ARTEC Digital TV Receiver T14AR | 
 enlarge
| Brand: ARTEC
Category: CE
List Price: $59.99
Buy New: $39.99
You Save: $20.00 (33%)
New (3) from $39.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Color: Black
MPN: T14A
Model: T14A
UPC: 743843019012
EAN: 0743843019012
ASIN: B000HKH1VO
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Features:
| • | Supports ATSC Protocol | | • | USB2.0 High Speed Interface Designed for HDTV | | • | Digital Terrestrial TV and Radio Program Play | | • | Channel Autoscan at 6 MHz | | • | Portable Device without any extra power required |
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
You can now turn your PC or laptop into HD Digital TV anytime, anywhere with this Artec T14A Mini USB 2.0 Digital TV Tuner - at a low cost! Simply connect the TV Tuner into your USB port with the USB extension cable and antenna provided, and install the software required - and you are ready to view HDTV. Please check system requirements before purchasing to ensure your PC or laptop supports this function.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Terrible drivers November 13, 2008
Now, I know it seems odd that I'm giving this thing 1 star even though so many other people have given good reviews. The reason though is that if you don't have Media Center this thing very quickly becomes a nightmare. I've installed this on 3 different computers with the following results:
Vista Basic Laptop: Initially the tuner worked OK on this laptop, and the only issue was that the scheduler/remote software would sometimes start using up 100% CPU (note that these programs run even when you're not watching TV). I got sick of that, so I uninstalled it. When I tried installing it later, the newer Vista drivers won't even let you scan for channels correctly in their own TV tuning software. And you cannot add channels manually in that software!
Windows XP SP3 Desktop: Worked right after install, but after a reboot of the computer it had a lot of trouble working right. I tried countless combinations of the various drivers I had, and unfortunately some of the driver installations had the software installed with it so certain combinations of software and driver versions weren't possible (very annoying since one of the older drivers seemed to work better, but I couldn't use the new software since it required that I uninstall the old software first...which removed the drivers as well).
Windows Server 2008 Desktop (like Vista): I upgraded my desktop to Server 2008, and ran into the same problems as my Vista Basic laptop-it won't even scan for channels.
Windows XP Laptop: Tried it on another laptop out of desperation to get at least one computer to make it work-so far it's working but I wouldn't count on this lasting.
So, in summary, if you don't have some version or another of Media Center, be prepared for headaches. And in fact, if you have Vista be prepared for it to not even work in the least because the current driver version is ridiculous. Worst yet there's no place to get older drivers, so you're basically out of luck if the drivers you can get don't work on your system. Terrible.
 Artec USB Digital Tv Tuner May 31, 2008
Works well, I will purchase a much better attenna , Also I have 1GB of ram and it locked up my Laptop and I am running a Dual core processor. But I upgraded to 2GB's of ram and it runs flawlessly, I picked up 14 channels in my local area with the cheap attenna. Now I will not miss a NFL game on Sundays when I have to work.I think that was 39 dollars well spent
T14A USB Digital Tuner January 10, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I found this little device to be very exciting. I live more than 35 miles from the transmitting stations in Chicago and I get all but two digital stations with the included antenna.
Pros: The picture is crisp and clear. The antenma is small and compact and works well. You can record programs to your hard drive and view later. You can take still high resolution snap shots as the programs are played. The price is very reasonable. You get Wide Screen HD TV on your PC for a very small price.
Cons: There is a capability to schedule recording to your hard drive, but with Win XP MCE I have, it does not work. I downloaded the lastest SW from their web site and the scheduling was fixed but the application is unstabe and hangs. So I stuck with the SW which came with it and live without the scheduled recording feature.
Overall, I highly recommend buying this device!
What you would expect June 30, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This was actually a good piece of hardware, it does what it advertises. I picked up a couple of HD channels, ppl have been complaining about the software but i used Vista Media Center which accepted it with no hassle. Though it does get hot after a couple of hours of use, but that's expected in a tuner.
great for what it does June 7, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This produces very clear pictures and I really like it. But I don't know how the alternatives perform. However, the issues I've observed are:
- gets REALLY hot and can't use for very long
- works WORSE when you plug in the antenna
|
|
|
