Fry's B&M KWorld UB435-Q USB ATSC TV Stick $20

Z

ziddey

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Dec 24, 2002
Messages
5,392
http://shop3.frys.com/product/5776672

regularly priced $50, as frys.com shows, but in store (at least norcal) is $20 out the door.

Comes with a magnetic telescoping antenna and usb extension cord.

Works with windows 7 media center

That said, this tuner is supposed to support QAM too. I haven't installed the tv software that came with this, but to windows 7, it looks like it's only atsc. I bought it for qam, so I'll be miffed if it's a no go.

A lot of people have said the antenna is great. For me, it seems to constantly drop out in one room, and barely ever even pick up a signal in the other. I've got the antenna by the window sill even. Living in Berkeley, so signal should be great.. ehhh


I did get the last one at my store though (was seemingly a returned unit. I asked someone if they had more, and they said they are expecting more during the week, but to not hold my breath). The store I went to was Concord. I believe a lot of the SJ area ones still have loads of these in stock, as usual for these kworld junks.

Passing hdtv through usb is probably pretty tough, but screw it.. it's alright to be able to run tv on my laptop on the road


edit: If anyone gets QAM working with this, let me know how :)
 
Now was that returned one you got marked down (the infamous "orange" sticker on it) to the lower price, or was this just you taking a chance on something you were planning to get anyway and then being delighted to discover it rang up at $20 or whatever the exact price is/was?

That's what I'm curious about...
 
it's on sale this week for $20. Mine had the orange sticker marking it down from 49.99 to 47.49.
 
you get over the air digital channels with atsc air antenna, and unencrypted QAM channels through cable. what you get depends on the cable company.

i'm curious as to whether some clear qam tuners are better than others. my built in qam decoder in my samsung 61F doesn't let me even try certain digital channels, and no channels with a subchannel higher than 12 or so, when it has been reporte there are unencrypted channels above that.
 
Guess this was the last day to get it at the $20 price. Missed out again just because I forgot about this deal. Just like everything else the deal will come around again.
 
I got this one when i saw it last sat.. Kworld stuff are decent HDTV tuners.. im glad i got them now I could watch 24 on fox super clear.. I just havent tried the stick to pick up QAM since I only have basic comcast.. and its definitely not an Analog tuner no option for it in Totalmedia..
I have the Kworld PCI 120 got them from frys long time ago too for 24 each..
 
alright, qam works under the total media program for comcast. if you only have the basic service, i don't believe the digital is blocked by the trap, so you'll pick up a ton more channels with this card than you'd otherwise get. however, the total media is extremely buggy, at least in win7.cycling channels is slow, and after a while, it won't display anything until the program is restarted. and even then, after changing channels again, it won't really work right.

still haven't figured out how to get qam working under the win7 media center. however, atsc is completely garbage, at least with the stock antenna.

i got a 120 kworld as well. haha
 
cheers man!
yeh the QAM stuff i dont go thru since like you said it takes too long..
I use mine on XP pro..
I just hope they provided a small dish for OTA TV..
 
Well the $20 (actually $19.99 but but but...) price is valid through Thursday close of business at the B&M stores - it's listed in this week's ad (from Friday) so, I'm planning to head to the Vegas store later today. Maybe they'll have one left so I can get to messin' with some digital TV which is something I simply haven't touched on yet over the years.

Should be interesting...
 
The Web page is showing $50, but I guess the deal is good for $20 at B&M. I wish I had a Fry's closer to me. 30+ miles is a bit of a drive (each way). I don't care about QAM since I'm just using OTA (antenna). KWorld's TV tuners get just mediocre reviews on Newegg. :confused: Hauppauge is the best, but quite pricey.
 
Normally I wouldn't care, but $20... that's hella cheap, and since I finally have a proper HD-capable LCD panel (one of those HP L2335 ones for $150 from Geeks.com last week) I decided to get into the HDTV thing using a tuner of some kind. Ironic that I missed the item in the Friday ad when I was looking through it but then noticed the posting here and thought, "Hey, wait a second..." :D

Been watching a ton of HD movie trailers, grabbing some HD TV shows off Usenet (mostly 720p stuff however, 1080p TV encodes are quite large), and now considering a Blu-ray drive just for shits and giggles... yes, I got bit by the HD bug quick and fast as soon as I got this monitor in my face. :)
 
ziddey said:
alright, qam works under the total media program for comcast. if you only have the basic service, i don't believe the digital is blocked by the trap, so you'll pick up a ton more channels with this card than you'd otherwise get. however, the total media is extremely buggy, at least in win7.cycling channels is slow, and after a while, it won't display anything until the program is restarted. and even then, after changing channels again, it won't really work right.

still haven't figured out how to get qam working under the win7 media center. however, atsc is completely garbage, at least with the stock antenna.

i got a 120 kworld as well. haha
Click to expand...


I am timewarner cable former adelphia former comcast lol.

Anyways, are you saying if I get this I won't need the cable box to get all of the channels?
 
well, I'd strongly recommend a better tuner than this. That said, I don't know how much better the "good" tuners are, since I've been using these shitty kworlds all my life.

Channel switching is real slow. I can't get QAM to work with media center. The total media program it comes with is buggy as all hell. Completely unreliable.


Buuuut, yes. Your everyday SD channels are sent through in both analog and digital (at least for most). Most of these are in clear QAM, so you'll get them. Supposedly, some of the basic channels in HD are passed through in clearQAM as well, but not a lot. I never made it all the way that high.

To get most of the good channels, you'll still need the box. But there's still some to be had through just clearQAM.
 
Alright, I went to my friend's place in Sacramento and tried it there. I'll take it back. It's quite a decent tuner for $20. And total media isn't too bad when the signal is good. Still, digital set top box w/ $40 subsidy is better :)



then again, with this, we could all be LOL's and XOR's and 2HD's and what have you's :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top