All-in-one or part of a strategy...
The HD Pro ships with Pinnacle�s own TV viewing software, TVCenter Pro, which runs on Windows XP and Vista 32-bit or 64-bit (the latter still technically in beta). If you don�t want to use the bundled application, the HD Pro is also Media Center compatible so it�ll work with Windows Media Center Edition 2005, Vista Home Premium, or Vista Ultimate. Since Media Center is generally a static user experience regardless of the hardware used, for this review we�ll be using TVCenter Pro to get an idea of the complete Pinnacle package.
The company recommends a minimum of a Pentium 4 at 2.4GHz or a Pentium M at 1.3GHz for use with TVCenter Pro, with 256mb of RAM for XP and 512mb for Vista. For the full timeshifting experience the recommendation moves up to a Pentium M 1.7GHz processor, and double the RAM. I�ll be using the HD Pro with a modest Sony SZ-series laptop sporting an Intel Core Duo 1.83GHz T2400 processor, Nvidia GeForce Go 7400 graphics card, 3 gigabytes of RAM, a 320GB 7200RPM hard drive, running Windows XP Professional.
As installation CDs are almost always outdated by the time they get to you, I opted to instead download the latest version of the HD Pro�s drivers and TVCenter Pro software from Pinnacle�s website. After an unexpectedly large 250mb download for version 5.4.0.3032, installation completed smoothly, rebooted the system, and then automatically ran the initial configuration wizard.
TVCenter Pro�s user interface has been given a modern, shiny light grey appearance. As with all video applications the video window takes up most of the screen�s real estate, leaving controls to the title bar on top and a larger panel below. Pinnacle actually makes use of the title bar, adding a number of useful icons for �Settings�, �TV�, �Radio�, �Recordings Gallery�, �EPG�, plus a button to quickly toggle �Always on Top� status (to keep the program in front of other applications). Below the video window is a sizeable control panel with a lot of small buttons and a surprising amount of blank space. This is where you�ll change channels, adjust the volume, start manual recordings, select closed captioning and audio channels, pause live TV and so forth. A little pop-down expansion panel enables �trick play� controls such as fast forward and rewind, skip, plus some others that always seemed to be grayed out no matter what I did.
The title bar and control panel can be configured to automatically hide when inactive, and appear whenever the mouse cursor moves over the program � or enabled or disabled permanently. Even the thin grey frame around the video window can be completely removed, although doing so prevents the window from being resized. A few program features can only be found on a less accessible right-click menu, including zoom, aspect ratio and preset window sizes.
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