Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 USB 2.0

May 2nd, 2005

Pros: Cheap; clear picture; well-featured remote control; remote scheduling; low CPU usage; excellent Beyond Media application; USB bus powered with stereo; MS MCE certified.
Cons: WDM encoder always in use; no closed captioning; hard to switch to RCA and S-Video inputs; EPG requires subscription; no DVD burning or video editing software.
Verdict: The Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 Power Pack is an excellent value for the money with fine hardware, although the software end can be improved on.

Home Theater PCs (HTPC) are the way of the future. The ability to pause, fast forward and record live television is something that TiVo users take for granted, and is slowly being integrated into set-top digital cable and satellite tuners. However, their usefulness is diminished in the sense that they require expensive subscriptions, and in most cases cannot play other videos or DVDs, music, or view photo slideshows. To add fuel to the fire, some DVRs are beginning to throw in their own advertisements while fast forwarding through the ads that are already in television programming. With a HTPC, you can do all of the above on your own terms, with a customizable interface, multiple tuners for simultaneously recording multiple shows (sometimes up to ten), as well as play your favorite 3D games. You can also add as much storage as you want without voiding the warranty, and can even archive recordings to DVD provided you have the appropriate hardware and software.

When we got wind that Diamond was coming out with a USB tuner meant for HTPC functionality, we knew we had to try it just because almost all existing solutions for HTPC are PCI based. There are a few situations that a USB based tuner would be ideal, such as Small Form Factor (SFF) computers that already have the only PCI slot filled up, and laptop users who don't want to shell out the dosh for a new desktop just for HTPC funtionality will also appreciate the ability to have a tuner designed for fullscreen viewing on a TV that can be hooked up through USB. One might even go as far as hooking it up to the TV in a motel room, since it's so versatile.

That being said, the HTPC nature of Diamond's Xtreme TV PVR600 sets it apart from other USB TV tuners such as those offerings from Plextor and ATI, in the sense that the TV window isn't as easily resizable and can't be used as a desktop background, along with other subtle differences. The primary goal here is for viewing your media and television from the couch without squinting. Now that the intended audience of the PVR600 is clear, let's move on to the review.

Package Content
- XtremeTV PVR600 USB 2.0 Tuner
- Firefly RF Remote Control
- 2x AAA batteries from Maxwell
- Beyond TV 3.5 "Subscriber Edition"
- Beyond Media 1.0
- SnapStream.Net TV Guide (60-day free trial)
- CyberLink PowerDVD 5
- Quickstart guide
- Installation CD
- RCA A/V cables, S-Video Cable
- USB 2.0 cable
- USB > DC cable

XtremeTV Professional Looking and Compact
The XtremeTV PVR600 USB 2.0 Tuner itself is very clean in nature. The silver and black casing feels very sturdy and does not push inwards when subjected to pressure, protecting the components inside. On the backside of the unit resides ports for the more permanent connections - a single coaxial connector, USB port, and DC port that can be used in case your motherboard or hub is one of the unlucky ones that doesn't support enough power over USB for the tuner to sustain itself with only one connection, although this is a rarity and odds are you won't be requiring it.

On the front side of the unit are three color coded RCA jacks for video and audio connections, an S-Video port, the power button, and an LED that indicates whether or not the tuner is in use. For some reason, the LED indicated our XtremeTV PVR600 USB 2.0 was in use 100% of the time as soon as we installed the drivers under Windows XP, so we couldn't use it with programs like Movie Maker. On the topside right behind the front ports is the classic Diamond logo that can only help but remind us of the very old Stealth video cards from Diamond that are nailed to the walls at LANmaniac. If it weren't for the front ports, the tuner almost resembles a portable hard drive at first glance, and with only two cables required to operate, the unit looks very professional without cable clutter.

Also included was SnapStream's Firefly remote control, which has very nice ergonomics and can thankfully be gripped just like the real television. The remote itself is two-tone silver in color, with beige and white buttons including numbers, arrows, and playback control. There's literally a button for every single feature available in the bundled SnapStream software so you don't find yourself getting up to use the keyboard or mouse for advanced functions, and we'll go more in depth on this later.

