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Pinnacle-to-go Review

Website: Pinnacle-to-go

I had purchased the Pinnacle-to-go USB TV Tuner Card about a year back here in Secunderabad, India. Pinnacle is supposed to the best company for TV Tuners card (at least among those available in my city). But I am disappointed with it. The TV works fine but the video cassette to DVD conversion was not that great. I had some video cassettes but when I connected the video player to the laptop (via the composite input), the playback video quality was just average and hence the recorded quality also was average. I definitely expected it to be much better because of the brand name. Also I have had a lot of problems in trying to make this device work properly in linux. Also one thing to note is that the PCTV Media Center which came with it is now outdated. The latest PCTV viewing product is called "Pinnacle TVCenter Pro" (can be downloaded from Pinnacle Site).

To summarize, among the features which I used, TV viewing and recording is decent but quality of playing back via the composite input was poor. If you are looking for TV viewing, then you may consider buying this. But if it is for video capture (especially good quality), then I'd suggest you look at other products from Pinnacle. Also last but not the least, be sure to read as many reviews as possible before you purchase any TV Tuner / Video Capture Card.

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Comments

August 13, 2008 - 11:07 — Amar (not verified)

Hello Rahul,

This is Amar from Hyderabad. I am intrested in purchasing TV tuner/capture card. Can you give me little clarity.

My intention in using this device is purely TV shows Recordings.

Did u find any low quality issues with this device?.

As per my knowledge video capturing quality will be less for devices like this.

I used dazzle dvd creator for my casset to cd/dvd conversion project(in 2002).

Please let me know the TV Viewing/recording quality of this device.

I am confused with available options in the market. In india we are not getting the mainstream products displaying in pinnacle main website. available models are pinnacle pctv 50i, 50e and pinnacle to go, and pinnacle pctv pro.

Regards,
Amar

August 13, 2008 - 11:45 — rahul

Hi Amar,
Like I've already said, in Pinnacle-to-go the picture quality is good (I wouldn't call it great). But the sound was not very clear. I suspect this to be party because of the poor quality signal I receive from my cable guy and partly because of Pinnacle-to-go (because using PCTV Stereo I was able to hear the sound properly).

You will have to visit Chenoy Trade Center, Parklane, Secunderabad or contact the distributor of Pinnacle Cards (I think it is Aditya Infotech) for getting information of available Pinnacle Products. Your choice upon whether you want to go for external(e)/internal(i) cards depends upon your budget and your need. I think Pinnacle internal cards might cost you around 2500-3000 while external ones will be Rs.4500+. Also I have heard that internal cards help for better video capture (But I couldn't find any reason for this as USB 2.0 offers pretty high bandwidth). I don't have an idea about internal/external cards of other brands.

Another issue is that the software provided for this external card for Vista is not very stable. As far as I remember, the software for Windows XP is good though. If you ask me, personally I don't feel the price of the card completely justified. It does the job but nothing to awe about. Perhaps my expectations were set very high on this card. But that is also how it was projected :).

If you are interested in borrowing the card from me for a week, please get in touch with me using the Contact Form. But also let me tell you that as you are a complete stranger, you might have to leave a certain caution deposit. Hope this information helps.

August 13, 2008 - 11:59 — Amar (not verified)

Hi Rahul,

Nice to see your reply. I didn't expect quick reply from you.

as i said earlier my intention to use this card is only for TV recording. I need to capture some of TV shows and upload it to Website.

It is always better for testing the card before purchasing.

Did u check the Pinnacle to-go quality on any DTH service(dish ot tata sky)

Suggest me, if you know any better card.(Price is not matter here)

Thanks,
Amar

August 13, 2008 - 12:09 — rahul

Nope Amar. I did not try with any DTH services. I think there is a difference in the signal which you receive from Dish TV / Tata Sky and cannot say for sure whether this card will work with it or not.

Also I am not aware of any other card (available in India) which might give better quality. Like I already told you, I didn't try others :).

If you would like to try this card, kindly get in touch with me using the Contact Form. You can come, leave the caution deposit and take the card. You can then return it about a week later and take back your cash. I will be at home on most Sundays but not sure about other days.

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