AMD TV Wonder 650 Combo USB and TV Wonder 600 PCI/PCI Express

Posted on Monday, October 15 2007 @ 16:56 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck

AMD has added three new products to its TV Wonder lineup: the ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo USB, TV Wonder 600 PCI and TV Wonder 600 PC Express.

ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo USB, with a manufacturers suggested retail price (MSRP) of $149, includes two TV tuners allowing users to watch and record off-the-air Digital TV/HDTV, unencrypted Digital TV (ClearQAM) cable programming, analog TV, and listen to FM broadcasts. TV Wonder 600 PCI and TV Wonder 600 PCI Express TV tuners break new ground by offering ClearQAM at a value of $99 MSRP.

AMD’s strong lineup of USB, PCI and PCI Express tuners includes the previously announced ATI TV Wonder 650 PCI, ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo PCI Express, ATI TV Wonder 600 USB, and the ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner – the only solution to enjoy premium digital cable shows , such as HBO and Showtime, on the PC.

The ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo USB is a combo-tuner DVR (digital video recorder) allowing users to switch between analog and digital TV to watch and record a digital TV program while watching/recording an analog TV channel. The ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo USB features ClearQAM tuning to receive unencrypted digital content from local cable television providers. The new offering also features high image quality, advanced 2D and 3D comb filtering, and FM tuner powered by ATI Theater 650 Pro.

The ATI TV Wonder 600 PCI and PCI Express add-in TV tuners feature: ClearQAM; powerful PVR based on ATI Theater 600 Pro video decoder; world-leading ATI Theater ATSC reception technology; and, analog TV reception.

ATI TV Wonder products feature Catalyst Media Center software -- an easy-to-use big-screen TV interface with an advanced electronic programming guide, DVD authoring and playback, video conversion and AMD LIVE! OnDemand to access the DVR from any computer with a broadband connectivity.

About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.

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Re: AMD TV Wonder 650 Combo USB and TV Wonder 600 PCI/PCI Express
by Anonymous on Monday, October 15 2007 @ 20:12 CEST

BEWARE! Clear QAM support will NOT be compatible with Windows Media Center. You will be forced to use the package ATI software to view and record clear QAM channels with this device. HDHomeRun is still the only device capable of tuning clear QAM within Windows Media Center.

Reply by Anonymous on Sunday, October 21 2007 @ 8:41 CEST

What a waste of a day! I bought one this morning and been working on installing it on my Toshiba A215 laptop all day. The fit between the plastic housing and the RCA and S-Video jacks for the video connections is poor - Typical shoddy Chinese manufacturing. The software install process is rough too. I had to tell it my language preference twice. Then when running the CatalystMC software, the TV Function cannot be opened. Albeit the FM portion of the device did work - the driver was talking to the device. I gave it a chance and exchanged it for a second one. I had the same exact problems with the second one. I will return it tomorrow and buy a Pinnacle instead. Also, I will be very cautious with buying *any* further ATI and AMD products from now on.

Re: AMD TV Wonder 650 Combo USB and TV Wonder 600 PCI/PCI Express
by Anonymous on Monday, October 22 2007 @ 8:45 CEST

I bought an ATI TV Wonder 650 combo yesterday and attempted to installed it into my Toshiba A215-4747 laptop running Vista 32 bit OS.

I find the fit between the plastic outside of the box and the RCA connectors and S-Video connector to be off-center, making it impossible to connect external cables to the box without forcing things. I don't know if this is a poor case design or shoddy assembly. <---- But it prevents me from using the external connections to capture from my camcorder with standard cables (not fancy, oversized monster cables).

Nevertheless, I have connected it to Comcast Analog cable, USB to my laptop and power to the wall. Then I installed the Software from the CD 100 / 180-V01126-100 and run the Catalyst MC.

I enter the following settings in the setup wizard:
1) Aspect Ratio: Standard 4:3
2) It does look like it went away while detecting the hardware, but it did not report that it detected a Wonder 650 combo box
3) Tuner: Analog
4) Antenna Connection: Cable
5) Region: USA
6) Autoscan for TV: Clicking on the bar seems to do something for a few seconds, but the TV channels that it finds are not reported, nor does the circle-arrow GIF indicating activity turn.
7) EPG: Titan (no other choice)
8) Scanning for FM: This looks like it's doing something - scanning, please wait and there is a progress bar that goes from 0 to 100%

Then when running the Application:
1) TV: The TV Function cannot be opened <--- cannot get to TV
2) DVD: Seems to work
3) Radio: Seems to work
4) Extras: Seems to work
5) Settings: Seems to work

Due to the connector issue, I will return the unit and see if I have better luck with another one.

Question to the group: Do I need to update the drivers, or did I miss something in the install?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions and assistance!

Reply by Anonymous on Monday, October 22 2007 @ 16:12 CEST

I'm still searching the Internet and will contact ATI to find out what the problem is with my combo tuner.

By the way, ATI has a patch for CMC 1.0.3202 that will make the ATI Remote Wonder Plus work with CatalystMC and Vista Windows Media Center.

setup_rwplus_xp_vista 1.0.0.0 10/18/2007

I have to wonder what other patches are required to make this think work.
Reply by Anonymous on Monday, November 26 2007 @ 7:41 CET

Same thing Happened when I just installed my VisionTek ATI Wonder HD 600 USB HDTV Tuner.

The install didn't seem to go smooth with a couple of error messages. Autoscan for TV Channels does nothing but sit there. Can't move "Next" to move forward with setup. After Cancelling out and trying to open the TV application, it says "The TV Function cannot be opened".

This reminds me of why I once returned a computer I bought with an ATI video card with its Catalyst software. ATI doesn' know how to produce software that works properly.

Does anyone have a solution for this junk Catalyst software program or a free program I can use to get this HD TV tuner to work? Thank you.

Specs, Windows XP Home, 1.5gb memory, Nvidia 7600GT, non-functioning junk TV NON-Wonder HD 600 USB from "Out to Make a Crooked Buck" ATI.
Reply by Anonymous on Sunday, December 28 2008 @ 16:22 CET

If anyone is having problems and receiving the message "the tv function cannot be opened," then follow these steps. They worked for me. I spent many hours figuring this out.

First, go to "control panel," then "administrative services" and finally "services."

Under services, set anything with "cyberlink" to manual.

Then each time you want to use your tuner:
1. unplug it

2. make sure to stop the cyberlink services.

3. Plug in your tuner

4. open media center. You should be ok now.

I know this is a real hassle, but you only have to do it after you restart your computer. It should work completely as long as you don't restart. If you restart, you have to repeat this process.

Until there is a better solution, I thought I'd post this to try and give a little relief.

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