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 Product Description
This AUGUST USB Freeview HDTV Receiver is a "magic wand" as it can turn your laptop or desktop computer to a high definition personal multimedia centre that allows you to watch over 30 free digital channels, listen to over 20 digital radio stations, record your favourite TV programmes on your hard drive or burn it onto a DVD.
It comes with a professional and user friendly software interface, mini antenna and remote control. All you need to do is to plug the device into a USB port of your computer, insert the CD and install the software by following the instructions. Your computer will start working immediately for you as a portable TV and recorder. You can watch TV programmes live or record onto your hard drive to watch later.
An indoor antenna is provided to watch Freeview in the areas where the signal is strong, an amplified antenna may improve reception and a rooftop aerial should be used in some regions. An aerial adaptor is also provided for you to connect this device to your roof top aerial.
Please note that there may be difficulty to receive freeview TV signal by the included portable antenna in some areas where the signal is not sufficiently strong. This is due to that the freeview service (www.freeview.co.uk) in the UK does not fully support portable TV antenna at present. The reception will be improving along with the progress of Digital Switchover Program(http://www.digitaluk.co.uk). A signal amplifier or booster may improve reception capability in regions where the signal is marginally strong. (please note that reception capability may also be affected by various factors such as proximity to freeview TV/digital radio transmitters, tall building structures, thick walls, ceilings and etc.). A rooftop TV aerial may be required to watch freeview channels in regions where the signal is insufficient for a portable antenna.
Customer Reviews
A cheerful device with great price!!, 07 Nov 2008
I find the August USB Tv receiver fantastic! It's a nice gadget at an attractive price. It works perfectly fine on my IBM. The set up was very simple following the instruction. The blazevideo software is easy to use and the interface looks cool with a bundle of different features!
I use the supplied aerial since I don't have a rooftop aerial. I assume the freeview signal where I live will be good as I am living in London zone 2. Given the price is cheap I thought it is worth a go.
It came up about 52 channels on the EPG list included 8 or 9 radio channels. I am very glad as it has most of the channels I like: ITV1-3 Sky sports news, E4+1, Sky Three, Five, Five US BBC1, BBC2, BBC3 BBC news 24,Sky news 24, and some shopping channels etc. It has more channels than the previous TV card I used on my PC. But it does depend on the signal strength of the area you live and the aerial location.
The TV subtitle works fine and the picture quality of the channels that i did get is surprisingly clear. Very impressed.
This small usb device is great value for money and lots of fun! Highly recommend!
Amazing kit, 05 Nov 2008
This is an amazing device, I am very impressed that such a tiny device can turn my laptop to a digital TV and recorder. The set up was easy, put the autorun disc into the CD drive, install the driver and Blaze player, then scan for channels. I could not get any channels using the small antenna provided where I live, which is not a surprise for me after reading other people's review, fixing to an ordinary roof aerial solved this problem, and easily picked up all the Freeview channels and radio. The remote is very handy and gives me more freedom to control the programs. Over all, very happy about this item, excellent value for money.
Not worth 1 star Dont buy this, 30 Oct 2008
I decided to buy this product after a colleague had bought a similar device from a supermarket and had some success in receiving numerous channels.Do not buy this product you will only be disappointed.The quality is flimsy the aerial lead is too short and it has never found a channel in my experience in any place i have tried around the country.After assuming it must be the area that i was in ,i then proceeded to connect the device to the house aerial which i have no problem obtaining every available channel with my digibox.However this product managed to find 4 in total which is beyond belief.Do not buy this product it is only a waste of money.
Not worth the effort, 15 Oct 2008
This item is very flimsy and simply did not work. The aerial connection is extremely fragile. The supplied aerial found no channels at all. I plugged in a portable aerial (that picks up all channels when plugged into a TV in the room) and got a message saying "no signal". Also, the USB ports on my PC are on top of each other, the USB stick for this device is so large that I cannot plug anything into the USB port below at the same time, effectively for me takes 2 USB ports! There are no installation instructions which I guess is not a great loss as it is fairly simple - insert the CD, load the drivers, plug in the USB but when there are problems more instructions/help would be useful. For instance, should the LED on the USB be on? On mine it is not. Does that mean there is a fault? Who knows. Definitely going back.
Great TV, 04 Oct 2008
I followed all instructions to the letter and was lucky enough to have a rooftop aerial connection. When searching for channels it showed 'no signal' constantly and I thought I had a major problem but when finished it showed 66 channels found. I have been able to watch TV and record programmes etc. So far, I'm very satisfied with this item - not bad for a 71 year old lady!!!
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Product Description
This AUGUST USB Freeview HDTV Receiver is a "magic wand" as it can turn your laptop or desktop computer to a high definition personal multimedia centre that allows you to watch over 40 free digital channels, listen to over 20 digital radio stations, record your favourite TV programmes on your hard drive or burn it onto a DVD.
It comes with a professional and user friendly software interface, mini antenna and remote control. All you need to do is to plug the device into a USB port of your computer, insert the CD and install the software by following the instructions. Your computer will start working immediately for you as a portable TV and recorder. You can watch TV programmes live or record onto your hard drive to watch later.
An indoor antenna is provided to watch Freeview in the areas where the signal is strong, an amplified antenna may improve reception and a rooftop aerial should be used in some regions. An aerial adaptor is also provided for you to connect this device to your roof top aerial.
Please note that there may be difficulty to receive freeview TV signal by the included portable antenna in some areas where the signal is not sufficiently strong. This is due to that the freeview service (www.freeview.co.uk) in the UK does not fully support portable TV antenna at present. The reception will be improving along with the progress of Digital Switchover Program(http://www.digitaluk.co.uk). A signal amplifier or booster may improve reception capability in regions where the signal is marginally strong. (please note that reception capability may also be affected by various factors such as proximity to freeview TV/digital radio transmitters, tall building structures, thick walls, ceilings and etc.). A rooftop TV aerial may be required to watch freeview channels in regions where the signal is insufficient for a portable antenna.
Customer Reviews
A cheerful device with great price!!, 07 Nov 2008
I find the August USB Tv receiver fantastic! It's a nice gadget at an attractive price. It works perfectly fine on my IBM. The set up was very simple following the instruction. The blazevideo software is easy to use and the interface looks cool with a bundle of different features!
I use the supplied aerial since I don't have a rooftop aerial. I assume the freeview signal where I live will be good as I am living in London zone 2. Given the price is cheap I thought it is worth a go.
It came up about 52 channels on the EPG list included 8 or 9 radio channels. I am very glad as it has most of the channels I like: ITV1-3 Sky sports news, E4+1, Sky Three, Five, Five US BBC1, BBC2, BBC3 BBC news 24,Sky news 24, and some shopping channels etc. It has more channels than the previous TV card I used on my PC. But it does depend on the signal strength of the area you live and the aerial location.
The TV subtitle works fine and the picture quality of the channels that i did get is surprisingly clear. Very impressed.
This small usb device is great value for money and lots of fun! Highly recommend!
Amazing kit, 05 Nov 2008
This is an amazing device, I am very impressed that such a tiny device can turn my laptop to a digital TV and recorder. The set up was easy, put the autorun disc into the CD drive, install the driver and Blaze player, then scan for channels. I could not get any channels using the small antenna provided where I live, which is not a surprise for me after reading other people's review, fixing to an ordinary roof aerial solved this problem, and easily picked up all the Freeview channels and radio. The remote is very handy and gives me more freedom to control the programs. Over all, very happy about this item, excellent value for money.
