Provideo PV233 questions...

[Satan's Cheerleader]

I'm about to take the plunge and order the Provideo PV233 but there are a few things i still would like to know about it. Does the TV tuner work ok? I've seen many discussions about how well it performs for VCD captures mostly in context of the PV231, but i haven't seen anybody post how well the TV tuner works or doesn't work. Also, how well does it work with Windows XP?

I was thinking about getting the PV256, but i've read too many posts about problems with it. So i think i'm finally decided on the PV233 unless somebody gives me a better idea. I've been tempted to get the Hauppauge WinTV PVR, ATI TV Wonder, Leadtek Winfast TV2000 and a few others (yes, i know they're not all hardware encoders.) My main concern is stability, ease of use and not having to worry about A/V sync issues. It would be nice to be able to do MPEG2, AVI, etc but I'm willing sacrifice that since MPEG1 is mostly what i'd be doing anyway.

If i can capture MPEG1 easily and watch TV running Win XP without stability problems i'll be happy. Does the PV233 fit this criteria?

[ylong]

I have used PV233 for 3 months on both Win98 and Win2k box and it works fine. The tuner seems work well. But I really don't know how it works on WinXP.

[markm]

I've run my 233 under 98SE, and XP with no problems at all. Tuner works fine.

[Satan's Cheerleader]

Damn. I just went to order it from akida and i got an email back saying they don't have it in stock. Anybody know a place that might have them? I'm ordering from the US

[frank]

The PV233 tuner works well but I have two complaints with it.
First using it with cable, it didn't autotune any channels. I had to find chart of HRC frequencies (others in use are IRC or Standard) and program each channel frequnecy by hand, 6 or 7 steps per channel. It is not easy to figure out how to program the tuner application. But once tuned it works.

Other problem is when signal drops a little or flickers, it blanks the picture and puts up a cartoon picture instead. I would prefer the slightly off color frame then a completely useless picture saying -you got an error - check your connections...

Hope this helps.

[Satan's Cheerleader]

The PV233 tuner works well but I have two complaints with it.
First using it with cable, it didn't autotune any channels. I had to find chart of HRC frequencies (others in use are IRC or Standard) and program each channel frequnecy by hand, 6 or 7 steps per channel. It is not easy to figure out how to program the tuner application. But once tuned it works.

Other problem is when signal drops a little or flickers, it blanks the picture and puts up a cartoon picture instead. I would prefer the slightly off color frame then a completely useless picture saying -you got an error - check your connections...

Hope this helps.

bummer. now i'm not sure if i wanna get it. manually programming channels doesn't sound like much fun at all.

[Satan's Cheerleader]

is this typical of tv tuners or just this particular model?

[markm]

I've had no problems auto-tuning with mine.

The lost signal thing is annoying, but it doesn't appear to affect the capture. It's only annoying when you're watching it, and I don't use it as a TV, just a recorder.

[Satan's Cheerleader]

I've had no problems auto-tuning with mine.

The lost signal thing is annoying, but it doesn't appear to affect the capture. It's only annoying when you're watching it, and I don't use it as a TV, just a recorder.

how often is a lost signal a problem? like will i be able to watch most channels without that happening too often?

btw.. i ordered the pv233 directly from provideo for $90 USD shipped.

[frank]

Hello,
Entering the frequencies took under an hour. Once entered they stay entered. The hard part was figuring out that I needed to enter them. If your cable system uses "standard" frequencies then the autotune should work. Mine happens to use "HRC" frequencies which are different. I "fine tuned" each while I was doing it, only two were slightly off, but that is MY cable and your milage my vary.

Once tuned and color adjusted the tuner works just fine. signal loss with a strong signal shouldn't be a problem. So don't get me wrong, I like the tuner feature now that I have it working.

Over the air tuning had no problem with frequencies.

The loss of signal / "check your connection" problem is actually most annoying when fast forwarding or reversing a video tape trying to find the right spot to start recording from.