Woot : One Day, One Deal (SM)

Shawn4168 wrote:Anybody have trouble with an annoying high pitched noise in the background while watching live TV or recorded shows in WMC? It seems to be present on some channels and not others. Running Windows 7 x64 here, analog cable.

I am having the exact same problem, and am using windows 7 x64 also.

Jeus wrote:My remote doesnt work from far away, but make sure you have the remote pointed directly at the ir led on the tuner. Nothing will light up when you press a button.

Holy scaffolding...I finally held the remote about 4" from the tuner and it worked...not really sure why they would go to the trouble of making a remote that doesn't work from at least a few feet away... off to ebay to buy a WMC remote with a decent IR reciever.

double friggin post.

Has anyone figured out how to finalize a DVD after it has been burned so it can be played on a DVD player rather than just on the laptop?

So is there a good freeware or cheap shareware TV program to replace Catalyst Media Center on a Vista Home laptop? So far I haven't been able to schedule a recording, one of the main reasons I bought the darn thing. Whenever I schedule something, it doesn't record and locks up the tuner somehow where I have to uninstall and reinstall to get it to work at all again. Very frustrating and time-consuming. Any suggestions?

got it to work on windows 7 using the browse to driver method on the included cd

the drivers for vista on the ati website didn't install correctly

i think my signal strength is very low because it is kinda unwatchable

also my core2duo is choking on this, hitting 100 percent usage

not sure i will be able to use this thing but gonna try a different antenna first before i junk it

pcnetwrx wrote:So is there a good freeware or cheap shareware TV program to replace Catalyst Media Center on a Vista Home laptop? So far I haven't been able to schedule a recording, one of the main reasons I bought the darn thing. Whenever I schedule something, it doesn't record and locks up the tuner somehow where I have to uninstall and reinstall to get it to work at all again. Very frustrating and time-consuming. Any suggestions?

who should i contact about this shipping problem? mine still hasnt arrived after being at my local post office then shipped back out to some other city, im a very patient person, but this is just stupid this is my first time ordering from woot, and hopefully they can help me solve this problem so that it wont be my last, and i wont have to tell others about this horrible experience.

kvetch22 wrote:Just use the built in Windows Media Center and setup live TV. I did a drivers only install (on Win7) and WMC is working fine for me.

I don't believe Vista Home Basic has Windows Media Center. Any other suggestions?

soulflow wrote:Bummer, no QAM or Win7 Support according to the support and drivers section on AMD's website.

Install the included software CD and Windows 7 will recognize it as a tv tuner in Media Center, making it work.

Windows 7 will then become amnesiac about it's prior assertions that the driver does not exist and the manufacture will never support Windows 7. Works in Windows 64 and 32 bit.

The third party tv viewing software, however does not work (at least in Windows 7 64 bit.)

My antenna won't fit in the base. What do I do?

nflow wrote:My antenna won't fit in the base. What do I do?

A couple of us are having the same issue. I submitted a tech support ticket on diamond's web site and they have not even viewed it. Unless you want to live with the antenna falling off I think the best thing to do is return the product. That's what I am headed to do right now.

wait, can i watch cable tv using this even though it doesnt support QAM? If so, how can i change it to cable on Windows Media Center? thx.

For those who have yet to receive their Tuner:

I have spoken with FedEx, and they told me it would be good to have Woot! file a claim for my product. I am not sure what has happened, but I can see mine never left the Houston, TX location. I have requested Woot! file such a claim, and am fearful that, like others here, my order actually never existed. I have always had great faith in Woot!, and hope that they haven't thrown me to the curb. I have checked their site every day for years, and have many of my friends and family doing the same.

Is this something people often experience when dealing with Woot!? I have never had something like this happen, but it seems like quite a few people are experiencing it with this purchase.

