Topic: JRiver USB TV Stick available now -- $45 (Read 8419 times)

JimH · « **on:** October 22, 2009, 01:06:30 pm »

With a good tuner, you can use JRiver Media Center 14 to watch television. Over the air TV in the U.S. is completely digital now, so the picture is excellent.

The USB tuner we offer is the white object at the bottom of this picture.

It's ATSC (standard in the U.S.). It comes with a small antenna, a USB extension cable, and a driver disk. Supports digital up to 1920x1080i.

It's a very good tuner and the price is $25 less than my previous favorite.

I asked Yaobing, JRiver's developer of our TV engine to take a look at it. Here's what he had to say about it:

Quote

I tried the device last night and this morning. It works well. I plugged it into a USB port, put the driver CD in to let Windows install drivers. That was all I needed to do. For people who do not already have audio and video decoders on their computers, they may need to install the TotalMedia software from the included CD. I did not install it because I already have TotalMedia installed on my computer previously with another device. The ArcSoft audio and video decoders work well with this device, so should Microsoft decoders (on Vista or later OS).

In terms of reception quality, it works as well as my best internal tuner device (AVerMedia M780 PCIe). i.e. I can watch the same set of channels I watch with the other device, using the same antenna used by other tuners. The little antenna that comes with the stick is not enough for me (I get one TV station from it) but that is expected.

So far no problems are encountered.

Order here

HTPC4ME · « **Reply #1 on:** October 22, 2009, 02:33:49 pm »

pardon my ignorance.. ive yet to use tv with jriver. but have many pc's in the house and may be in the market for buying a bunch of these.. you say...

With a good tuner, you can use JRiver Media Center 14 to watch television.... does that mean i need to buy a tv tuner card too? or does this usb stick have a tv tuner inside it?

would we need to buy anything else to get tv? outdoor antenna? or is this all we would need? being i live in mn\the cities. is your shop open to the public so i can come and pick it up? or would it be shipped?

TY

newsposter · « **Reply #2 on:** October 22, 2009, 03:02:33 pm »

I'd really like to see JR support an FM/HD OTA radio solution as well as interfaces to XM/Sirius receivers.......

Yaobing · « **Reply #3 on:** October 22, 2009, 03:03:27 pm »

The USB device IS the TV tuner.

It comes with a small antenna. So you may need a better antenna if you live far from TV stations.

HTPC4ME · « **Reply #4 on:** October 22, 2009, 03:04:47 pm »

sweet... returns excepted if it doesnt work with our setups?

JimH · « **Reply #5 on:** October 22, 2009, 03:06:53 pm »

Return for 30 days. No questions asked.

HTPC4ME · « **Reply #6 on:** October 22, 2009, 03:28:10 pm »

where do i buy it on this site? can i come in to get it being in live in cities? and i know i have little patience but any tips on my last post as well about dvd files not being played on gf machine? she's REALLY anxious to enjoy all the befits on jriver finally on her new mac

ty.

JimH · « **Reply #7 on:** October 22, 2009, 04:08:09 pm »

We're out of stock unless you want a slightly used one for $40 + tax. We should have more on Wednesday or Thursday.

I added an Order Here link to the first post.

HTPC4ME · « **Reply #8 on:** October 22, 2009, 04:17:31 pm »

kk will check back next wed.
TY

JimH · « **Reply #9 on:** October 22, 2009, 04:47:04 pm »

We've got one new one if you need it sooner. Just call Deanna at 612 677 8200 x 202 if you want to make an arrangement.

HTPC4ME · « **Reply #10 on:** October 22, 2009, 05:00:41 pm »

kk ...ty

KingSparta · « **Reply #11 on:** October 22, 2009, 05:12:55 pm »

I just ordered one...

JimH · « **Reply #12 on:** October 22, 2009, 05:42:01 pm »

Quote from: KingSparta on October 22, 2009, 05:12:55 pm

I just ordered one...

Thanks. The pressure's on now.

KingSparta · « **Reply #13 on:** October 22, 2009, 06:56:43 pm »

Does The "JRiver Media Center Remote" Work With The USB TV Stick?