Not worth 1 star Dont buy this, 30 Oct 2008
I decided to buy this product after a colleague had bought a similar device from a supermarket and had some success in receiving numerous channels.Do not buy this product you will only be disappointed.The quality is flimsy the aerial lead is too short and it has never found a channel in my experience in any place i have tried around the country.After assuming it must be the area that i was in ,i then proceeded to connect the device to the house aerial which i have no problem obtaining every available channel with my digibox.However this product managed to find 4 in total which is beyond belief.Do not buy this product it is only a waste of money.
Not worth the effort, 15 Oct 2008
This item is very flimsy and simply did not work. The aerial connection is extremely fragile. The supplied aerial found no channels at all. I plugged in a portable aerial (that picks up all channels when plugged into a TV in the room) and got a message saying "no signal". Also, the USB ports on my PC are on top of each other, the USB stick for this device is so large that I cannot plug anything into the USB port below at the same time, effectively for me takes 2 USB ports! There are no installation instructions which I guess is not a great loss as it is fairly simple - insert the CD, load the drivers, plug in the USB but when there are problems more instructions/help would be useful. For instance, should the LED on the USB be on? On mine it is not. Does that mean there is a fault? Who knows. Definitely going back.
Great TV, 04 Oct 2008
I followed all instructions to the letter and was lucky enough to have a rooftop aerial connection. When searching for channels it showed 'no signal' constantly and I thought I had a major problem but when finished it showed 66 channels found. I have been able to watch TV and record programmes etc. So far, I'm very satisfied with this item - not bad for a 71 year old lady!!!
Fantastic, love it!, 18 Nov 2008
This is a magic device and I loved it immediately. I can now watch and record my favourite TV shows in perfect quality on my new laptop. The set up was easy and straightforward. I could not get any channels using the small antenna provided, which is not a surprise for me as the Freeview switchover in our region will be 2012. Fixing to an ordinary roof aerial it easily picked up 68 Freeview TV and radio channels, amazing! The remote is very handy. The device can also be scheduled to record TV programs at a particular time in case you are not in. Overall, I am very pleased and look forward to spending a lot of time with it.
If you need a compact little heater this is it!, 14 Nov 2008
Purchased (about £30 at the time) as I wanted to be able to watch TV on my PC on the odd occasion. Loaded up the software plugged in my roof antenna and found 70 stations and off we went. Good picture pretty happy with the experience. After a few months I happened to notice that the unit was worryingly hot to the touch, I was pretty concerned so I called DVB support but said that this was normal and should not affect the units performance.
Guess what! Seven weeks out of warranty the unit lost signal the LED dimmed and the unit got EVEN hotter and I assume finally fried itself in the process, I contacted support but they were not interested as out of warranty. No replies to my emails either.
I have given it one star for as it was good while it lasted and it helped to heat my bedroom.
DONT BOTHER, 05 Nov 2008
Full signal and 100% signal quality and yet the sound keeps breaking up as does the picture, antenna supplied is pointless, i am 50 metres from a transmiter using an external aeriel so if you are further away than this from a transmiter dont waster your money
Great price, great device, 01 Aug 2008
First of all, the supplied antenna was no use at all, but no surprises there. I got no channels using that, when I used the adapter and plugged it into my main antenna however, I got 70 services. The picture quality wasn't quite a match for my TV, but it wasn't a million miles away.
Secondly, the supplied software isn't particuarly inspiring. It gets the job done but in a rough around the edges kind of way. If your a Vista user I strongly recommend using Windows Media Centre instead; you can't use the supplied remote but the picture quality and EPG are far superior.
Overall, a great bit of kit for the price, highly recommended.
Pretty good, depending on ...., 10 Jul 2008
August PC/Laptop USB Freeview/HDTV Receiver - Black (Star Winner from 'What Hi-Fi', 'What Video' & 'Active Home' Magazines) - Vista Compatible
Brought this as a gift for my father and tested it out before I gave it to him. I tested the device in two locations with two different aerials and the results were very variable.
Tested at work with supplied aerial, 3rd floor near a window. I could not receive any channnel's at all, very disappointing. Tested at home, again with the supplied aerial. This time I got 9 channels but some were the radio stations.
When I plugged this into my household aerial however the results were much better. Device found 66 channels, all the major TV stations and with excellent picture quality.
The supplied software seems ok, it has an EPG and allows you to record TV straight to MPEG 2 files. It did slow down a bit on my work windows XP machine but that could have been down to the PC itself (quite an old model).
Although I only did a few quick tests of this thing I was overall quite impressed. The only problems I had came from using the supplied aerial. I would probably advice anyone to through it out straight away. Investing a further £10 in a better quality portable aerial would be a very wise investment.
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Product Description
SAPPHIRE RADEON HD4870 512MB GDDR5 750MH
Customer Reviews
A cheerful device with great price!!, 07 Nov 2008
I find the August USB Tv receiver fantastic! It's a nice gadget at an attractive price. It works perfectly fine on my IBM. The set up was very simple following the instruction. The blazevideo software is easy to use and the interface looks cool with a bundle of different features!
I use the supplied aerial since I don't have a rooftop aerial. I assume the freeview signal where I live will be good as I am living in London zone 2. Given the price is cheap I thought it is worth a go.
It came up about 52 channels on the EPG list included 8 or 9 radio channels. I am very glad as it has most of the channels I like: ITV1-3 Sky sports news, E4+1, Sky Three, Five, Five US BBC1, BBC2, BBC3 BBC news 24,Sky news 24, and some shopping channels etc. It has more channels than the previous TV card I used on my PC. But it does depend on the signal strength of the area you live and the aerial location.
The TV subtitle works fine and the picture quality of the channels that i did get is surprisingly clear. Very impressed.
This small usb device is great value for money and lots of fun! Highly recommend!
Amazing kit, 05 Nov 2008
This is an amazing device, I am very impressed that such a tiny device can turn my laptop to a digital TV and recorder. The set up was easy, put the autorun disc into the CD drive, install the driver and Blaze player, then scan for channels. I could not get any channels using the small antenna provided where I live, which is not a surprise for me after reading other people's review, fixing to an ordinary roof aerial solved this problem, and easily picked up all the Freeview channels and radio. The remote is very handy and gives me more freedom to control the programs. Over all, very happy about this item, excellent value for money.
Not worth 1 star Dont buy this, 30 Oct 2008
I decided to buy this product after a colleague had bought a similar device from a supermarket and had some success in receiving numerous channels.Do not buy this product you will only be disappointed.The quality is flimsy the aerial lead is too short and it has never found a channel in my experience in any place i have tried around the country.After assuming it must be the area that i was in ,i then proceeded to connect the device to the house aerial which i have no problem obtaining every available channel with my digibox.However this product managed to find 4 in total which is beyond belief.Do not buy this product it is only a waste of money.
Not worth the effort, 15 Oct 2008
This item is very flimsy and simply did not work. The aerial connection is extremely fragile. The supplied aerial found no channels at all. I plugged in a portable aerial (that picks up all channels when plugged into a TV in the room) and got a message saying "no signal". Also, the USB ports on my PC are on top of each other, the USB stick for this device is so large that I cannot plug anything into the USB port below at the same time, effectively for me takes 2 USB ports! There are no installation instructions which I guess is not a great loss as it is fairly simple - insert the CD, load the drivers, plug in the USB but when there are problems more instructions/help would be useful. For instance, should the LED on the USB be on? On mine it is not. Does that mean there is a fault? Who knows. Definitely going back.