One last note: why would they tell people that there is none of these left in stock when they were selling them on the Woot-off? Do they really think their customers are idiots? I feel they should cancel THEIR orders and fill outs, being how we ordered it first and all. Jut my thoughts...

nvm got it to work, it was using analog had to change it to cable during the setup signal by selecting manual.

bobbyjalota wrote:Glad my post helped few of you out!!!

Helped me too.(7 Pro x64) You rock the Casbah. Thanks!

theycallmechad wrote:For those who have yet to receive their Tuner:

I have spoken with FedEx, and they told me it would be good to have Woot! file a claim for my product. I am not sure what has happened, but I can see mine never left the Houston, TX location. I have requested Woot! file such a claim, and am fearful that, like others here, my order actually never existed. I have always had great faith in Woot!, and hope that they haven't thrown me to the curb. I have checked their site every day for years, and have many of my friends and family doing the same.

Is this something people often experience when dealing with Woot!? I have never had something like this happen, but it seems like quite a few people are experiencing it with this purchase.

One last note: why would they tell people that there is none of these left in stock when they were selling them on the Woot-off? Do they really think their customers are idiots? I feel they should cancel THEIR orders and fill outs, being how we ordered it first and all. Jut my thoughts...

yea i emailed them today, about the problem with my package not being sent to me, they said that the usps ppl could not find my address and i triple checked it, and it is 100% correct, they said the package is being returned to the sender and that they will resend it again, idk how they say that they cant find my address when i triple checked it and there is not 1 typo, ive also had plenty of stuff delivered from other online stores to this address with 0 problems, this is actually the first problem i have ever had ordering anything online, and i buy alot.

Works great here under Linux using Xine. The driver has actually been part of the Linux kernel for some time. If you need help see this page to point you in the right direction:

http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/ATI/AMD_TV_Wonder_HD_600_USB

Hey, everyone. I finally got my tuner and have been trying to get it to work, and I am having issues. I more or less get all of my channels to come in great, but I have no audio when playing live TV (or playing back a recorded piece of video). All of the little sound effects of WMC are there, but when I go to watch a live TV, it's just dead silent. Has anyone had this issue or heard of a fix at least? I tried doing a bit of digging online and some on here, and haven't come across a solution that works. I tried downloading the updated drivers from both ATI and Diamond's website, and that didn't work. I originally installed the software using the disc, and that seemed to go smoothly.

If it helps, I am running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. It seems as though many people here have been able to get it to work on here, so hopefully I can get some help. It might also be important to add that I am running my sound through HDMI to my TV. I have never had any issues whatsoever with sound except for this specific case. What seems really odd is that I tried watching TV through the Catalyst program, and the audio works fine. I would just much rather use WMC.

Thanks in advance to anyone who helps.

So, I tried pulling up the video through the Catalyst program, and that plays the audio just fine. Just thought I would add that...still no audio through WMC.


Sorry, I didn't mean for this double post. I was having issues with my net connection for a sec....

In case anyone cares, even with a set of separately purchased rabbit ears, reception in Berrien County MI is poor enough to render this device useless, at least unless you want to spend another $70-$80 on antenna equipment.

I'm looking for someone to sell mine to if anyone's interested.

bigjimmy007 wrote:I had the same problem. Bought it 10 minutes after it hit the Internet waves and got a tracking number from Woot on the 11th. After a few days of nothing from FedEx ("No information received"), I contacted Woot service Monday evening. I got a message back yesterday morning saying they screwed up and never shipped it. They immediately canceled my order, much to my chagrin, saying they had no others to send me. The worst part is that they had more for the Woot-off on Tuesday morning (4:30 Tuesday morning, but still).

I'm still pretty ticked.

Wow thanks for the reply, I am going to say something to them.

lazerack wrote:Hey, everyone. I finally got my tuner and have been trying to get it to work, and I am having issues. I more or less get all of my channels to come in great, but I have no audio when playing live TV (or playing back a recorded piece of video). All of the little sound effects of WMC are there, but when I go to watch a live TV, it's just dead silent. Has anyone had this issue or heard of a fix at least? I tried doing a bit of digging online and some on here, and haven't come across a solution that works. I tried downloading the updated drivers from both ATI and Diamond's website, and that didn't work. I originally installed the software using the disc, and that seemed to go smoothly.