JimH · « **Reply #14 on:** October 22, 2009, 07:03:47 pm »

Yes. The remote is best used with Theater View, and so is TV playback, so they are very good together.

How good is the over the air reception there? Or will you use it with a cable set top box? OTA is easier to setup than Cable.

KingSparta · « **Reply #15 on:** October 22, 2009, 07:11:57 pm »

Quote

Yes. The remote is best used with Theater View, and so is TV playback, so they are very good together.

I See

Quote

How good is the over the air reception there?

Not Bad, But I Will Invest In A New Antena To Replace The One I Have (It's A Bit Old Now, 15 Years Old)

KingSparta · « **Reply #16 on:** October 22, 2009, 07:30:01 pm »

Ok I ordered a remote also.

Note: i found out in the remote order form it did not fill out the street address correctly. So on the USB Stick Order I may not have put in my street address with auto fill. I Guess It Is Not Compatable With Googles Toolbar AutoFill.

JimH · « **Reply #17 on:** October 22, 2009, 07:34:40 pm »

We'll fix it. Thanks.

BillT · « **Reply #18 on:** October 23, 2009, 03:28:59 am »

Quote from: JimH on October 22, 2009, 01:06:30 pm

Over the air TV in the U.S. is completely digital now, so the picture is excellent.

I like the assumption! Presumably that's the case in the U.S., it certainly isn't true in the U.K. The pressure from accountants to reduce transmission costs and broadcasters who want to squeeze more shopping channels, +1 channels etc into a limited spectrum mean that bit rates on most channels have been reduced so much that the quality is often atrocious. The worst of them also drop the horizontal resolution from 720 pixels per line to 544 pixels per line as well, and they'll often letter box a 4:3 picture in a 16:9 raster losing even more resolution. The result of seeing one of these channels displayed on a typically poor LCD panel has to be seen to be believed.

The main channels, like the BBC ones, aren't too bad; they've reduced the bit rate so the quality is similar to PAL, just changed one set of artifacts for another!

Sorry for the rant. Hopefully on the U.S. there isn't so much pressure on spectrum and the accountants don't have influence in areas where they shouldn't!

JimH · « **Reply #19 on:** October 23, 2009, 06:59:05 am »

In the U.S., when the conversion was originally mandated, broadcasters received an allotment of digital bandwidth for each channel they operated. This bandwidth was enough for a true HD broadcast with room left over for a lower resolution broadcast. Most stations didn't know what to do with the extra bandwidth.

Arbiter · « **Reply #20 on:** October 23, 2009, 08:36:09 am »

Hey JimH. That's a great offer... not only you give us the opportunity to buy a rock-solid tv tuner, but also an 100% MC compatible one! I'll be sure getting this at some point in the near future, along with the JrMc Remote!

But one question... I understand that this is an ATSC tuner which translates to US only.. But what about us Europeans? I mean, i live in Greece and we are still "struggling" with analog channels and the analogue-to-digital conversion wont happen before 2012 (that's unless Maya's prediction comes first!

)

I would love to see more choices for people when it comes to those lovely pieces of gadgets

pwantzel · « **Reply #21 on:** October 23, 2009, 08:56:22 am »

Can you use more than one of these to record more than one channel at a time?

If so, how much horsepower is needed in the PC? Any other considerations?

JimH · « **Reply #22 on:** October 23, 2009, 09:06:54 am »

Quote from: pwantzel on October 23, 2009, 08:56:22 am

Can you use more than one of these to record more than one channel at a time?

If so, how much horsepower is needed in the PC? Any other considerations?

You can simultaneously record or watch as many channels as you have tuners. So to record two channels, you would need two tuners. Or to watch one and record one, you would need two.

You could go beyond two tuners. I'm not sure what the limit is, or exactly what the machine requirements are. Our new benchmark feature might be useful. It's under help. An average machine might give you a rating of 1000 and I would guess that would be capable of two tuners.