Great TV, 04 Oct 2008
I followed all instructions to the letter and was lucky enough to have a rooftop aerial connection. When searching for channels it showed 'no signal' constantly and I thought I had a major problem but when finished it showed 66 channels found. I have been able to watch TV and record programmes etc. So far, I'm very satisfied with this item - not bad for a 71 year old lady!!!
Fantastic, love it!, 18 Nov 2008
This is a magic device and I loved it immediately. I can now watch and record my favourite TV shows in perfect quality on my new laptop. The set up was easy and straightforward. I could not get any channels using the small antenna provided, which is not a surprise for me as the Freeview switchover in our region will be 2012. Fixing to an ordinary roof aerial it easily picked up 68 Freeview TV and radio channels, amazing! The remote is very handy. The device can also be scheduled to record TV programs at a particular time in case you are not in. Overall, I am very pleased and look forward to spending a lot of time with it.
If you need a compact little heater this is it!, 14 Nov 2008
Purchased (about £30 at the time) as I wanted to be able to watch TV on my PC on the odd occasion. Loaded up the software plugged in my roof antenna and found 70 stations and off we went. Good picture pretty happy with the experience. After a few months I happened to notice that the unit was worryingly hot to the touch, I was pretty concerned so I called DVB support but said that this was normal and should not affect the units performance.
Guess what! Seven weeks out of warranty the unit lost signal the LED dimmed and the unit got EVEN hotter and I assume finally fried itself in the process, I contacted support but they were not interested as out of warranty. No replies to my emails either.
I have given it one star for as it was good while it lasted and it helped to heat my bedroom.
DONT BOTHER, 05 Nov 2008
Full signal and 100% signal quality and yet the sound keeps breaking up as does the picture, antenna supplied is pointless, i am 50 metres from a transmiter using an external aeriel so if you are further away than this from a transmiter dont waster your money
Great price, great device, 01 Aug 2008
First of all, the supplied antenna was no use at all, but no surprises there. I got no channels using that, when I used the adapter and plugged it into my main antenna however, I got 70 services. The picture quality wasn't quite a match for my TV, but it wasn't a million miles away.
Secondly, the supplied software isn't particuarly inspiring. It gets the job done but in a rough around the edges kind of way. If your a Vista user I strongly recommend using Windows Media Centre instead; you can't use the supplied remote but the picture quality and EPG are far superior.
Overall, a great bit of kit for the price, highly recommended.
Pretty good, depending on ...., 10 Jul 2008
August PC/Laptop USB Freeview/HDTV Receiver - Black (Star Winner from 'What Hi-Fi', 'What Video' & 'Active Home' Magazines) - Vista Compatible
Brought this as a gift for my father and tested it out before I gave it to him. I tested the device in two locations with two different aerials and the results were very variable.
Tested at work with supplied aerial, 3rd floor near a window. I could not receive any channnel's at all, very disappointing. Tested at home, again with the supplied aerial. This time I got 9 channels but some were the radio stations.
When I plugged this into my household aerial however the results were much better. Device found 66 channels, all the major TV stations and with excellent picture quality.
The supplied software seems ok, it has an EPG and allows you to record TV straight to MPEG 2 files. It did slow down a bit on my work windows XP machine but that could have been down to the PC itself (quite an old model).
Although I only did a few quick tests of this thing I was overall quite impressed. The only problems I had came from using the supplied aerial. I would probably advice anyone to through it out straight away. Investing a further £10 in a better quality portable aerial would be a very wise investment.
Beware card crashes, 30 Oct 2008
I bought this to replace 2 x 9600 gt xxx cards, after fitting i ran a 3d vantage mark with a score p8860,and that was as good as it got, i was unable to play any games without the card crashing and having to reboot my pc,
I went on the ati site and to see if i could fix the issue i started by downloading the new version ccc and drivers 8.10 with the same end result
I decided to search to see if anyone else had the same issues and was amazed, thousands of people who have bought this card world wide are suffering with the same issues,
After digging deep for a solution ati said that the bios on the card may need updating, this is not very easy to do, as you have to go into dos and flash the bios there with a downloaded file, I decided not to do this. As the card is almost the same price as xbox 360 and ps3, when they get sent out they work.
why should i have to repare or reprogram a card i pay £170 for, fine to update drivers but this problem goes deeper. Avoid this brand and go with one with no issues.
Asus p5Q
Q6600
OCZ 4x1gb 800mhz
OCZ 650w
Radeon Saphire 4870 512
4 x coolers
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Product Description
Sapphire?s Radeon HD 4850 has been designed tomeet the needs of the most experienced users. The Radeon HD 4850 is targetedtowards gamers searching for a maximum number of images per second when they?replaying the latest next-generation video games, photography fans and those ofyou with an eye for graphics, because it displays the most striking images inhigh definition. The clock frequency of the 625 MHz graphics processorhighlights subtle tones and finite details in your applications, while its 512MB DDR3 RAM guarantees the fluidity you need to eliminate image lag. Immerseyourself in a world of 3D graphics, with the Radeon HD 4850 fromSapphire!
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Product Description
Sapphire's Radeon HD 4670 has been designed to meet the needs of the most experienced users. The Radeon HD 4670 is targeted towards gamers searching for a maximum number of images per second when they're playing the latest next-generation video games. pPhotography fans and those of you with an eye for graphics will also be more than happy, because it displays the most striking images in high definition. The clock frequency of the 750 MHz graphics processor highlights subtle tones and finite details in your applications, while its 512 MB DDR3 RAM guarantees the fluidity you need to eliminate image lag. Immerse yourself in a world of 3D graphics, with the Radeon HD 4670 from Sapphire!
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Product Description
Technical DataVideo Output / TypeGraphics adapterTechnical DataVideo Output / Form FactorPlug-in cardTechnical DataVideo Output / Interface TypeAGP 8xTechnical DataVideo Memory / Installed SizeMB512Technical DataVideo Memory / TechnologyGDDR3 SDRAMTechnical DataVideo Output / Graphics Processor / VendorATI Radeon HD 3850Technical DataVideo Output / Max Resolution (external)2560 x 1600Technical DataVideo Input / TypeNoneTechnical DataHeader / Product LineSapphire RADEONTechnical DataHeader / ModelHD 3850Technical DataHeader / CompatibilityPCTechnical DataHeader / ManufacturerSapphire TechnologyTechnical DataHeader / Packaged Quantity1Technical DataVideo Output / TV InterfaceHDTV outTechnical DataVideo Output / Graphics Processor ManufacturerATITechnical DataVideo Output / HDCP compatibleYes
Customer Reviews
A cheerful device with great price!!, 07 Nov 2008
I find the August USB Tv receiver fantastic! It's a nice gadget at an attractive price. It works perfectly fine on my IBM. The set up was very simple following the instruction. The blazevideo software is easy to use and the interface looks cool with a bundle of different features!
I use the supplied aerial since I don't have a rooftop aerial. I assume the freeview signal where I live will be good as I am living in London zone 2. Given the price is cheap I thought it is worth a go.
It came up about 52 channels on the EPG list included 8 or 9 radio channels. I am very glad as it has most of the channels I like: ITV1-3 Sky sports news, E4+1, Sky Three, Five, Five US BBC1, BBC2, BBC3 BBC news 24,Sky news 24, and some shopping channels etc. It has more channels than the previous TV card I used on my PC. But it does depend on the signal strength of the area you live and the aerial location.
