Customer Reviews

Sabrent TV-ATSC Dual ATSC & Digital HDTV and Analog TV Tuner / Video Capture PCI Card with Remote Control Vista Ready

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I haven't got this thing working yet, but that's part of what drives me to include a warning amongst the rave reviews here. The thing comes in a crudely labeled generic made-in-china box that does not show the name "Sabrent" or any other brand name at all.

There is not one word of documentation. The ports are not marked (not the tiny miniplug, regular miniplug, DIN, coax, none), nor is anything else. The company chose to save maybe 3 cents by using a tiny "mini-CD" (the format some videocameras use) instead of a normal CD for the drivers and (according to the label) an array of software. My CD/DVD drives will not read a mini-CD or even recognize its presence, and I've seen this complaint elsewhere, so it's not just me.

OK, so I went to the Sabrent website for drivers and documentation and software. Ooops, too bad, the page does not list this model at all. I sent them an email using their incredibly cumbersome form, and I'm still waiting for word from them. I will follow up with news if there is any.

Lastly, be warned that Amazon has mislabeled this product. It is NOT a "dual" tuner; it is a HYBRID tuner.

Bought this card..wouldn't work with Vista. Wouldn't work with XP either. Don't bother with this card. It is just a waste of time and money.

The PCI card was bundled with an older version of software from Blazevideo (version 3.5) current version of software from Blazevieo is 6.0.

After installing the software, shutting down my computer took as long as three minutes (normally takes a few seconds) to shut down.

BlazeVidio suggested that I try the new software to see if it fixed the issue(6.0 trial version) and the PC shuts down normally.

BlazeVidio says the only solution to this shutdown issue, is for me to buy the newer version of software to make it work correctly. Without the BlazeVidio program (or some other Vidio program to watch TV programs through this card), this card is worthless.

Jim Garrett

This card installed just fine and all appeared to be working as it should, except that the main image was in black and white. Everything else showed in color as it was meant to be, i.e., thumbnails, previews, etc., but the main screen: B&W. I tried to contact Blaze (software) via email as their offices are in China: no answer through 10 days. I tried to contact Sabrent (hardware): no answer through 10 days. I even called the software distributor in Utah as it was the only available toll-free #, and they could not assist me.

I tried three different antennae thinking that the card may have been sensitive to that input but: B&W.

All my existing avi, mpg, wmv etc. files also played in B&W through this device. I gave up and am returning the purchase to Amazon, and am going to try a different manufacturer.

This ATSC PCI card is a good choice for those with a tight budget. The card installed easily and I had no issues with the drivers or the default software.

The only thing I didn't like was that it uses RCA (aka headphone jack style)inputs for the composite inputs instead of actual composite jacks. So its a bit of a mess having 5 cords coming out of this thing. Aside from the crowded nature of all the wires it needs, it works great. The NTSC tuner (analog) does ok, and looks good for its price range, but still not on par with todays more expensive analog tuners. Also note that it doesn't come with a adapter cord for the composite inputs. I already had one when I bought this, but if you intend to use the composite inputs, you will have to get the cord separately.

I gave this one 4 out of 5 stars. If you're looking for a cheap but decent ATSC tuner, I would recommend this one. This one does a decent job at picking up weak DTV signals. I'd recommend this over any USB alternative to HD.

Just keep in mind you will need to by an additional cord if you intend to use the analog inputs (other then the RF jack that is)

I bought it a few days ago, and tried hard to find a HD channel over anttena, however, I was failed. But another card I tried can catch over 10 channels using the same anttena. So I returned this Sabrent card.

I bought this tuner for use with Vista Ultimate and it works great. Since then, I upgraded to Windows 7 and it will not work. Media Center recognizes the card, but does not receive signals for channels. I contacted Sabrent and initally, they said it would work. I have tested it with other computes in both 32 and 64 bit Windows 7 systems and it will not work. I ask Sabrent Tech support if they actually tried with with W7 and they never responded back.

Don't get it if you plan on upgrading to W7.

This card did work OK with the analog tuner. However I have never been able to see anything with the Digital Tuner. My DTV is hooked up on a nearby TV plug and works perfectly fine with digital signals. There is no brand so you won't find any support from the card manufacturer. The card came with BlazeDTV 3.5 software. I tried to get some help from BlazeVideo by email but got a generic Copy/paste answer from their support team not answering my question. Good luck.

This card is easy to install, easy to set up and easy to operate. The price was great and the shipping was quick and on time. The card has better receiption than the USB TV tuner that I have.

I tried this product in two computers (one Vista and one XP) and could not get it to work in either one. The first product I have purchased from Amazon that was not satisfactory. What I did learn was that the Amazon return policy is every bit as good as promised.