If it helps, I am running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. It seems as though many people here have been able to get it to work on here, so hopefully I can get some help. It might also be important to add that I am running my sound through HDMI to my TV. I have never had any issues whatsoever with sound except for this specific case. What seems really odd is that I tried watching TV through the Catalyst program, and the audio works fine. I would just much rather use WMC.

Thanks in advance to anyone who helps.

Un-mute!

Kidding. Make sure you have the volume on the ATI software up, and the windows volume up, and the settings pointing the sound to the right audio device, etc. One of my frustrations with Vista/W7 is they hide stuff that easier to find in the control panel. I had problems getting audio with a Pinnacle tuner on a Vista PC. I went to the control panel and ran a wizard that set up sound devices. After several times, it seemed to start working. Occasionally it stopped again, and I'd do it again. Eventually it seemed to stop having the problem, so i assumed that it was fixed by one of the many vista updates.

Try a USB sound card, which seems to override any internal sound settings.

Well, I have the remote almost figured out, and have figured it to be useless.

Sometimes I can choose a program from the guide and it will switch to it, and sometimes it just returns to the existing channel.

Or, I just hit the up and down arrows a bunch of times to skip to the channels, which are in alphabetical order instead of the numerical order that the FCC assigns to OTA broadcast channels.

There appears to be no way to go directly to any channel, other than to switch between current and "last" channel. Truly an interface designed for use on a laptop at close range. The remote is just an afterthought and adds no value.

Either way, I have to hit so many buttons, so many times, it's crazy. So I just got a wireless mouse that I keep on the couch and I just use it to change channels.

Oh, and if I happen to touch another program with my mouse so the ATI software isn't "the focus application", the TV software doesn't see any of the remote signals, so even the mute button doesn't work.

I tend to have the tv running full screen on my laptop while I do work on the 24" external display from a previous woot. I have to be able to mute quickly if the phone rings.

How could ANYONE who has ever watched TV write an interface as silly as this? I have yet to hear of anyone liking the software that comes with their tuner card. I've purchased three different brands, and all three brands have crappy software. And personally I think the Windows Media Center interface that is equally useless.

The sad part is that the previous ATI software that came with their old analog All-In-Wonder and TV-Wonder products was really good with a remote from across the room. Once Microsoft introduced Media Center, a proprietary remote, etc - companies like ATI stopped innovating and only put in basic features for the few that didn't have MCE. They just just stopped trying to stopped trying and assumed everyone would use the MCE interface. They forgot that Microsoft will rarely make a decent interfare for at least the first 10 releases of anything. That's why Windows7 is the first decent UI - although it should rightfully be labled Windows-13. And before someone tells me 13 is the wrong number, I'll post my reasoning below.

Anyway, even with the useless remote and poorly conceived software it works well enough for my use. The price is unbeatable.

What software are all of you using for TV on a PC?

Windows versions. I'm not counting service packs, server-only, or stupid add-ons like Plus! or Bob. Technically, OS2 could also be considered a version of Windows. I also am not counting WindowsCE, WIndows Mobile, Windows Tablet, etc. If I did, Windows would have to be called Windows67 or some other huge number.

Probably the best way to count is each one they charged us for would be a new version...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Windows_Family_Tree.svg

These are hard to list in exact order as they had the OS2/NT and Consumer versions in parralel for a long time. I'm also not counting multiples like Server2003 or other servers that correspond to a specific Windows Client:

The first release was in 1985...