The TV subtitle works fine and the picture quality of the channels that i did get is surprisingly clear. Very impressed.
This small usb device is great value for money and lots of fun! Highly recommend!
Amazing kit, 05 Nov 2008
This is an amazing device, I am very impressed that such a tiny device can turn my laptop to a digital TV and recorder. The set up was easy, put the autorun disc into the CD drive, install the driver and Blaze player, then scan for channels. I could not get any channels using the small antenna provided where I live, which is not a surprise for me after reading other people's review, fixing to an ordinary roof aerial solved this problem, and easily picked up all the Freeview channels and radio. The remote is very handy and gives me more freedom to control the programs. Over all, very happy about this item, excellent value for money.
Not worth 1 star Dont buy this, 30 Oct 2008
I decided to buy this product after a colleague had bought a similar device from a supermarket and had some success in receiving numerous channels.Do not buy this product you will only be disappointed.The quality is flimsy the aerial lead is too short and it has never found a channel in my experience in any place i have tried around the country.After assuming it must be the area that i was in ,i then proceeded to connect the device to the house aerial which i have no problem obtaining every available channel with my digibox.However this product managed to find 4 in total which is beyond belief.Do not buy this product it is only a waste of money.
Not worth the effort, 15 Oct 2008
This item is very flimsy and simply did not work. The aerial connection is extremely fragile. The supplied aerial found no channels at all. I plugged in a portable aerial (that picks up all channels when plugged into a TV in the room) and got a message saying "no signal". Also, the USB ports on my PC are on top of each other, the USB stick for this device is so large that I cannot plug anything into the USB port below at the same time, effectively for me takes 2 USB ports! There are no installation instructions which I guess is not a great loss as it is fairly simple - insert the CD, load the drivers, plug in the USB but when there are problems more instructions/help would be useful. For instance, should the LED on the USB be on? On mine it is not. Does that mean there is a fault? Who knows. Definitely going back.
Great TV, 04 Oct 2008
I followed all instructions to the letter and was lucky enough to have a rooftop aerial connection. When searching for channels it showed 'no signal' constantly and I thought I had a major problem but when finished it showed 66 channels found. I have been able to watch TV and record programmes etc. So far, I'm very satisfied with this item - not bad for a 71 year old lady!!!
Fantastic, love it!, 18 Nov 2008
This is a magic device and I loved it immediately. I can now watch and record my favourite TV shows in perfect quality on my new laptop. The set up was easy and straightforward. I could not get any channels using the small antenna provided, which is not a surprise for me as the Freeview switchover in our region will be 2012. Fixing to an ordinary roof aerial it easily picked up 68 Freeview TV and radio channels, amazing! The remote is very handy. The device can also be scheduled to record TV programs at a particular time in case you are not in. Overall, I am very pleased and look forward to spending a lot of time with it.
If you need a compact little heater this is it!, 14 Nov 2008
Purchased (about £30 at the time) as I wanted to be able to watch TV on my PC on the odd occasion. Loaded up the software plugged in my roof antenna and found 70 stations and off we went. Good picture pretty happy with the experience. After a few months I happened to notice that the unit was worryingly hot to the touch, I was pretty concerned so I called DVB support but said that this was normal and should not affect the units performance.
Guess what! Seven weeks out of warranty the unit lost signal the LED dimmed and the unit got EVEN hotter and I assume finally fried itself in the process, I contacted support but they were not interested as out of warranty. No replies to my emails either.
I have given it one star for as it was good while it lasted and it helped to heat my bedroom.
DONT BOTHER, 05 Nov 2008
Full signal and 100% signal quality and yet the sound keeps breaking up as does the picture, antenna supplied is pointless, i am 50 metres from a transmiter using an external aeriel so if you are further away than this from a transmiter dont waster your money
Great price, great device, 01 Aug 2008
First of all, the supplied antenna was no use at all, but no surprises there. I got no channels using that, when I used the adapter and plugged it into my main antenna however, I got 70 services. The picture quality wasn't quite a match for my TV, but it wasn't a million miles away.
Secondly, the supplied software isn't particuarly inspiring. It gets the job done but in a rough around the edges kind of way. If your a Vista user I strongly recommend using Windows Media Centre instead; you can't use the supplied remote but the picture quality and EPG are far superior.
Overall, a great bit of kit for the price, highly recommended.
Pretty good, depending on ...., 10 Jul 2008
August PC/Laptop USB Freeview/HDTV Receiver - Black (Star Winner from 'What Hi-Fi', 'What Video' & 'Active Home' Magazines) - Vista Compatible
Brought this as a gift for my father and tested it out before I gave it to him. I tested the device in two locations with two different aerials and the results were very variable.
Tested at work with supplied aerial, 3rd floor near a window. I could not receive any channnel's at all, very disappointing. Tested at home, again with the supplied aerial. This time I got 9 channels but some were the radio stations.
When I plugged this into my household aerial however the results were much better. Device found 66 channels, all the major TV stations and with excellent picture quality.
The supplied software seems ok, it has an EPG and allows you to record TV straight to MPEG 2 files. It did slow down a bit on my work windows XP machine but that could have been down to the PC itself (quite an old model).
Although I only did a few quick tests of this thing I was overall quite impressed. The only problems I had came from using the supplied aerial. I would probably advice anyone to through it out straight away. Investing a further £10 in a better quality portable aerial would be a very wise investment.
Beware card crashes, 30 Oct 2008
I bought this to replace 2 x 9600 gt xxx cards, after fitting i ran a 3d vantage mark with a score p8860,and that was as good as it got, i was unable to play any games without the card crashing and having to reboot my pc,
I went on the ati site and to see if i could fix the issue i started by downloading the new version ccc and drivers 8.10 with the same end result
I decided to search to see if anyone else had the same issues and was amazed, thousands of people who have bought this card world wide are suffering with the same issues,
After digging deep for a solution ati said that the bios on the card may need updating, this is not very easy to do, as you have to go into dos and flash the bios there with a downloaded file, I decided not to do this. As the card is almost the same price as xbox 360 and ps3, when they get sent out they work.
why should i have to repare or reprogram a card i pay £170 for, fine to update drivers but this problem goes deeper. Avoid this brand and go with one with no issues.
Asus p5Q
Q6600
OCZ 4x1gb 800mhz
OCZ 650w
Radeon Saphire 4870 512
4 x coolers
Saviour of my system ..., 27 Aug 2008
If, like me, you're still running an AGP based PC then you quite possibly installed an X1950 GPU some time ago. If you did then you're probably plagued by lockups, exceptions and bitmap noise that make UT-3 in particular unplayable. I paid £200 for my X1950 a year ago and today I installed this 3850 GPU for less than half that. Once I'd got the drivers right it runs like a charm and I've got system stability again. UT-3 is totally playable even at 1600 x 1200 and feels solid. My 3DMark06 score has gone up by a quarter too.
Drivers: don't be tempted to use the supplied drivers on the CD or worse still the latest Catalyst drivers for the 3850. The former are massively out of date and the latter don't support the AGP version. Instead locate the Hotfix drivers for the 3850 on the ATI Radeon site (customer support area) and use those. They work flawlessly with this GPU (so far).
This is the last great AGP GPU I'd imagine so the end of an era. A great end though!
