Review of the AVerTVHD Volar USB Tuner

Reviewed Winter, 2009

PROS

• Runs with AverMedia software, Media Center (2005, Vista, and Windows 7), and other 3rd party applications such as BeyondTV4 & SageTV
• Works on Macs as well as PC's
• Good at tuning weak and multi-path over the air signals
• Vista and Win 7 certified drivers (32 and 64 bit)
• Works with both over-the-air (ATSC) and digital cable (clearQAM)
• Low cost

• Analog tuner required for Media Center 2005

Get the AVerMedia AVerTVHD Volar MAX USB TV Tuner


for $63.46 with free shipping!

• This USB stick tuner is an HD/digital tuner only, not a hybrid (no analog tuner). It's a great addition for your Vista or Windows 7 Home Premium laptop or home PC especially if you are only interested in over-the air viewing. If you have cable, consider the Volar Max Hybrid so you can tune both the standard analog and digital channels.
  
  Very simple to install and good reception on weak and multi-path over-the-air signals. It's also one of the cooler (as in temperature) USB stick tuners I've tested. The small antenna will pick up strong local stations, but count on needing another antenna for consistent reception.
  
  The included AverMedia application is adequate for casual viewing, but if you plan to use the Volar Max on a consistent basis to record/play shows, I'd recommend third party software such as Microsoft Media Center, SageTV or BeyondTV4.

• CPU: Intel® Pentium® IV 2.4GHz, (Hyper-Threading) or (Dual Core), Intel Core 2 Duo processor
• Intel Centrino Mobile 1.GHz, Intel Core 2 Duo processor, Intel Core Solo processor

• Operating System: Windows® XP / XP MCE 2005 / Windows Vista (x86 or x64 bit) / Windows 7 (x86 or x64 bit)
• USB2.0 port
• Sound Card & Speakers
• VGA Card Supporting DirectX 9.0c or Above (WDDM Driver support Recommended & 128 MB Graphic Memory for Windows Vista and Win 7)
• Certified DVD Decoder amd analog tuner for MCE 2005

PACKAGE INCLUDES

• AVerTVHD USB Tuner stick
• Quick Installation Guide & CD
• AVerMedia Warranty Card
• USB extension cable
• Portable antenna
• Carry Pouch