Windows 1.x (AKA MS-DOS Executive)
Windows 2.x (Windows/286 and Windows/386)
Windows 3.x
Windows for Workgroups (multiple versions)
Windows 95
Windows 98 (and 98SE)
Windows98 ME
Windows NT
Windows2000
WindowsXP
XP 2005 Media Center Edition
Vista
And finally - Windows 7 (which should really have been called Vista service pack 3 if they didn't need to distance themselves from the bad things associated with the Vista name).

I still have the big pile of Windows 1.1 diskettes that shipped with the original IBM PC Jr. That was the first commercial Windows release.

So, other than the stupid, inconsistent, and misleading names/numbers, you can see how long it has taken for Microsoft to get to a decent UI (about 25 years). I expect their Media Center to suck for a few more releases, so I'd love to get recommendations for 3rd party or open source TV software because the 3 different brands I've tried (Pinnacle/ATI/Sabrent - all from Woot).

What do the rest of you recommend for a decent user experience for these HD tuner cards?

I got this HD antennae from Monoprice and it helped with my tuner's reception.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10901&cs_id=1090102&p_id=4730&seq=1&format=2

It was 24.00

Anybody have trouble in Win7 x64 with "low bit rate" and the blue screen? If i change the channel quick, it comes right back. That makes recording almost useless though. Not sure what the deal is with that...

YouCantWootThis wrote:Un-mute!

Kidding. Make sure you have the volume on the ATI software up, and the windows volume up, and the settings pointing the sound to the right audio device, etc. One of my frustrations with Vista/W7 is they hide stuff that easier to find in the control panel. I had problems getting audio with a Pinnacle tuner on a Vista PC. I went to the control panel and ran a wizard that set up sound devices. After several times, it seemed to start working. Occasionally it stopped again, and I'd do it again. Eventually it seemed to stop having the problem, so i assumed that it was fixed by one of the many vista updates.

Try a USB sound card, which seems to override any internal sound settings.

I have made sure everything that has a volume setting is turned up. I have also changed the encoded formats, the sample rates, whether to allow applications to take exclusive control, and nothing gets the audio to work for the Live TV within WMC. It just really doesn't make sense why I would have audio from absolutely everywhere, except in the live TV. What is this wizard you messed with? I tried looking through the control panel and didn't come up with anything...I also tried plugging speakers into the other audio ports to see if maybe directing the audio through another jack (as opposed to the HDMI) would have any effect. It didn't.

Are there any other suggestions anyone might have? This is really frustrating.

GregoryLikesCheapStu wrote:Adjust the recording quality in WMC. (Note this is in Windows 7, I assume WMC has this functionality in Vista too.)

From the main menu of WMC:

(Instructions.1) Tasks>>Settings>>TV>>Recorder>>Recording Defualts>>Quality

Alternatively:


(Instructions.2) Tasks>>Settings>>TV>>Recorder>>Recording Sotrage>>Recording Quality

If you want to only reduce the recording of a specific series:

(Instructions.3)
TV>>Recorded TV>>View Scheduled>>Series>>Series Name From List>>Series Settings>>Quality

For a specific program not part of a series:

(Instructions.4)
TV>>Recorded TV>>View Scheduled>>Program Name>>Actions Menu>>Recording Settings Quality

Note that if you changed the default per the first two instructions that will affect all programs unless you change the quality using instructions 3 or 4.

I changed the recording quality already, and it helps when the program is not recording in HD, but most of the channels I pick up are HD, so WMC can only record on the highest quality level when the channel is HD. Is there a way to convert the files to lower the amount of space they take up after I record? Or is there a way to make the device not record in HD?

EDIT:
I just found this great free file converter online, it will convert the DVR-MS files to MPEG, which will make them a little smaller (but still not small enough). Here is the link: http://sites.google.com/site/dvrmstompeg/dvr-mstompegconverter
It works, and it doesn't take forever, but I would still like to shrink my file sizes, is there any way to make MPEG files smaller?

