For those wanting to add the ability to record and view cable or terrestrial television on their computers the K World UB435-Q USB TV Tuner Stick is an easy to use and fairly easy to set up option for both desktop and laptop computers. Easier to install than a dedicated internal PCI-e tv tuner card, the USB stick simply plugs into an available port on your machine and then connects to either the cable feed or a terrestrial antenna. Sure, it’s easy to install a USB stick, but just how easy is it to use this device to watch and record TV programs?
Installation and Ease Of Use of the KWorld UB435-Q
As mentioned, installation of the KWorld UB435 USB Tuner Stick is quick and easy. Just plug it in and you are almost ready to go. The unit ships with some software for tuning in and viewing television stations but this reviewer found that the included software was of mediocre quality and fairly hard to use. Most users will simply want to install the drivers and avoid installing the included software in favor of a third party DVR or home media center program.
On this topic, most (but not all) versions of Windows 7 ship with the Windows Media Center program already installed. While I was unable to get satisfactory results with the boxed software that came with the UB435, using it with Windows 7 was almost effortless. After connecting the tuner to my outdoor antenna it went through the motions quickly finding all of our local channels and pulling in the programming guide for each. Once the stations were set up it was an easy task to add scheduled recordings and watch live television.
Negative Aspects of the KWorld UB435
The only real down sides to this tiny little device include the rather poorly implemented tuning software and the almost laughable terrestrial telescoping antenna that it ships with. This small antenna could barely pull in two of the fourteen channels that were available via my home’s external HDTV antenna. Despite repeated attempts at repositioning the KWorld antenna and even taking the laptop outside to test the signal the results were still very poor in terms of channel strength. Other reviews of the KWorld UB435 mention additional issues such as driver problems but these issues were not experienced during the nearly three months of home use done prior to this review.
Still, those few issues aside the K-Byte USB TV Tuner stick has become the work horse of my home’s DIY home media center. The tuner remains plugged into the system 24/7 and has never had a problem aside from occasional signal drops due to atmospheric conditions (we don’t use the included antenna though). On the whole the K-Byte UB435 is a solid, reliable little USB TV tuner that is small enough to fit in your pocket and be used with almost any PC computer. When this is added to the fact that it is currently selling for around $25 at most online retailers it is a decent deal on a fairly solid digital TV tuner.
Chad Criswell - Chad Criswell is a professional educator and freelance technology writer for numerous online and print publications throughout the United ...
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