The Firefly is powered by two included AAA batteries, which means that you can play with it right out of the box without making a trip to the store first, and when the batteries do finally die you don't have to go to a specialty shop for some button-shaped battery. The black RF receiver for the remote has a very long USB 1.1 cable, which allows for positioning the unit on top of the desk or entertainment center away from electronics in order to get optimal reception without interference. However, the antenna is similar in nature to those found in clock radios as just an insulated piece of wire hanging out and not coiled inside the housing, which can either help or degrade performance depending on how you tape the wire to its surroundings.

Bus-powered Installation
While Diamond states that the XtremeTV PVR600 is compatible with Windows Media Center Edition, we don't have a computer with that installed so we just went ahead and installed everything on a clean partition with Windows XP Professional. Hardware setup, including hooking up the computer to the television was well documented within the quickstart guide. A few points as to why a USB > DC cable was included along with an extra Firefly install disc were missing, although we got word from Diamond that these have been cleared up now.

So for the general simplicity of things, we just went along with what was documented in the manual and installed the XtremeTV driver followed by CyberLink's PowerDVD 5, Beyond TV, Firefly, and Beyond Media. On the Diamond CD is also some "bonus software" including Acrobat reader, DSplayer, WCPUID, and trialware versions of the TMPGEnc suite. Also included was a second DVD player and codec, although why this was bundled when the already included PowerDVD is a much more versatile player is beyond us.

Throughout the installation we were guided through a helpful mini-tutorial for using the Firefly remote control, and were also asked to create a SnapStream.Net in order to access the TV guide free for 60 days. Once the account was created, we were able to successfully download the correct channel listing for our cable lineup which automatically entered each channel's name in place of the channel number, and downloaded the program guide for the next few days.

Beyond Media - Portal to Video, Music, Photo & DVD
Pressing the orange firefly button in the center of the remote will launch the Beyond Media interface, the heart of the SnapStream suite. The Beyond Media interface is very intricate, with links to the Beyond TV application, as well as our videos, music, photo library and a custom fullscreen interface for PowerDVD. All of these can also be accessed by using the dedicated media buttons towards the bottom of the remote, although these can be reprogrammed to launch other applications such as the music button launching iTunes. There are also links to a fullscreen file browser, items in the Windows start menu, and a list of currently running applications for fast access to anything that Beyond Media can't handle on its own. This ability is further enhanced with an alternative mapping of the remote's arrow keys that will emulate the windows mouse including left and right clicking.

Playing back music is simple with the ability to add specific music folders that Beyond Media will actively monitor for new songs. Playback options are fairly standard with both shuffle and playlist options that can either be created on the fly or imported from Windows Media Player, including automatically generated smart playlists. When in the mood for listening to a specific song, there is an on screen keyboard available to search for it by name. To top it all off, album art (if available) is displayed in the bottom corner. As would be expected, CD playback is also supported, with visualizations that match up with the currently selected visualizer in Windows Media Player.

Photo viewing is basic at best, with options for manually skipping through the pictures in your designated photo folders, or an automatic slideshow that will pan an image across the screen for 5 seconds before advancing to the next slide. While we like the slow panning, it would be nice if it also zoomed across the pictures in a similar fashion to the Ken Burns effect. Music from Beyond Media can be played in the background while viewing slideshows which is a nice touch, with options for disabling the current track information that is usually displayed at the bottom of the screen.

The video player component can handle any format of media so long as the proper codec is installed for Windows Media. As can be expected, this makes playback of QuickTime and Real impossible, even with Real Alternative and QuickTime Alternative installed. It would be nice if SnapStream could negotiate a deal with the two companies for plug-in support, although this is unlikely. Still, with AVI support Beyond Media can play a wide variety of files encoded in DivX variants, making it compatible with most videos downloaded from the internet. Another bonus, these videos can have their aspect ratios set to auto, letterbox, 4:3 and 16:9 which is great news for those with widescreen laptops and televisions. Longer videos can also be fast forwarded through at up to 3x speed by using the remote control.

