Set-Top Box Wrangling
Photograph: Marc SimonIf you have digital cable or a satellite receiver, you'll have to change television channels on the set-top box, unless the TV tuner has an infrared blaster--a cable connected to the TV tuner that beams channel-changing commands to the set-top box. Of the five tuners reviewed here, only the WinTV-PVR-150 comes with an IR blaster. The absence of this feature in other products in our roundup makes scheduling recordings a hassle: You must remember to change the channel on your set-top box prior to recording.
The ultimate TV convenience is, of course, the remote control. The AVerMedia UltraTV USB 300 is the only tuner here that neither comes with a remote nor offers one as an option. The ADS Tech and Hauppauge PCI tuners include an infrared remote. To use those devices, we had to plug the IR receiver's cable into the card and then place the sensor end in the remote's line of sight. The Hauppauge USB tuner has a built-in infrared sensor, so we had to keep the box in view.
We tested the ATI TV Wonder together with the company's optional Remote Wonder. This remote uses radio frequency, so it doesn't need line of sight (we could change channels from another room). The ATI remote costs $49 ($25 if you've purchased the company's USB tuner). It comes with a receiver that plugs into a USB port. The included EazyLook software boasts a slick interface that is designed for TV viewing and channel changing at a distance. The software defaults to a full-screen TV image, and the interface looks like that of any PVR we've seen.
These attractive features, along with undiminished image quality while the unit records time-shifted video, make the ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0 the best of the external tuners. If you have a set-top box and an open PCI slot, however, the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 should be your first choice: Its infrared blaster will ensure that your scheduled recordings don't go awry.
Emru Townsend
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