Philosophy11 wrote:

When I first open Catalyst it runs a setup wizard, which goes great until I get to the "Autoscan for channels" page. When I hit the autoscan button it looks like it's doing something for a second but nothing happen. ... There's a "Next" button but hitting that does nothing as well. The program doesn't crash or anything, it just won't let me go on from that page. I can exit the wizard, but if I select TV from the main page I get "The TV function cannot be opened."

I'm having the same issue. has this been remedied yet? I've installed the latest drivers.

yeah im having the same problem with the low bit rate error and the blue screen on windows 7 media center; i tried changing the video default decoder from the microsoft one to the ati one, but that didnt fix it either. Anyone have any ideas?

Note the problem is only the video not the audio. Most speculation is that it is a Windows 7 problem since it is occurring on more than a handful of tuners.

scottydont4444 wrote:I have this exact tuner and am running x64 Windows 7 and it works fine with Windows Media Center.

Which drivers are you using? I just purchased this and can't get it to work with Win7 64bit. I tried the Vista drivers, but it didn't seem to work.

lazerack wrote:I have made sure everything that has a volume setting is turned up. I have also changed the encoded formats, the sample rates, whether to allow applications to take exclusive control, and nothing gets the audio to work for the Live TV within WMC. It just really doesn't make sense why I would have audio from absolutely everywhere, except in the live TV. What is this wizard you messed with? I tried looking through the control panel and didn't come up with anything...I also tried plugging speakers into the other audio ports to see if maybe directing the audio through another jack (as opposed to the HDMI) would have any effect. It didn't.

Are there any other suggestions anyone might have? This is really frustrating.

You should try a cheap USB sound card. I used that to solve a Vista problem when I kept losing audio in a game while I was recording TV in the background. I don't know why that helped, but it did. I picked up a really cheap one similar to this ($20):
http://www.frys.com/product/5697181?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Eventually the problem went away, which is why I assumed it was fixed in a Vista patch.

pntballer1413 wrote:who should i contact about this shipping problem? mine still hasnt arrived after being at my local post office then shipped back out to some other city, im a very patient person, but this is just stupid this is my first time ordering from woot, and hopefully they can help me solve this problem so that it wont be my last, and i wont have to tell others about this horrible experience.

Welcome to my life, unfortunately thats stupidposts fault not woots and after calling fedex multiple times all I am ever able to get is a "sorry for the inconvenience, we'll leave a message for the smartpost department and have them call you as soon as possible" I still haven't gotten a phone call.

I just realized something about the ATI software. I don't see any "PVR" capability in it. It will record a show, but it won't just pause and continue from a live broadcast.
That officially makes the ATI software worse than the Pinnacle software, and that is pretty bad.

Am I missing something?

I've been using mine and I'm enjoying coming from work to find my favorite shows waiting for me to play.

One issue though: there are two channels (3 and 4, no House for me today) that play awful and snowy. All others play great to excellent.

I am running Win 7 64 bit, Windows Media Center, long cable running through a splitter from a wall, Timer Warner cable @ North Texas.

I have noticed a similar symptom on the TV (older tube, pre-HDTV) that shares the splitter but to a much lesser degree; the image is actually watchable.

When removing the splitter the reception get better BUT still gives problems. Basically, how can I better the signal, if at all?

YouCantWootThis wrote:I just realized something about the ATI software. I don't see any "PVR" capability in it. It will record a show, but it won't just pause and continue from a live broadcast.
That officially makes the ATI software worse than the Pinnacle software, and that is pretty bad.

Am I missing something?

There is a setting in the software that you need to enable--something about time-shifting. Then you can pause and continue.

infiniteloop88 wrote:For those complaining about "Diamond":

have you ever bought a graphics card? You don't purchase it directly from ATI or Nvidia, you get it from a third party manufacturer (who got the card spces from the aforementioned organizations).

It's ATI specced, but Diamond manufactured it. It's still an ATI TV WONDER 600 TUNER.