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Product Description
Key Features: 128-bit floating point High Dynamic-Range (HDR) Built for Microsoft Windows Vista Dual 400MHz RAMDACs Dual DVI Support Dual Link DVI Full Microsoft DirectX 10 Support High-Definition H.264 MPEG-2 and WMV Hardware Acceleration2 NVidia Forceware Unified Driver Architecture (UDA) NVIDIA Lumenex Engine NVidia NView Multi-Display Technology NVIDIA Quantum Effects Technology NVIDIA SLI Technology NVIDIA unified architecture with GigaThread technology OpenGL 2.1 Optimizations and Support Specification: Certifications RoHS Chip Clock 650 MHz Chipset Manufacturer nVidia Chipset Model Name GeForce Chipset Model Number 9600 GT DVI Port Dual DVI (with HDCP) Form Factor Graphics Card HDTV Output Yes Marketing XFX GeForce 9600 GT 512MB PCI-E Dual DVI Graphics Card. Maximum Resolution 2560 x 1600 Pixels Memory Clock 1800 MHz Memory Size 512 MB Memory Type DDR3 Memory Width 256 bit Peripheral Interfaces SLI ready Shader Clock 1625 MHz Video Card Bus Type PCI Video Card Bus Version -E 2.0
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Customer Reviews
A cheerful device with great price!!, 07 Nov 2008
I find the August USB Tv receiver fantastic! It's a nice gadget at an attractive price. It works perfectly fine on my IBM. The set up was very simple following the instruction. The blazevideo software is easy to use and the interface looks cool with a bundle of different features!
I use the supplied aerial since I don't have a rooftop aerial. I assume the freeview signal where I live will be good as I am living in London zone 2. Given the price is cheap I thought it is worth a go.
It came up about 52 channels on the EPG list included 8 or 9 radio channels. I am very glad as it has most of the channels I like: ITV1-3 Sky sports news, E4+1, Sky Three, Five, Five US BBC1, BBC2, BBC3 BBC news 24,Sky news 24, and some shopping channels etc. It has more channels than the previous TV card I used on my PC. But it does depend on the signal strength of the area you live and the aerial location.
The TV subtitle works fine and the picture quality of the channels that i did get is surprisingly clear. Very impressed.
This small usb device is great value for money and lots of fun! Highly recommend!
Amazing kit, 05 Nov 2008
This is an amazing device, I am very impressed that such a tiny device can turn my laptop to a digital TV and recorder. The set up was easy, put the autorun disc into the CD drive, install the driver and Blaze player, then scan for channels. I could not get any channels using the small antenna provided where I live, which is not a surprise for me after reading other people's review, fixing to an ordinary roof aerial solved this problem, and easily picked up all the Freeview channels and radio. The remote is very handy and gives me more freedom to control the programs. Over all, very happy about this item, excellent value for money.
Not worth 1 star Dont buy this, 30 Oct 2008
I decided to buy this product after a colleague had bought a similar device from a supermarket and had some success in receiving numerous channels.Do not buy this product you will only be disappointed.The quality is flimsy the aerial lead is too short and it has never found a channel in my experience in any place i have tried around the country.After assuming it must be the area that i was in ,i then proceeded to connect the device to the house aerial which i have no problem obtaining every available channel with my digibox.However this product managed to find 4 in total which is beyond belief.Do not buy this product it is only a waste of money.
Not worth the effort, 15 Oct 2008
This item is very flimsy and simply did not work. The aerial connection is extremely fragile. The supplied aerial found no channels at all. I plugged in a portable aerial (that picks up all channels when plugged into a TV in the room) and got a message saying "no signal". Also, the USB ports on my PC are on top of each other, the USB stick for this device is so large that I cannot plug anything into the USB port below at the same time, effectively for me takes 2 USB ports! There are no installation instructions which I guess is not a great loss as it is fairly simple - insert the CD, load the drivers, plug in the USB but when there are problems more instructions/help would be useful. For instance, should the LED on the USB be on? On mine it is not. Does that mean there is a fault? Who knows. Definitely going back.
Great TV, 04 Oct 2008
I followed all instructions to the letter and was lucky enough to have a rooftop aerial connection. When searching for channels it showed 'no signal' constantly and I thought I had a major problem but when finished it showed 66 channels found. I have been able to watch TV and record programmes etc. So far, I'm very satisfied with this item - not bad for a 71 year old lady!!!
Fantastic, love it!, 18 Nov 2008
This is a magic device and I loved it immediately. I can now watch and record my favourite TV shows in perfect quality on my new laptop. The set up was easy and straightforward. I could not get any channels using the small antenna provided, which is not a surprise for me as the Freeview switchover in our region will be 2012. Fixing to an ordinary roof aerial it easily picked up 68 Freeview TV and radio channels, amazing! The remote is very handy. The device can also be scheduled to record TV programs at a particular time in case you are not in. Overall, I am very pleased and look forward to spending a lot of time with it.
If you need a compact little heater this is it!, 14 Nov 2008
Purchased (about £30 at the time) as I wanted to be able to watch TV on my PC on the odd occasion. Loaded up the software plugged in my roof antenna and found 70 stations and off we went. Good picture pretty happy with the experience. After a few months I happened to notice that the unit was worryingly hot to the touch, I was pretty concerned so I called DVB support but said that this was normal and should not affect the units performance.
Guess what! Seven weeks out of warranty the unit lost signal the LED dimmed and the unit got EVEN hotter and I assume finally fried itself in the process, I contacted support but they were not interested as out of warranty. No replies to my emails either.
I have given it one star for as it was good while it lasted and it helped to heat my bedroom.
DONT BOTHER, 05 Nov 2008
Full signal and 100% signal quality and yet the sound keeps breaking up as does the picture, antenna supplied is pointless, i am 50 metres from a transmiter using an external aeriel so if you are further away than this from a transmiter dont waster your money
Great price, great device, 01 Aug 2008
First of all, the supplied antenna was no use at all, but no surprises there. I got no channels using that, when I used the adapter and plugged it into my main antenna however, I got 70 services. The picture quality wasn't quite a match for my TV, but it wasn't a million miles away.
Secondly, the supplied software isn't particuarly inspiring. It gets the job done but in a rough around the edges kind of way. If your a Vista user I strongly recommend using Windows Media Centre instead; you can't use the supplied remote but the picture quality and EPG are far superior.
Overall, a great bit of kit for the price, highly recommended.
Pretty good, depending on ...., 10 Jul 2008
August PC/Laptop USB Freeview/HDTV Receiver - Black (Star Winner from 'What Hi-Fi', 'What Video' & 'Active Home' Magazines) - Vista Compatible
Brought this as a gift for my father and tested it out before I gave it to him. I tested the device in two locations with two different aerials and the results were very variable.
Tested at work with supplied aerial, 3rd floor near a window. I could not receive any channnel's at all, very disappointing. Tested at home, again with the supplied aerial. This time I got 9 channels but some were the radio stations.
When I plugged this into my household aerial however the results were much better. Device found 66 channels, all the major TV stations and with excellent picture quality.
The supplied software seems ok, it has an EPG and allows you to record TV straight to MPEG 2 files. It did slow down a bit on my work windows XP machine but that could have been down to the PC itself (quite an old model).
Although I only did a few quick tests of this thing I was overall quite impressed. The only problems I had came from using the supplied aerial. I would probably advice anyone to through it out straight away. Investing a further £10 in a better quality portable aerial would be a very wise investment.
