Home > Consumer Reviews > ATI TV Wonder HD 650 Combo PC TV Tuner

I decided to upgrade my tuner to get HDTV on my computer (Win XP sp2) so I purchased this tuner but was stopped right from the begining. Hardware installation was easy, then came the software. Software installation is a major problem with this device. The installation fails to completely install the parental controls and locks up. After the three finger salute (ctl-alt-del) to cancel the task, the software finishes the process. After rebooting the computer the software is installed. I go through the ati software setup but ati's own software doesn't recognize its own tuner installed. I tried installing the software updates from ati's own web site which also failed. No tv signals are received at all with the catalyst media center. When I shut the computer down I get an error message stating a catalyst dll initialization error. After calling tech support, they told me to use a third party software with the tuner and that a software update will be coming out soon. The tuner itself works and is recognized by the windows media center, which is what I was trying to get away from.

The picture quality is much improved over the old haupauge wintv tuner. It is unfortunate the software doesn't work properly. The only reason for the second star is for the working tuner seen with third party software.

I bought the ATI 650 tv tuner card because ATI was a well known name with a history of regular firmware updates. Despite upgrading to all the latest firmware after about 20-30 minutes the card simply "freezes" with no warning or error message. I am running Windows Ultimate Vista SP1 with no restrictions on CPU or hard-drive space and tons of extra computing capacity. I repeatedly sent emails to ATI technical support . Only guidance was to reinstall the drivers and it must be Microsoft Windows fault. lame . I would not recommend this card due to my experience and unhelpful technical support.

As I said in the title, this tuner works great in Windows Media Center. I wouldn't even install Catalyst Media Center from the CD unless you want to use it to convert video files. It does conversions quickly, but I've found the interface to be very slow and prone to crashing even on my high-end system.

I use the analog tuner, and I have to say it's better than any other one I've ever used. Blacks are a deep black, the edges of the picture are crisp, and it doesn't randomly drop the signal.

I researched capture cards for quite a while before deciding on this card. It had mixed reviews, but I have had absolutely no problems with it. I have Vista and I was able to download the Vista drivers and installed without a hitch. The software that comes with it leaves a bit to be desired but it works ok. I have other software that I use for capturing, but I use the included software to create DVD's and watch TV. I'm very happy that I selected this card!

This is simply the best tv tuner i have owned.
Setup was a breeze, only took 10 minutes.
Installed the ATI Catalyst software then immediately began using it.
Also works great with Windows Media Center.