ATI SELLS IT'S OWN VERSION OF THIS !
OR SHOULD I SAY AMD, THEY OWN THE BRAND !
AND WHEN THIS WAS ADVERTISED BY WOOT IT WAS STATED AS AN ATI PRODUCT !
DIAMOND WAS NEVER MENTIONED !

BTW ATI ALSO MAKES THEIR OWN VIDEO CARDS !
AND YES THEY SELL THE RITES FOR THIRD PARTIES TO MAKE THEM !

BUT IF YOU WERE TO BUY AN ATI VIDEO CARD FROM ME AND I SENT YOU A CARD MADE BY POWERCOLOR WITH ATI CHIP SETS YOU WOULD THINK I MISS INFORMED YOU !

BTW I WAS DISAPOINTED AT FIRST
BUT DIAMOND IS A GREAT COMPANY AND I NO LONGER FEEL DISAPOINTED AS I WOULD WITH SOME OTHER THIRD PARTY COMPANIES THAT MAKE THIS TUNER..
I'M JUST SAYING I WOULD HAVE LIKE TO KNOWN IN ADVANCE IT WAS MADE BY DIAMOND AND NOT ATI
AT THIS PRICE IT WAS A GREAT DEAL !
ESPECIALY BEING THAT IT WAS "NEW"
THANKS FOR ANOTHER GREAT DEAL WOOT !

jimgraffam wrote:No luck in completing the install. Running 32 bit XP Professional and I have narrowed the cluprit down to the Catalyst software install. It keeps hanging with two installshield windows orphaned in my tray. I cannot view the associated window no matter what I do.

I've tried the updates mentioned but they do not seem to make a difference.

Anyone else in same boat but bailed out successfully?

Great news. We have a solution.

So first I entered a ticket on Diamond's support site. After it sat there "unviewed" for 2 days, I decided to call (the number is not in the instructions but you get it when you enter a ticket)

Support: 818-357-5165

A fellow by the name of Wolfgang helped me out. First we tried removing it (again) and reinstalling it directly from a directory deep in the file structure on the CD. Same results. In the end, he set me up with a trial version of some other software which he said if it works he'd send me out the real version on CD.

I was still having issues and could never find any channels. Not sure if it helped, but I did install the updates from the support.amd website (listed on page 23 among others in this thread). After some more playing around with settings (I believe I chose the MD-something driver as opposed to the ATI TV Wonder driver when prompted -- not sure why this worked), I finally got channels setup.

Good luck to all.

EddieAngel333 wrote:ATI SELLS IT'S OWN VERSION OF THIS !
OR SHOULD I SAY AMD, THEY OWN THE BRAND !
AND WHEN THIS WAS ADVERTISED BY WOOT IT WAS STATED AS AN ATI PRODUCT !
DIAMOND WAS NEVER MENTIONED !

BTW ATI ALSO MAKES THEIR OWN VIDEO CARDS !
AND YES THEY SELL THE RITES FOR THIRD PARTIES TO MAKE THEM !

BUT IF YOU WERE TO BUY AN ATI VIDEO CARD FROM ME AND I SENT YOU A CARD MADE BY POWERCOLOR WITH ATI CHIP SETS YOU WOULD THINK I MISS INFORMED YOU !

BTW I WAS DISAPOINTED AT FIRST
BUT DIAMOND IS A GREAT COMPANY AND I NO LONGER FEEL DISAPOINTED AS I WOULD WITH SOME OTHER THIRD PARTY COMPANIES THAT MAKE THIS TUNER..
I'M JUST SAYING I WOULD HAVE LIKE TO KNOWN IN ADVANCE IT WAS MADE BY DIAMOND AND NOT ATI
AT THIS PRICE IT WAS A GREAT DEAL !
ESPECIALY BEING THAT IT WAS "NEW"
THANKS FOR ANOTHER GREAT DEAL WOOT !

WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING? that isn't necessary.