Beware card crashes, 30 Oct 2008
I bought this to replace 2 x 9600 gt xxx cards, after fitting i ran a 3d vantage mark with a score p8860,and that was as good as it got, i was unable to play any games without the card crashing and having to reboot my pc,
I went on the ati site and to see if i could fix the issue i started by downloading the new version ccc and drivers 8.10 with the same end result
I decided to search to see if anyone else had the same issues and was amazed, thousands of people who have bought this card world wide are suffering with the same issues,
After digging deep for a solution ati said that the bios on the card may need updating, this is not very easy to do, as you have to go into dos and flash the bios there with a downloaded file, I decided not to do this. As the card is almost the same price as xbox 360 and ps3, when they get sent out they work.
why should i have to repare or reprogram a card i pay £170 for, fine to update drivers but this problem goes deeper. Avoid this brand and go with one with no issues.
Asus p5Q
Q6600
OCZ 4x1gb 800mhz
OCZ 650w
Radeon Saphire 4870 512
4 x coolers
Saviour of my system ..., 27 Aug 2008
If, like me, you're still running an AGP based PC then you quite possibly installed an X1950 GPU some time ago. If you did then you're probably plagued by lockups, exceptions and bitmap noise that make UT-3 in particular unplayable. I paid £200 for my X1950 a year ago and today I installed this 3850 GPU for less than half that. Once I'd got the drivers right it runs like a charm and I've got system stability again. UT-3 is totally playable even at 1600 x 1200 and feels solid. My 3DMark06 score has gone up by a quarter too.
Drivers: don't be tempted to use the supplied drivers on the CD or worse still the latest Catalyst drivers for the 3850. The former are massively out of date and the latter don't support the AGP version. Instead locate the Hotfix drivers for the 3850 on the ATI Radeon site (customer support area) and use those. They work flawlessly with this GPU (so far).
This is the last great AGP GPU I'd imagine so the end of an era. A great end though!
AWWWWSOME, 01 Nov 2008
what can i say, what a difference this has made to my system, i had a 512 meg ati pci-e card and updated it to this one, for the price i think its just superb, ive seen simlar for £300+ but this is just as good i am an avid gamer and play battlefield 2142 which is graphics hungry but this runs everything in high no matter what i throw at it , it still handles it with no lagg, and now i see little things that i never had with my other card, just things you notice you never had before, for game play this is a must for anyone highly recomended, it say's delivery within 2 to 5 weeks..dunno where that comes from i got mine in less than a week, so if money is an issue and you want a stunning card...this is the baby for you get one now you wont be dissapointed.
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Product Description
High definition Satellite TV for your PC! Watch and record free-to-air High Definition satellite TV (DVB-S2) and standard definition satellite TV (DVB-S) on your PC. Recordings are made to your PCs hard disk in the same quality as live TV. Listen and record digital satellite radio too! High Definition satellite TV brings the best video quality and CD quality audio to your PC. WinTV-NOVA-HD-S2 can receive free-to-air high definition broadcasts, such as Astras Pro7 HD or SAT1 HD.Turn your PC into a Digita...
Customer Reviews
A cheerful device with great price!!, 07 Nov 2008
I find the August USB Tv receiver fantastic! It's a nice gadget at an attractive price. It works perfectly fine on my IBM. The set up was very simple following the instruction. The blazevideo software is easy to use and the interface looks cool with a bundle of different features!
I use the supplied aerial since I don't have a rooftop aerial. I assume the freeview signal where I live will be good as I am living in London zone 2. Given the price is cheap I thought it is worth a go.
It came up about 52 channels on the EPG list included 8 or 9 radio channels. I am very glad as it has most of the channels I like: ITV1-3 Sky sports news, E4+1, Sky Three, Five, Five US BBC1, BBC2, BBC3 BBC news 24,Sky news 24, and some shopping channels etc. It has more channels than the previous TV card I used on my PC. But it does depend on the signal strength of the area you live and the aerial location.
The TV subtitle works fine and the picture quality of the channels that i did get is surprisingly clear. Very impressed.
This small usb device is great value for money and lots of fun! Highly recommend!
Amazing kit, 05 Nov 2008
This is an amazing device, I am very impressed that such a tiny device can turn my laptop to a digital TV and recorder. The set up was easy, put the autorun disc into the CD drive, install the driver and Blaze player, then scan for channels. I could not get any channels using the small antenna provided where I live, which is not a surprise for me after reading other people's review, fixing to an ordinary roof aerial solved this problem, and easily picked up all the Freeview channels and radio. The remote is very handy and gives me more freedom to control the programs. Over all, very happy about this item, excellent value for money.
Not worth 1 star Dont buy this, 30 Oct 2008
I decided to buy this product after a colleague had bought a similar device from a supermarket and had some success in receiving numerous channels.Do not buy this product you will only be disappointed.The quality is flimsy the aerial lead is too short and it has never found a channel in my experience in any place i have tried around the country.After assuming it must be the area that i was in ,i then proceeded to connect the device to the house aerial which i have no problem obtaining every available channel with my digibox.However this product managed to find 4 in total which is beyond belief.Do not buy this product it is only a waste of money.
Not worth the effort, 15 Oct 2008
This item is very flimsy and simply did not work. The aerial connection is extremely fragile. The supplied aerial found no channels at all. I plugged in a portable aerial (that picks up all channels when plugged into a TV in the room) and got a message saying "no signal". Also, the USB ports on my PC are on top of each other, the USB stick for this device is so large that I cannot plug anything into the USB port below at the same time, effectively for me takes 2 USB ports! There are no installation instructions which I guess is not a great loss as it is fairly simple - insert the CD, load the drivers, plug in the USB but when there are problems more instructions/help would be useful. For instance, should the LED on the USB be on? On mine it is not. Does that mean there is a fault? Who knows. Definitely going back.
Great TV, 04 Oct 2008
I followed all instructions to the letter and was lucky enough to have a rooftop aerial connection. When searching for channels it showed 'no signal' constantly and I thought I had a major problem but when finished it showed 66 channels found. I have been able to watch TV and record programmes etc. So far, I'm very satisfied with this item - not bad for a 71 year old lady!!!
Fantastic, love it!, 18 Nov 2008
This is a magic device and I loved it immediately. I can now watch and record my favourite TV shows in perfect quality on my new laptop. The set up was easy and straightforward. I could not get any channels using the small antenna provided, which is not a surprise for me as the Freeview switchover in our region will be 2012. Fixing to an ordinary roof aerial it easily picked up 68 Freeview TV and radio channels, amazing! The remote is very handy. The device can also be scheduled to record TV programs at a particular time in case you are not in. Overall, I am very pleased and look forward to spending a lot of time with it.
If you need a compact little heater this is it!, 14 Nov 2008
Purchased (about £30 at the time) as I wanted to be able to watch TV on my PC on the odd occasion. Loaded up the software plugged in my roof antenna and found 70 stations and off we went. Good picture pretty happy with the experience. After a few months I happened to notice that the unit was worryingly hot to the touch, I was pretty concerned so I called DVB support but said that this was normal and should not affect the units performance.
Guess what! Seven weeks out of warranty the unit lost signal the LED dimmed and the unit got EVEN hotter and I assume finally fried itself in the process, I contacted support but they were not interested as out of warranty. No replies to my emails either.
I have given it one star for as it was good while it lasted and it helped to heat my bedroom.
