Avertv Hybrid Volar Max

(Update January 30, 2012: there is a Windows Media Center-Only version of this product, which is identical to the unit described below, but comes without the packaged software, and is slightly cheaper. I acquired it recently, will post a review in its section, you can find it here:  Avertv Hybrid Volar Max TV Tuner Kit for Windows MTVHVMXSK )Although I am returning this unit to Amazon, and replacing it with the  Avertv MTVHBNOER Hybrid Nano Express (Retail) , which uses the PC Express Card bus rather than USB, this is simply because on the Lenovo laptop I tried to use it with it just doesn't perform well enough on the USB bus. There are (you can read the manual before you buy at the Avermedia website) very specific performance requirements for this unit, and I would suggest that, if you are unsure of what your system can handle, you stick with those. HD TV with Dolby 5.1 audio needs a lot of horsepower.Let me take the opportunity to laud Amazon for its terrific customer service - when my order did not arrive even though the USPS said it did, I emailed customer service, and within an hour I received an email stating Amazon had put another unit on order, with two day UPS shipping at no charge. A followup email provided a no-charge mail link so I could return the other unit should it arrive. The second unit shipped that day. Impressive customer service, people.Having said that, I tried this tuner only under Windows 7, with the Windows Media Center that is packaged with that operating system. The software that comes with the unit works, I think it is intended for PCs that have no tuner software, but it does not work very well, and my suggestion is to use the Media Center, which, under Windows 7, runs this tuner like a native. You can find the drivers-only for the tuner as a separate download at the Avermedia website, and I would suggest you install those and try to run the Media Center first, you do not need to install the packaged software at all. Under Windows Vista and Windows 7, you see, a TV tuner is recognized by the operating system (that is part of the reason Microsoft has integrated the Windows Media Center in those versions of Windows), and handled as an integral part of your computer, it isn't an "alien" device, so to speak.Once the drivers are loaded (do this before plugging it in for the first time!), the Avermedia device is recognized and the Media Center will offer to have it detect and program all available broadcast channels - analog TV, digital TV, digital radio and FM radio. If your computer is set up to display HD TV (which normally requires an HDMI connector, and an HD flat panel TV set up to display at a 1920x1080 resolution at 30 or 60 Hz) you can watch and record HD TV "at full throttle", so to speak - please remember, most PCs do NOT provide that resolution natively, but need an external HD display for it! If connected via an HDMI cable, and with a Dolby decoder built into the TV, or connected through the TV, this unit will provide full spec HD. Pretty amazing.Other reviewers here have tried this unit with antennas - my reason for buying it is that I wanted to put a recording device on my Comcast cable feed. I do have a Tivo with a Cable Card, but when connecting a new flat screen to my home theatre setup, I noticed that Comcast pumps a complete unencrypted TV feed down the cable wire, apart from what it sends to the Cable Card the Tivo needs to function. I discovered this accidentally, they don't tell you there is a "standard" cable feed as well. It is worth checking out, mine has 180 channels, partly digital, some of which do not appear on the Cable Card.Doing specifically this, the Avermedia tuner picked up all available channels flawlessly, and Windows Media Center downloaded the entire programming schedule for it, once I had told it my location and cable system. This is, to me, the only way to use this tuner - the TV schedule Windows pulls down from the internet is free, you can see what is on, program detail, and you can check the schedule a week ahead of time and program anything you want to record (provided your PC is fast enough - recording HD television with Dolby 5.1 audio, both of which the tuner receives and makes available, requires a LOT of horsepower.But it is there, and if you want to play with TV, or if you want a cheap DVR/PVR, this unit works very well, and gives you all the advantages of a cable company DVR.

I purchsed this unit as it came recommended on the microsoft site for tv tuners, external, that work with windows 7 (this one is also listed as working with media center). My intent was to have this tuner function as part of a HTPC using win7 media center.Out of the box, media center recognized the hybrid volar max as both an analog and digital tuner. After setting up both tuners, and allowing media center to scan for channels for 20 minutes, no channels were found. The analog tuner also would not function. As a benchmark, i then tested in the mediaCenter software provided by aver; the tuner functioned as advertised. It was able to detect 125 analog channels, and quite a few digitals.Following forum advice on [...], i applied the win7 driver from the avermedia site (the win7 driver released on 11/09/09). When i ran the tv tuner setup in windows media center, this time only the analog tuner was found. The analog tuner *did* work somewhat in media center, showing 20 analog channels. Comparatively, the aver mediacenter showed 125 analog channels (about 80 of which worked).I then removed the new win7 driver, reverted back to out-of-the-box state, then ran setup in media center again. This recognized both tuners again. After the scan which yielded zero channels, i entered manual setup and added 30 QAM channels that i had tested as unencrypted and working in aver media center. Still, none of the digital channels worked.I thought as a last effort to call the tech support for aver. When i finally got through, i spoke with Felix (product manager), who has posted on [...]. His first recommendation was to call microsoft (thanks?). I then explained the depth of research and testing i had done with the device, to which he ultimately told me to re-run setup in media center, and manually add the channels (saying, just do it again, it will work). Obviously this was of no aid to me, so i have since moved on from the device.I am using Time Warner Cable, in Orange County, CA.