ATI ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0 TV Tuner Model 100703156

ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0

ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0 TV Tuner Model 100703156 Review, by Emru Townsend January 3, 2005

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• Reviewed by: rtaggert

  Strengths: works better than my other TV-Tuner. Records programs OK, in fact, records better than live broadcast viewing which can shudder on both my IBM T40p 1.6Ghz ATI 9200 and Dell D820 2.1Ghz Core Duo Nvid

  Weaknesses: color is bland, important software updates work only with newer ATI cards installed, it over heats!!!--really.

  Overall: How can anyone use a PVR that over heats after a few hours of just being plugging in---not in use? This is very bad. Also, new software updates greatly improve this products performance but check the support section of there website because the updates don't work with non-ATI graphics cards and older ATI cards. This product does not perform nearly as well out-of-box as it does with the latest updates. It works best with my mini-tower with an ATI X1300, works just ok with my 4 year old IBM T40p with ATI 9200, and has software issues with my new Dell D820 Nvidia NVS 1100. It is better than my budget PCI TV Tuner on my mini-tower. There is a new model called ATI TV Tuner 200 usb 2.0 and support for the problems with this model may come to an end soon.

• Reviewed by: Pesakovic

  Strengths: Price, features

  Weaknesses: Installation

  Overall: I got one recently (used), and after reading the reviews I decided not to do the installation from the original CD, but to download the manufacturer's most recent drivers. I've got two desktops, similar configurations, both recently purchased from DELL. No problems with the first one, fast setup and everything works fine. Not with the second computer. I could not make it work no matter what I did. Every time I tried to turn on the TV I got the error message "the TV player failed to initialize". After several hours of trying I finally gave up and decided to call the customer support. Not having to wait for long, I was given a link to download another set of installation software and since then everything works fine. The interesting is that the drivers were older that those I put on the first machine. The picture and sound quality are satisfying, I like the features it offers (especially the GUIDE+), and all together I think the tuner is worth the price. It gets worm after some time though.

• Reviewed by: y2kelly

  Strengths: Very portable unit, good software package, easy installation

  Weaknesses: gets a little hot if on for several hours

  Overall: I had to update my video drivers and also my ATI Mobility Fire GL 9000 Video Adapter in my IBM Laptop had a bios update for my video card that I installed. I also updated DirectX as well. I found that when I installed the ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0 device w/out all of the video updates, it was a little glitchy on the tv capture; however, after I installed all of the updates and then re-installed the ATI TV Wonder software it worked Beautifully! I've had it for about six months and haven't had a single issue. This is truely a great capture adapter. Be sure to make sure you have all your video updates, etc...

• Reviewed by: rjmichaelson

  Strengths: Nice picture, good controls, good recording features. Cool effects like see-through "video desktop"

  Weaknesses: In my hands it did not play well with WinXP Pro SP2 for some reason. I dual boot with XP Home SP2 and I got it to work with the original installation CD. Resource hog. Warm operating temperature.

  Overall: I originally installed this unit on a Dell Dimension 8250 with 1 Gig RAM and 2.8 Mhz Pentium 4 under Windows XP Home edition, using the included CD, and it still works fine under that configuration. Later installed it from the CD on XP Pro SP2 and although it initially worked I started getting error messages similar to the other posts, and the last few weeks I just got an error message that the program would not start at all - the Microsoft error reporting service message only indicated that this was ATI's problem and that they had no other information to offer. I tried reinstalling using the available programs from the ATI website but had no luck, got the same error messages. Tonight I had a few hours to sit down and figure it all out, and from other user reviews and the ATI website I gathered enough information to get it to work in XP Pro. To install the new software for the TV Wonder USB 2, one has to have the newest DirectX preinstalled, and one must also remove the old ATI software, and I mean REALLY REMOVE THE OLD SOFTWARE! It is not enough to just go to your control panel and uninstall the software. In order to get the instructions from ATI, "737-20905: Uninstalling the Previous Multimedia Center Software", you have to register your product on the website and log in under a user name and password. The instructions for completely purging this software printed out on five pages, and involved not just uninstalling the software but also deleting several entries in the registry and deleting several program folders and Windows temp files. This process also involves several restarts. AFTER all of that you have to install four separate programs in sequence to install the updated software, and this also involves at least one restart. The new set of software programs does not include the sort of TV Guide software that was on the original install disk, but I don't miss it since such information is readily available online. THEN, it does indeed finally work, and it works well. I don't think all of this time and hassle would be the sort of thing the average consumer would want to go through - this is more on the level of a serious computer hobbyist - I found the installation of the updated software more time-consuming and complicated than a reinstall of Windows or Linux. If you are like me and enjoy such tinkering, however, it is quite possible to get the TV Wonder USB 2 to work. It has its own power supply, and although my unit is definitely warm it is not too hot to touch, and that heat and power drain is external to my PC's case. If you don't like to mess with things like altering the registry, though, you definitely are taking a gamble whether or not this device will properly install from the included CD.

• Reviewed by: catnthat

  Strengths: Good Idea

  Weaknesses: Doesn't worK!

  Overall: I could not get it to install on my laptop. Config: Compaq Presario 2105 with AMD Athlon XP 1800, 512 MB RAM, 64 MB RADEON 320M graphics.Hardware installed and checks O.K. in system. The programs supplied by ATI do not recognize it. I used the CONFIGURATION option to check PC and it would not recognize my Graphics card. It said that a RADEON card is the minimum... did I mention that I HAVE one! Also it said I failed the DirectX test. It recommended I reinstall DirectX 8.1 or higher (I'm running 9.0c)! Very frustrating!!! After reading all the other problems that people had with this product I think that I will return it. Sure it'll run on my desktop - but I bought it for my laptop!!! And I exceed the minimums on my laptop but it still won't work. The unit did get hot. It does look and feel cheep. Support from ATI was not helpful or easy to get (no FAQ or valuable online help).Piece of trash if you ask me - I'm very disappointed and expected more from ATI!