What is this?
The USB 2.0 hub, FM tuner, MPEG-4 recording, remote, and DVD burning make this time-shifting PVR a well-rounded TV tuner. With its efficient software encoding, there is no latency whatsoever.
Leadtek WinFast TV USB II Deluxe ReviewFebruary 25th, 2005
Pros: Lag free; FM tuner; remote control; 3-port powered USB hub; PiP; DirectBurn; extremely low CPU usage; carrying case.
Cons: Audio bug in video editing apps; grainy composite video; fast motion creates blur.
Verdict: Lag free gaming, channel surfing from the couch, and burning DVDs without touching the hard drive is a truly wonderful thing. The Hi-Speed USB TV tuner delivers without disappointment.
The Leadtek WinFast TV USB II Deluxe may seem daunting at first with how many cables can be hooked up to it at once, but it's portability is under estimated and as soon you pick up the remote you will discover loads of features you'll take for granted on a daily basis. You'll get your money's worth.
System Requirements - Pentium III 550 MHz or Higher PC compatible
- 128MB or more system memory
- Microsoft Windows XP with SP1 / 2000 with SP4 OS
- 1 Sound card line-in or speakers (Windows 2000 user)
- Connect stereo audio cable to sound card or speaker when under Windows 2000
- USB 2.0 port
Recommended System Requirements - Pentium III 1GHz or higher for MPEG-1/2 recording
- Pentium III 1.2GHz or higher for time-shifting
Package Content - WinFast TV USB II Deluxe Unit
- FM Antenna Cable
- Audio Cable
- USB Cable
- Remote Control with battery (CR2025)
- DC Power Adaptor
- TV USB II Deluxe Carrying Bag
- Users Manual
- Quick Installation Guide
- 3 Software installation discs
Dressed to Impress The WinFast TV USB II Deluxe has a cleverly designed pearl white body that reveals only the infrared sensor when viewed from the front. The most frequently used connections of coaxial-in, mini-USB, on/off switch and power cable are hidden in the back of the unit, with composite, S-Video, audio, and USB ports on the concave black sides accented by gray rings for each port. To top it all off, the sides of the unit cast a blue glow from two bright LEDs.
One minor inconvenience is that Leadtek chose to use space saving 3.5mm stereo mini-jacks instead of RCA audio. One is for audio-out to your speakers or sound card, and the other is for audio-in recording. In order to connect a VCR, DVD player, or video game console you will need to use Y-Adapter, obtainable for about $5. Another inconvenience is the lengths of the provided cables are far too short, so a USB extension cable may be in order if your computer sits on the ground.
We didn't bother with the backpack crush test, as the WinFast TV USB II came with it's own padded bag that has ample room for the tuner, antenna and cables, however squeezing in the installation disc for use on a friend's computer may not be the best idea because it could snap.
Eye Candy Interface At first appearance, the WinFast PVR application is somewhat flashy in curing blue theme highlighted by alternating neon colors in the status window and on the sides of the video window. The colors aren't heavily saturated, so they're not really annoying for those who don't like that sort of thing. All features are within easy access requiring minimal right clicks.
Like ATI's Multimedia Center, the control bar has two different modes for both live TV viewing and the more CPU intensive time-shifting PVR mode. Upon entering time-shifting, the controller will morph to reveal a jog shuttle along with rewind, fast forward and pause buttons in place of the record button. A knob sits on the outer ring that will rewind and fast forward the video at different speeds depending on how far you move the knob. A nearly identical set of controls is also loaded when playing back previously recorded video.
The video screen can be adapted to best suit your work with both 4:3 and 16:9 lockable aspect ratios, along with custom sizing, and full screen. The video can even be set as the desktop after quickly setting the items on the desktop to be locked as web items.
The WinFast PVR application supports multiple monitors, although a documented bug is that users with nVidia cards running Clone (mirrored displays) will not see any video unless VMR 9 is selected in the application's preferences. If VMR 9 is enabled, the on-screen display information will only display for a split second, too fast to read. While in either video playback or time-shifting modes, a picture-in-picture (PIP) screen can be enabled to show live television in contrast to what's being played back, while double-clicking on the PIP screen will have the two switch positions.
The channel surfing function is somewhat different from what we're used to seeing. Rather than scanning through the individual channels one at a time, you move your mouse over a channel placeholder in order to generate a motion preview. Once the mouse has moved onto a different placeholder, a thumbnail is left in the former square as the new channel's video sets in. Double clicking will select the desired channel.
Capture the Moment While in live mode, video can be recorded in a number of formats including MPEG1/2/4, Windows Media Video, DV, or other codecs you have installed with AVI. As usual, the resolution and bitrate can be selected. The bitrate can also be set to variable, which usually has a flawless output. Audio can also be recorded in a number of formats, including WAV and MP3. Screenshots can be taken in BMP, JPEG, PNG, and TIFF formats.
Leadtek chose to use the Titan TV EPG for channel listings, and thankfully lets you choose your own browser to view them instead of defaulting to Internet Explorer. Once a good show is found, it can be scheduled to record, waking the computer from standby if necessary. Also, selecting to record or view any program from within Titan TV will add the channel name to the local channel list in WinFast PVR, although there is no way to download all the channel names at once.
