KWorld DVB-T PE310 Plus PVR

A simple, no-fuss, no frills TV tuner for all your simple, no-fuss TV tuning needs.

KWorld’s DVB-T PE310 Plus TV Instant PVR looks like every other TV tuner to hit the market in recent times. Except for the little plastic bit at the bottom, which gives away the PE310 as one the few TV tuners that supports PCI-E x1.

The PE310 gets its PCI-Express x1 ability from the Philips SAA7162E chipset and also features two Philips TDA100046A ICs that allow simultaneous dual-channel viewing.

Featuring an analogue antenna input, digital antenna/FM input, AV in, remote sensor input for the remote control, a low-profile PCB, full-height bracket, and offering support for Windows XP MCE, the PE310 is ideal for larger HTPC enclosures as well as the average desktop beast. Oddly the package doesn’t come with a half-height bracket despite the small size of the PCB itself, requiring you to source your own – something that as far as we’re aware is impossible. The PE310 can also record video in MPEG 1/2/4 with the relevant codecs installed.

Unless you like admiring installation diagrams, the manual is extremely brief and can otherwise be avoided if you know how to install an expansion card with drivers.

The bundled viewing software includes basic file conversion, editing and scheduled recording functions, as well as the ever-present time-shifting feature. However, the software looks extremely dated and cluttered, as if it had been dragged from the ’90s and in no way resembles the slick and clean intuitive interfaces we’ve come to expect from this type of software.

Once we it set up through auto-tuning, the picture quality was good, although it can get a bit confusing when you’re making your way around the poorly marked interface.

The PE310 is great if you desperately need to fill that unoccupied PCI-E x1 slot. Otherwise, KWorld really needs to bundle in some polished software and a half-height bracket. For now just stick to using Win XP MCE.