Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 (DH1045) Video Capture

Pros: Works well as TV with remote, DVR with pause, and with external video input
Cons: Many software updates needed, picture quality may be limited by your existing video card

Why I bought the Hauppage WinTV PVR-150 I was interested in a TV tuner/video capture card for two major applications: (1) Converting old Sony Hi-8 (analog) videotapes into mpeg computer files for archiving, and burning to DVD, before the old ...

Pros: Price, compatibility with GBPVR
Cons: Hardware and software issues resulting in poor usability

I have been using the PVR-150 for a year and a half. There have been numerous frustrations with both the hardware and software. On the hardware side, the remote control is flaky, and it takes too long to change to the next channel.

On the software side, there are countless minor bugs and a few serious ones. One example is the view settings. While watching TV you can click on the Menu button, select color, and set the brightness/contrast sliders. But while playing back a recording, the menu button is disabled! The recording is often to bright or too dim, and you can't do anything about it.

When I upgraded the software from their web site, I discovered that a bug had been introduced so that the scheduler did not work properly if you were using large fonts in your windows desktop. The new release had to be removed. When I told Hauppauge, they suggested I change back to regular fonts, which was unacceptable to me.

They may have fixed some of the problems in the new software that I report here, but the problem with the scheduler makes it impossible for me to find out.