One cool recording feature we really enjoy is DirectBurn, perfect for when the hard drive is near full or we're just too tired to do post-production. It burns recorded content directly to VCD, SVCD, or DVD. Once recording has been stopped, a dialog box pops up asking if you'd like to close the disc, or leave it open for future recordings. When burning to DVD, you have the option of creating menus for each recorded piece. While only one menu template is provided, additional .UFO templates can be downloaded online or borrowed from the included Ulead suite.
Turn it Up! We were quite annoyed with the fact that the Los Angeles area has no decent radio stations, because if it did, we'd be using the WinFast TV FM USB II Deluxe's built-in FM tuner feature non-stop. The WinFast FM maintains the same user interface as the PVR's, with only a few changes as to the location of certain buttons. A channel slider is on the top of the control panel, while on the left side is a ring with the options to seek to the next channel, fine tune, flip between and make preset channels. At the bottom of the controller are 10 preset buttons, capable of storing 30 presets as there are 3 preset groups you can select from by right clicking.
WinFast FM employs the same encoding formats and scheduling capabilities of WinFast PVR. Once a show has been recorded, the recording button morphs to reveal the playback controls, with the jog shuttle right under the channel slider. Both recorded shows and live radio can be played back at the same time. Static should be at a minimum since the included antenna gets better reception than our dedicated alarm clock radio. Because it also connects over coaxial, you may buy an amplified antenna to get an even better signal.
From the Couch Leadtek was ever so kind as to include a remote control with their WinFast TV USB II Deluxe, something you rarely see with a $120 tuner. Although it is hardly ergonomic and desperately lacks fast forward and rewind buttons, we really can't complain because after all, it's a remote control! Included buttons are power, switch between tv and fm, channel surfing, full screen toggle, number pad and channels, volume and mute, recall, display information, PIP toggle, snapshot, time-shifting, and record. Perhaps our favorite button is the one labeled "Boss", which mutes and hides the WinFast applications to the system tray, and restoring them just as quickly.
The power button has multiple functions itself, able to launch and turn off not only the WinFast applications but the entire computer itself, as well as place it in standby, restart it, and lock it.
Performance The WinFast TV USB II Deluxe has built-in video De-Interlacing to remove flicker from the edges of objects, which it does well, with cartoon lines crisp and no bleeding. Unfortunately, it suffers slight blurring with fast moving scenes such as a camera panning or CNN's news ticker. Still, images were true to their form. Unfortunately jagged edges and blurring were present in component video.
In order to test latency we decided to take it back to the basics with a good game of Donkey Kong Country. And to our surprise there was no latency whatsoever when in live mode. While the ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0 reviewed previously required predictive timing that had a slight learning curve to successfully game on it, Leadtek's tuner is able to pull off instant timing that makes levels like Mine Cart Carnage possible.
CPU time was also at a record low, taking anywhere from 2-8% CPU on our Athlon 64 3000+ socket 939. When in time-shifting mode, this number increases to 29-50% at optimal capture settings. Recording MPEG-2 at optimal quality took 31-44%.
Extras! Besides just Leadtek software, the WinFast TV USB II Deluxe also came with InterVideo's WinFastDVD, along with three Ulead titles including muvee autoProducer 3.5, DVD Movie Factory 3 SE, Cool 3D, and VideoStudio 8 SE DVD.
autoProducer is an interesting concept. Take a preexisting video clip, an MP3 or two, and select a style such as Cinema or Over-the-Top Music Video. It will then automatically splice the two together relying on the beat to create a unique video that can be just as funny as disappointing - it takes a few times to get it right. Additional styles can be downloaded online, but you must pay for them.
Ulead's Cool 3D is a very basic 3D modeling program that can take 3D text and pre-made objects and create motion effects to add cool titles effects to video projects, or simply make a good forum avatar. Unfortunately we were unable to get much use out of the other two Ulead products, because when capturing from the tuner in those applications, the USB audio was full of static, even when muted. The same problem existed in Windows Movie Maker. Remember that this bug is not present in the WinFast applications and that it will probably be ironed out in a later patch since it is still a brand new product.
In a Nutshell Leadtek has put together a tuner that has excellent video quality with sharp lines that are only blurred with fast motion, and slightly grainy composite video. However, after factoring in the low CPU usage, zero latency, remote control, and ability to record straight to DVD, you get an extremely well-rounded tuner. The FM tuner and three-port USB 2.0 hub is just frosting on the cake. The WinFast TV USB II Deluxe is highly recommended.
- R. Scott Clark, Consumer Technology Editor
Where to buy Leadtek WinFast TV USB II Deluxe?
User Review(s)
We're currently upgrading our user review system; so we won't be accepting new reviews for now. WinFast TV USB II Deluxe Specs
Ulead Video Studio 8.0, DVD Movie Factory 3.0, Cool 3D, MuVee Auto Producer 3, InterVideo WinDVD Player
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.
In order to test latency we decided to take it back to the basics with a good game of Donkey Kong Country. And to our surprise there was no latency whatsoever when in live mode. While the 