DONT BOTHER, 05 Nov 2008
Full signal and 100% signal quality and yet the sound keeps breaking up as does the picture, antenna supplied is pointless, i am 50 metres from a transmiter using an external aeriel so if you are further away than this from a transmiter dont waster your money
Great price, great device, 01 Aug 2008
First of all, the supplied antenna was no use at all, but no surprises there. I got no channels using that, when I used the adapter and plugged it into my main antenna however, I got 70 services. The picture quality wasn't quite a match for my TV, but it wasn't a million miles away.
Secondly, the supplied software isn't particuarly inspiring. It gets the job done but in a rough around the edges kind of way. If your a Vista user I strongly recommend using Windows Media Centre instead; you can't use the supplied remote but the picture quality and EPG are far superior.
Overall, a great bit of kit for the price, highly recommended.
Pretty good, depending on ...., 10 Jul 2008
August PC/Laptop USB Freeview/HDTV Receiver - Black (Star Winner from 'What Hi-Fi', 'What Video' & 'Active Home' Magazines) - Vista Compatible
Brought this as a gift for my father and tested it out before I gave it to him. I tested the device in two locations with two different aerials and the results were very variable.
Tested at work with supplied aerial, 3rd floor near a window. I could not receive any channnel's at all, very disappointing. Tested at home, again with the supplied aerial. This time I got 9 channels but some were the radio stations.
When I plugged this into my household aerial however the results were much better. Device found 66 channels, all the major TV stations and with excellent picture quality.
The supplied software seems ok, it has an EPG and allows you to record TV straight to MPEG 2 files. It did slow down a bit on my work windows XP machine but that could have been down to the PC itself (quite an old model).
Although I only did a few quick tests of this thing I was overall quite impressed. The only problems I had came from using the supplied aerial. I would probably advice anyone to through it out straight away. Investing a further £10 in a better quality portable aerial would be a very wise investment.
Beware card crashes, 30 Oct 2008
I bought this to replace 2 x 9600 gt xxx cards, after fitting i ran a 3d vantage mark with a score p8860,and that was as good as it got, i was unable to play any games without the card crashing and having to reboot my pc,
I went on the ati site and to see if i could fix the issue i started by downloading the new version ccc and drivers 8.10 with the same end result
I decided to search to see if anyone else had the same issues and was amazed, thousands of people who have bought this card world wide are suffering with the same issues,
After digging deep for a solution ati said that the bios on the card may need updating, this is not very easy to do, as you have to go into dos and flash the bios there with a downloaded file, I decided not to do this. As the card is almost the same price as xbox 360 and ps3, when they get sent out they work.
why should i have to repare or reprogram a card i pay £170 for, fine to update drivers but this problem goes deeper. Avoid this brand and go with one with no issues.
Asus p5Q
Q6600
OCZ 4x1gb 800mhz
OCZ 650w
Radeon Saphire 4870 512
4 x coolers
Saviour of my system ..., 27 Aug 2008
If, like me, you're still running an AGP based PC then you quite possibly installed an X1950 GPU some time ago. If you did then you're probably plagued by lockups, exceptions and bitmap noise that make UT-3 in particular unplayable. I paid £200 for my X1950 a year ago and today I installed this 3850 GPU for less than half that. Once I'd got the drivers right it runs like a charm and I've got system stability again. UT-3 is totally playable even at 1600 x 1200 and feels solid. My 3DMark06 score has gone up by a quarter too.
Drivers: don't be tempted to use the supplied drivers on the CD or worse still the latest Catalyst drivers for the 3850. The former are massively out of date and the latter don't support the AGP version. Instead locate the Hotfix drivers for the 3850 on the ATI Radeon site (customer support area) and use those. They work flawlessly with this GPU (so far).
This is the last great AGP GPU I'd imagine so the end of an era. A great end though!
AWWWWSOME, 01 Nov 2008
what can i say, what a difference this has made to my system, i had a 512 meg ati pci-e card and updated it to this one, for the price i think its just superb, ive seen simlar for £300+ but this is just as good i am an avid gamer and play battlefield 2142 which is graphics hungry but this runs everything in high no matter what i throw at it , it still handles it with no lagg, and now i see little things that i never had with my other card, just things you notice you never had before, for game play this is a must for anyone highly recomended, it say's delivery within 2 to 5 weeks..dunno where that comes from i got mine in less than a week, so if money is an issue and you want a stunning card...this is the baby for you get one now you wont be dissapointed.
Good hardware, poor software, 26 Oct 2008
The card is easy to install and does what it is supposed to but the software bundled with it is difficult to use and buggy. Vista Media Center will detect the card once the Hauppauge patch is installed but it cannot detect or play HD channels.
The Vista Media Center TV Pack may resolve the card recognition and HD compatibility issues but it is only officially available to OEMs at the moment.
In order to receive ITV HD, the Hauppauge support line advised me to use DVB Viewer which costs 15 Euro. Obviously this is the software that should have been bundled with the card in the first place.
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Product Description
Core Clock: 2 x 750MHz Memory: 2 x 1024MB GDDR5 Memory clock: 900MHz Memory interface: 2x256-bit 2x800 stream processors Fab process: 55nm
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Customer Reviews
A cheerful device with great price!!, 07 Nov 2008
I find the August USB Tv receiver fantastic! It's a nice gadget at an attractive price. It works perfectly fine on my IBM. The set up was very simple following the instruction. The blazevideo software is easy to use and the interface looks cool with a bundle of different features!
I use the supplied aerial since I don't have a rooftop aerial. I assume the freeview signal where I live will be good as I am living in London zone 2. Given the price is cheap I thought it is worth a go.
It came up about 52 channels on the EPG list included 8 or 9 radio channels. I am very glad as it has most of the channels I like: ITV1-3 Sky sports news, E4+1, Sky Three, Five, Five US BBC1, BBC2, BBC3 BBC news 24,Sky news 24, and some shopping channels etc. It has more channels than the previous TV card I used on my PC. But it does depend on the signal strength of the area you live and the aerial location.
The TV subtitle works fine and the picture quality of the channels that i did get is surprisingly clear. Very impressed.
This small usb device is great value for money and lots of fun! Highly recommend!
Amazing kit, 05 Nov 2008
This is an amazing device, I am very impressed that such a tiny device can turn my laptop to a digital TV and recorder. The set up was easy, put the autorun disc into the CD drive, install the driver and Blaze player, then scan for channels. I could not get any channels using the small antenna provided where I live, which is not a surprise for me after reading other people's review, fixing to an ordinary roof aerial solved this problem, and easily picked up all the Freeview channels and radio. The remote is very handy and gives me more freedom to control the programs. Over all, very happy about this item, excellent value for money.
Not worth 1 star Dont buy this, 30 Oct 2008
I decided to buy this product after a colleague had bought a similar device from a supermarket and had some success in receiving numerous channels.Do not buy this product you will only be disappointed.The quality is flimsy the aerial lead is too short and it has never found a channel in my experience in any place i have tried around the country.After assuming it must be the area that i was in ,i then proceeded to connect the device to the house aerial which i have no problem obtaining every available channel with my digibox.However this product managed to find 4 in total which is beyond belief.Do not buy this product it is only a waste of money.
Not worth the effort, 15 Oct 2008
This item is very flimsy and simply did not work. The aerial connection is extremely fragile. The supplied aerial found no channels at all. I plugged in a portable aerial (that picks up all channels when plugged into a TV in the room) and got a message saying "no signal". Also, the USB ports on my PC are on top of each other, the USB stick for this device is so large that I cannot plug anything into the USB port below at the same time, effectively for me takes 2 USB ports! There are no installation instructions which I guess is not a great loss as it is fairly simple - insert the CD, load the drivers, plug in the USB but when there are problems more instructions/help would be useful. For instance, should the LED on the USB be on? On mine it is not. Does that mean there is a fault? Who knows. Definitely going back.
