HAUPPAUGE WinTV-DualHD Dual USB 2.0 HD TV Tuner for Windows PC 1595,Black

I have been using a HTPC for years now, but I have always had Avast Tuners because they cost less. They still deliver HD and seem to work just fine. I bought a HAUPPAUGE tuner for my Xbox-One, which I highly recommend, and noticed immediately that the quality was better, and I received more channels even on the little tiny included antenna. So I decided to buy this tuner for my computer to see if I would get a better signal on a few channels that had been dropping out. Not only did I get stronger reception on those channels, but a few channels that never scanned at all on my other tuners now came in.I still use WMC as my primary means of scheduling and recording, and it works great with these tuners. The included software however was a big plus for me because of the ability to have two side by side streams. This is an excellent way to watch sports. I will say however that having two channels running in 1080 display on the screen at the same time side by side is fairly taxing on your CPU but I never saw any lag issues. I may buy another because having two of these as 4 tuners is much easier and less clutter than having 4 individual tuners.** For anyone who has never owned something like this **This is a simple USB adaptive tuner for your computer. You install it and it allows you to watch and record local over the air (OTA) programming. This generally includes CBS, Fox, NBC, ABC, CW, PBS and whatever other local stations you may receive.Almost all versions of Windows prior to windows 10 included Windows Media Center which is a program that allows people to watch, record and schedule recordings of shows. If you have a new computer that no longer includes this software this tuner includes a software key to install Hauppague's own software for watching and recording shows. It's not quite as nice or easy to use visually, but it works just fine. (The major distinction is that WMC was designed to work on a TV and with a remote, while WinTv is a legacy software program designed for use with a mouse and keyboard)This is a dual tuner which means you can watch two channels at the same time, or watch one and record another, or record two channels at a time. There is a small antenna included in the box which will work if you live in an urban area. For the best reception however use a larger antenna like the Mohu leaf (or any other decent antenna).Final note, if you are recording shows in HD (as almost everything is now) you will need a very large amount of space. I don't know the file sizes for the included WinTv software, but the files for WMC are on average 2-3 gigs for a 30 minute show. A 3-4 hour football game will take up between 20-25 gigs of space. It will almost be essential to have an additional hard drive dedicated to recordings. Of course this depends on how much you want to record and keep.

This is a really well made ATSC/QAM TV Tuner. Setup is easy and the software works great. I am getting lots of over-the-air DTV channels with this device on my Windows 11 notebook computer.

I have had this for almost one year now and it's been working well. Only have a couple times when the recording was corrupted and failed. I was impressed today with their customer service when I needed to install the software on my new computer (Windows 11) and had lost my activation code. They actually have a little program that comes with the device that scans your device and give you all the information about it. I was able to get the model and serial number from running the program and with a short "chat" with customer support was given my activation code and WinTV is running well now on my new computer. I had used Homeworks version of TV before but it had way too many crashes so I recommend WinTv but it will have a failure once in a while so no five stars, guess that's just the nature of this kind of device. Hope this helps :-)

Great little double tuner. I have absolutely no problem with this. I use it to watch and record tv from my laptop.You get a FHD signal. It records FHD tv directly to your hardrive like a DVR.It plugs into your usb port and connects the other end to a tv antenna to bring in the signals.I just bought a new one but my original one I bouight 10 years or so ago works perfectly fine.Whatever stations from OTA you can get on your regular tv you can get with this gizmo. Of course its does not have Smart tv technology so you can not get those free live tv wifi channels that Smartv's offer.But just like a DVR you can schedule recodings by date and pause live tv with this little powerhouse. It also has PIP, and with the dual tuners inside you can record one show while watching another show. Or you can record two different shows at once by scheduling a recording on one tuner and then turning to anoter channel and simply hit the record button to record that channel.It also comes with a small credit card size remote which is useful for starting and stopping recording but not much else. You really should use the touch pad to do most of the things as trying to do something simple like changing channels. While this can be done with the remote the process will take longer than simply using the touchpad.In other words unlike our smart tv's where a remote is absolutely necessary, you will most likely find that especcially for your laptop this remote is not needed. as your laptop itself is basically an oversized remote with a fancy readout screen etc.Set up is pretty easy and straightforward. You just download the software for it on their website. It works on Mac or PC most versions. After that, just like a regular tv you have to scan for the channels which is quick. I get all the channels in my area no problem.Unlike smart tv's that will freeze and pixelate due to internet issues etc, you will not get this problem with this tuner card.So with my two units on two different laptops I can record 4 different channels all at the same time (or 2 different channels if you only have one) much like your DVR, thanks to the dual tuners.The software even comes with your local tv listing that will need an internet connection to browse through.So I highly recommend this over any other similar model you may see.