Home > Consumer Reviews > External Standalone LCD TV Tuner

Product works fine with a good antenna. Remember folks, this is *NOT* a digital tuner. It's analog, and this device will be useless in the USA come February 2009. It will, however, still be useful in Canada until 2011 and in Mexico until 2022. I bought this device because I will be giving this as a gift to a friend in Canada. The seller should add "analog" to the title or in the description as most people don't know what NTSC/PAL is and may hastily assume it to be a digital tuner.

I took a chance purchasing this item since it had no previous reviews (I am the first). I just got it today and must say I am a happy camper. I was going to wait to see how it functions over the next few weeks but I didn't want to leave this item review-less that long (that's how much I like it!).

Anyway, I ordered the item because I have an older Samsung SyncMaster 172n (17" LCD monitor) collecting dust since I upgraded my computer monitor to a wide screen version. I wanted to make it a TV for our work out room and came across this little gem. I received the item very fast (2 days from hdtvonpc) and hooked it up right away. The item was packaged quite well (box is 11.5"x7.75"x2.75"). It doesn't come with an instruction manual persay, it comes with a diagram instead, but its easy to hook up anyway. I connected it to my monitor, cable hook up, and a pair of external speakers, (3 plugs for power total) and the picture came right on when I powered the device!

The remote control is cool. It has a number pad, channel up and down, volume control, mute button, on/off switch, and picture setting buttons.

I plan on hooking up my old X-box to it soon and will post an update to this review when I do.

I would have given the item a 4.5 out of 5 but they don't allow half stars. The only reason it got a 4 is that the item is made in China and is made of a cheap plastic construction (However, I don't plan on dropping it). Not only that but hdtvonpc offers a year warranty. You can't beat that for 30 bucks. Picture is full screen and fills my monitor, unless the tv broadcast is different. The picture quality isn't the greatest, a little grainy and faint diagonal lines, sort of like over the air broadcast, but it's hardly noticeable for casual viewing on a small screen and viewing at a small distance (I never had cable growing up and I am used to antenna tv). My monitor wasn't designed for this anyway. Another reason it didn't get 5 stars it that I would have liked a instruction manual for the remote control.

Overall I am very very pleased! You can't beat 30 dollars for a flat screen TV. Sure beats a few hundred if all you want to do is is have a spare TV and you have an extra monitor laying around. Buy it and see for yourself :-)

Works great with my LCD monitor (both standalone and through my PC). Decent price! It is fairly light, and with the cable and speaker wires attached, it might be hard to keep it where you want it (That will happen with most TV boxes on the market from my experience), All in all, it works well and was no problem to set up. One thing to keep in mind when putting the battery in the remote is that the battery goes UNDER the + connector, not on top (found out the hard way ...)

I've had this tv tuner for little over a month now and I must say it is one of the best purchases I've ever made along with my URC RFS200 remote.
This thing does exactly what is described: it allows you to watch tv on your PC monitor, simple as that! For the sound simply plug in your pc speakers and you are good to go.
It also allows you to connect another VGI cable so you can use your pc at the same time. I think it's an excellent gadget for an excellent price.
Of course it is made of plastic, this thing is only $30, what did you expect, titanium?
If you have an lcd monitor that you are really not using that much, or if you do and simply want to be able to watch TV on it then you can't go wrong with this.

After my desktop computer ceased to work properly, I decided to change the flat-screen monitor into a flat-screen television. After a bit of research, I decided on this external television tuner, mainly due to a combination of lower pice and ammount of good reviews. When the item arrived, I have to admit I was bit suprised by the cheap plastic outer casing of the tuner, but as long as you don't plan on it taking a lot of abuse it should be fine. Also, the manuel it comes with is completely useless, but the tuner is easy to hook up and shouldn't be too much of a challange. Once you get the tuner hooked up and adjusted though, the tuner works better than imagined. I have had it for a while now and so far I have not had any major problems. If you're looking for a good tuner, but want something not to expensive then this is just the tuner for you.