy.

I Hate pinnacle system

Well, installing the card was easy. Using it, not so much. It doesn't work with Windows Media Center with out some "extra" work. Once I upgraded to Windows 7 I tossed this card for something that might actually be functional. Support from Pinnacle is non-existent. The included software does make this card functional and somewhat useful, but it is slow and cumbersome. Save your money and buy and HDHomerun or a Hauppauge.