JimH · « **Reply #23 on:** October 23, 2009, 09:11:26 am »

Quote from: Arbiter on October 23, 2009, 08:36:09 am

But one question... I understand that this is an ATSC tuner which translates to US only.. But what about us Europeans? I mean, i live in Greece and we are still "struggling" with analog channels and the analogue-to-digital conversion wont happen before 2012 (that's unless Maya's prediction comes first! )

The standards vary around the world. We're starting with what we know works in the U.S. If there is enough interest, we'll expand coverage. Most tuners sold right now do both digital and analog.

Greetings to Greece. I had a long hot ride across Greece from the west coast to Athens on a Vespa when I was 19. It was great.

HiFiTubes · « **Reply #24 on:** October 23, 2009, 09:30:40 am »

Neat! Thanks.

pwantzel · « **Reply #25 on:** October 23, 2009, 09:33:40 am »

Does the TV recording scheduler support waking the PC from sleep to make a recording? Or does it have to be left on if a future program is to record?

pwantzel · « **Reply #26 on:** October 23, 2009, 10:20:12 am »

There doesn't seem to be any way on the order page to order more than one. How do I do this? And what would the price be?

JimH · « **Reply #27 on:** October 23, 2009, 10:21:47 am »

Quote from: pwantzel on October 23, 2009, 10:20:12 am

There doesn't seem to be any way on the order page to order more than one. How do I do this? And what would the price be?

There isn't, yet. You could order twice or call 612 677 8200 x 202.

It might be best to test one before ordering the second.

JimH · « **Reply #28 on:** October 23, 2009, 10:22:27 am »

Quote from: pwantzel on October 23, 2009, 09:33:40 am

Does the TV recording scheduler support waking the PC from sleep to make a recording?

Yes.

sdgrizdan · « **Reply #29 on:** October 25, 2009, 11:44:14 pm »

Does this tuner support HDTV?

newsposter · « **Reply #30 on:** October 26, 2009, 12:41:38 am »

it pays to be familiar with all of the acronyms.

ATSC is, in fact HD TV in the US.

HiFiTubes · « **Reply #31 on:** October 28, 2009, 11:54:07 pm »

Windows 7 x64 compatible?

JimH · « **Reply #32 on:** October 29, 2009, 07:01:00 am »

I believe it works on all Win7 versions. It's returnable for 30 days.

JimH · « **Reply #33 on:** October 29, 2009, 07:14:00 am »

Quote from: sdgrizdan on October 25, 2009, 11:44:14 pm

Does this tuner support HDTV?

Yes. It supports digital up to 1920x1080i.

scm · « **Reply #34 on:** October 29, 2009, 09:43:48 am »

How can I find out what channels this tuner will receive in my local area?

JimH · « **Reply #35 on:** October 29, 2009, 10:05:11 am »

Quote from: scm on October 29, 2009, 09:43:48 am

How can I find out what channels this tuner will receive in my local area?

I may split this discussion to a new thread.

This site may help:
http://antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

It will depend on how far you are from the broadcasters' antennas, what obstacles are in between, and how good your antenna is.

KingSparta · « **Reply #36 on:** October 29, 2009, 11:31:20 am »

Just To Report, I Got The TV Stick Yesterday.

My Wife Did Not Tell Me It Came In So I Found It This Morning When Getting Ready For Work.

I Just Hooked It Up And It Works Well And Even Filled Out The Channels, And The Program Guide.

One Problem I Did Notice, Is When MC Is Scanning For The Channel Guide, And You Click On A TV Show before mc is done. MC Will Tell You That It Cant Play It, And Tells You To Check The Files Or Something.

KingSparta · « **Reply #37 on:** October 29, 2009, 11:52:34 am »

Quote from: HiFiTubes on October 28, 2009, 11:54:07 pm

Windows 7 x64 compatible?

I am using the last beta version of Windows 7, And It Works Fine.

HiFiTubes · « **Reply #38 on:** November 08, 2009, 07:37:36 am »

Sounds good. I will pick one of these up now that I just dropped FIOS cable.

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Author Topic: JRiver USB TV Stick available now -- $45 (Read 8419 times)