A decent broadband connection also plays an important role in Beyond Media's showcase, a slew of internet services ranging from 24hr movie rental to NewsGator RSS subscriptions and streaming radio from Napster and Live 365, the latter of which contains support for both premium and free content. Since the couch is so hard to get up from, we appreciated the ability to browse through the massive collections of movies to rent from both CinemaNow and Movielink, and while the selection doesn't quite match Blockbuster video yet, it saves gas money and beats our cable company's OnDemand Pay Per View selection. This is just one of those features you will love or never use.

Loads of Bonus Plug-ins
Finally, our favorite aspect of Beyond Media is the extensible plug-in support that can only be achieved through understanding developers and an active community, both of which SnapStream has covered. On their forums are links to various skins and plugins that can change the appearance and behavior of Beyond Media to make for some really cool features. While the software already includes a Weather.com plugin, some of the better examples would be Game Library, which searches through your PC games and emulator ROM collections, pulls the relevant box art, screenshots, and description off the internet, and serves as a gateway to launching your favorite game. Other plugins worthy of mention are Comics, which will download free comic strips such as Garfield and Foxtrot that you subscribe to for every day of the week, and Net Radio which can playback any streaming radio station no matter if they're affiliated with Live365, SHOUTcast, or their own entity.

Beyond TV - Personal Video Recorder
Beyond TV is just one of those programs you love and hate at the same time. One of the things we love is the fact that unlike the majority of PVR applications, there are not two separate modes for live television and time-shifting. It is always in time shifting mode, which means there is no more confusion as to why you can't pause or rewind what you're watching. Like Beyond Media, fast forwarding and rewinding can take place at up to 3x speed for quickly skipping through commercials, while a blue and gray bar indicates your current position for the current show.

Additionally, once a show has been recorded, a nifty feature called SmartSkip will intelligently mark where the commercial blocks are, allowing them to be quickly skipped through by pressing the channel buttons. Another distinguishing feature is that displayed video can either be done through DirectShow Overlay, or hardware acceleration which includes deinterlacing, and allows for transparency effects and great screenshots using Print Screen.

Various Ways to Recording
Recording can be setup in a variety of ways. With a SnapStream.Net account (After 60 days you must purchase a subscription), one can download the latest program listings within the fullscreen interface and schedule a show to record, or access them online through SnapStream's partner website and remotely schedule recordings either in a web browser or with a WAP enabled phone. Alternatively, if you open port 8129 in the firewall you can schedule recordings for free using the web-based BeyondTV management interface by connecting to your computer's IP address. Once a show has been selected, you can view all the upcoming episodes of that show or schedule to record once, all episodes, or only new episodes (on that particular channel).

A more advanced Setup Recordings menu also allows for searching by program name and keywords. In case two shows marked for recording have a conflicting schedule one night, you can setup priorities for which show has the right to record, since the Xtreme TV PVR 600 only has one tuner, although licences for additional tuners may be purchased through SnapStream. As a last resort, manual recordings can be invoked through the record button on the remote, or setup for a future time manually in case the internet isn't accessible or paying for a program listing service isn't your thing.

Some Limitations
Unfortunately, recording formats are severely limited, with only a four different quality levels of MPEG-2 (done natively by the hardware encoder in the PVR 600), that can be optionally compressed with ShowSqueeze to create WMV for use on portable devices. No support for any AVI or MPEG-4 codecs is available without the use of additional 3rd party software. What's more, there is no bundled software that can edit out commercials or burn recorded videos to VCD and DVD that don't require purchase. It would have been really appreciated if Diamond included a lite distribution of Nero Vision to handle the task, as the bundled trialware versions of TMPGenc have horribly daunting interfaces that simply don't justify the high prices.

Another thing that really irked us about Beyond TV's interface is the lack of S-Video and Composite RCA channels for recording straight from a VCR or game console. At version 3.5, we can only wonder why this feature hasn't been included, while in contrast it was a function even for our first ixMicro tuner card for a 100 MHz beige PowerMac. The only workaround for this issue involves accessing the web-based management interface and changing the PVR's input source from the tuner to the video source and recording manually. Another common yet missing feature was closed captioning support, for those late nights when the roommates can't be disturbed.