Great TV, 04 Oct 2008
I followed all instructions to the letter and was lucky enough to have a rooftop aerial connection. When searching for channels it showed 'no signal' constantly and I thought I had a major problem but when finished it showed 66 channels found. I have been able to watch TV and record programmes etc. So far, I'm very satisfied with this item - not bad for a 71 year old lady!!!
Fantastic, love it!, 18 Nov 2008
This is a magic device and I loved it immediately. I can now watch and record my favourite TV shows in perfect quality on my new laptop. The set up was easy and straightforward. I could not get any channels using the small antenna provided, which is not a surprise for me as the Freeview switchover in our region will be 2012. Fixing to an ordinary roof aerial it easily picked up 68 Freeview TV and radio channels, amazing! The remote is very handy. The device can also be scheduled to record TV programs at a particular time in case you are not in. Overall, I am very pleased and look forward to spending a lot of time with it.
If you need a compact little heater this is it!, 14 Nov 2008
Purchased (about £30 at the time) as I wanted to be able to watch TV on my PC on the odd occasion. Loaded up the software plugged in my roof antenna and found 70 stations and off we went. Good picture pretty happy with the experience. After a few months I happened to notice that the unit was worryingly hot to the touch, I was pretty concerned so I called DVB support but said that this was normal and should not affect the units performance.
Guess what! Seven weeks out of warranty the unit lost signal the LED dimmed and the unit got EVEN hotter and I assume finally fried itself in the process, I contacted support but they were not interested as out of warranty. No replies to my emails either.
I have given it one star for as it was good while it lasted and it helped to heat my bedroom.
DONT BOTHER, 05 Nov 2008
Full signal and 100% signal quality and yet the sound keeps breaking up as does the picture, antenna supplied is pointless, i am 50 metres from a transmiter using an external aeriel so if you are further away than this from a transmiter dont waster your money
Great price, great device, 01 Aug 2008
First of all, the supplied antenna was no use at all, but no surprises there. I got no channels using that, when I used the adapter and plugged it into my main antenna however, I got 70 services. The picture quality wasn't quite a match for my TV, but it wasn't a million miles away.
Secondly, the supplied software isn't particuarly inspiring. It gets the job done but in a rough around the edges kind of way. If your a Vista user I strongly recommend using Windows Media Centre instead; you can't use the supplied remote but the picture quality and EPG are far superior.
Overall, a great bit of kit for the price, highly recommended.
Pretty good, depending on ...., 10 Jul 2008
August PC/Laptop USB Freeview/HDTV Receiver - Black (Star Winner from 'What Hi-Fi', 'What Video' & 'Active Home' Magazines) - Vista Compatible
Brought this as a gift for my father and tested it out before I gave it to him. I tested the device in two locations with two different aerials and the results were very variable.
Tested at work with supplied aerial, 3rd floor near a window. I could not receive any channnel's at all, very disappointing. Tested at home, again with the supplied aerial. This time I got 9 channels but some were the radio stations.
When I plugged this into my household aerial however the results were much better. Device found 66 channels, all the major TV stations and with excellent picture quality.
The supplied software seems ok, it has an EPG and allows you to record TV straight to MPEG 2 files. It did slow down a bit on my work windows XP machine but that could have been down to the PC itself (quite an old model).
Although I only did a few quick tests of this thing I was overall quite impressed. The only problems I had came from using the supplied aerial. I would probably advice anyone to through it out straight away. Investing a further £10 in a better quality portable aerial would be a very wise investment.
Beware card crashes, 30 Oct 2008
I bought this to replace 2 x 9600 gt xxx cards, after fitting i ran a 3d vantage mark with a score p8860,and that was as good as it got, i was unable to play any games without the card crashing and having to reboot my pc,
I went on the ati site and to see if i could fix the issue i started by downloading the new version ccc and drivers 8.10 with the same end result
I decided to search to see if anyone else had the same issues and was amazed, thousands of people who have bought this card world wide are suffering with the same issues,
After digging deep for a solution ati said that the bios on the card may need updating, this is not very easy to do, as you have to go into dos and flash the bios there with a downloaded file, I decided not to do this. As the card is almost the same price as xbox 360 and ps3, when they get sent out they work.
why should i have to repare or reprogram a card i pay £170 for, fine to update drivers but this problem goes deeper. Avoid this brand and go with one with no issues.
Asus p5Q
Q6600
OCZ 4x1gb 800mhz
OCZ 650w
Radeon Saphire 4870 512
4 x coolers
Saviour of my system ..., 27 Aug 2008
If, like me, you're still running an AGP based PC then you quite possibly installed an X1950 GPU some time ago. If you did then you're probably plagued by lockups, exceptions and bitmap noise that make UT-3 in particular unplayable. I paid £200 for my X1950 a year ago and today I installed this 3850 GPU for less than half that. Once I'd got the drivers right it runs like a charm and I've got system stability again. UT-3 is totally playable even at 1600 x 1200 and feels solid. My 3DMark06 score has gone up by a quarter too.
Drivers: don't be tempted to use the supplied drivers on the CD or worse still the latest Catalyst drivers for the 3850. The former are massively out of date and the latter don't support the AGP version. Instead locate the Hotfix drivers for the 3850 on the ATI Radeon site (customer support area) and use those. They work flawlessly with this GPU (so far).
This is the last great AGP GPU I'd imagine so the end of an era. A great end though!
AWWWWSOME, 01 Nov 2008
what can i say, what a difference this has made to my system, i had a 512 meg ati pci-e card and updated it to this one, for the price i think its just superb, ive seen simlar for £300+ but this is just as good i am an avid gamer and play battlefield 2142 which is graphics hungry but this runs everything in high no matter what i throw at it , it still handles it with no lagg, and now i see little things that i never had with my other card, just things you notice you never had before, for game play this is a must for anyone highly recomended, it say's delivery within 2 to 5 weeks..dunno where that comes from i got mine in less than a week, so if money is an issue and you want a stunning card...this is the baby for you get one now you wont be dissapointed.
Good hardware, poor software, 26 Oct 2008
The card is easy to install and does what it is supposed to but the software bundled with it is difficult to use and buggy. Vista Media Center will detect the card once the Hauppauge patch is installed but it cannot detect or play HD channels.
The Vista Media Center TV Pack may resolve the card recognition and HD compatibility issues but it is only officially available to OEMs at the moment.
In order to receive ITV HD, the Hauppauge support line advised me to use DVB Viewer which costs 15 Euro. Obviously this is the software that should have been bundled with the card in the first place.
Great value/performance ratio, 07 Nov 2008
Can't say I had heard of BFG Technologies before I saw this card on Amazon, but was looking for a card featuring the nVidia 9800GT chipset and this one came up at a good price.
I bought it as a replacement for an OE nVidia 8600GS PCI-E card, which was struggling to run recent(ish) games on anything other than base settings. The BFG card has changed all of that - Call of Duty 4, Medal of Honor: Airbourne and Crysis will all run with the graphics settings at max.
Be aware that the card will need a power supply connection (lead supplied) and that it is very long. There are just a few mm between the end of the card and the memory on my motherboard - it was close.
For the money, this is one great performer.
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