Performance - Low CPU Usage, Not So Good for Gaming
Thanks to the hardware MPEG-2 encoding of Diamond's XtremeTV PVR 600, picture quality was clear with very artifacts that were barely noticeable without zooming in. As shown in the following blown up picture of some MSNBC talk show, both stationary (right), fast moving (top), and medium paced (bottom) moving text came out legible if not a little blurred, which of course is easier to see on a high resolution monitor when compared to a NTSC television. Colors were balanced, although somewhat dark and a little saturated by default, although these can easily be adjusted.


CPU utilization was low on our AMD64 3800+, with Beyond TV taking on average 5-15% under Best quality MPEG-2 settings with hardware acceleration. Bringing up the info status display would raise this to 21-32% utilization. Using DirectShow Overlay and Best Quality settings, CPU utilization took a larger 11-24%, and would go slightly higher to 19-27% with the info status open. The low figures can be attributed once again to the hardware encoder being used, which is great for people with slower systems.

For those slower systems, we strongly urge you to disable automatic ShowSqueeze and set SmartSkip to run during off peak times so it doesn't add additional overhead to your processor which could potentially drop the framerate of your shows. While good quality picture and low CPU usage are the advantages of hardware encoding, the one downside of is the lag involved between something happens and when it's actually displayed on the screen. In our testing, flipping through channels was slow on the with an average wait time of 2 seconds between channels. Similar lag was experienced when trying to play console games through the PVR, rendering all action games unplayable with bad timing, especially in fighting games like DOA2. While it may not be feasible to play games through the tuner, it did a good job of recording the action when the signal was being split through the VCR directly to the television.

The Bottom Line
Overall Diamond has put together a very nice bundle of hardware and software with their Power Pack to help transform your computer into a Home Theater PC without the need for installing PCI cards. The hardware is top-notch with a well-featured remote control and a very nice bus-powered MPEG-2 tuner with stereo that handles fast-moving objects and text with clarity.

The Beyond Media software lives up to our expectations for viewing our slideshows to music and playing videos, being able to rent and download videos from two different stores without leaving the couch is always a plus, and the user-created plugins continue to enhance our HTPC experience.

Beyond TV has some very nice commercial skipping abilities in a clean interface, and for those willing to shell it out for SnapStream.Net there is a very nice electronic program guide with remote scheduling abilities, although the lack of dedicated RCA and S-Video channels can become quite tiresome. With a street price of $120, Diamond's XtremeTV PVR600 Power Pack is a good deal for those requiring a USB solution for HTPC and is recommended.

- Scott Clark, Consumer Technology Editor

Where to buy Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 USB 2.0?


User Review(s) We're currently upgrading our user review system; so we won't be accepting new reviews for now.

XtremeTV PVR600 USB 2.0 Specs

Interface(s)	Hi-Speed USB
Released date	March 2005
Platforms	Windows 2000, Windows XP
Video capture resolution(s)	720 x 480, 352 x 480, 352 x 240
Video capture format(s)	MPEG-1, MPEG-2, WMV
Max. capture rate @ 30fps	720 x 480
Video input(s)	Composite video, S-video, 75 Ohm coaxial
Audio input(s)	RCA left & right
Video output(s)	No
Audio output(s)	No
TV standards supported	NTSC
Personal video recorder?	Yes
Remote control	Yes
Software	Beyond Media, SnapStream TV Guide, CyberLink PowerDVD 5
Hardware encoder?	Yes
Power source	Self-powered
Warranty	One year

Extras
Turn on and off this self-powered device automatically with your PC.
Lost a USB cable? Get a replacement USB cable.
Running out of USB ports? Get an extra USB hub.
You may need a new USB card to achieve Hi-Speed USB speeds.
Confirm with our USB 2.0 FAQ if you have Hi-Speed USB on your PC.