AverTV Cardbus

http://www.reviewcentre.com/review150028.html

AVERMEDIA AVERTV CARDBUS REVIEW
"10/10"

http://www.itreviews.co.uk/h658-aver...bus-review.htm

"From the simple installation through to the friendly software application and the quality of its video capture, the product is a good buy at just north of £50. AVerMedia clearly knew this when they were writing their box copy."

I noticed you can order your XPS2 with Windows Media Center Edtion. My question is would this allow you to fulley use a digital cable connection and view all say 900 channels?

Nope. You still need the digital box your digital cable provides for you. Plug it in the tv tuner.

So doing that will pick up all the channels without having to use the box I can change channels and everthing on the laptop?

The only thing about getting the PCMCIA tuner I would say is that it limits your external sound to USB only if you are thinking of getting an audigy also. Sorry I can't comment on the actual product quality, although I have read several good reviews about the Avermedia products.

Cheers

Do you mean sound input or output or both? While you won't have the versatility of a dedicated sound card like the one you mentioned, I think most people only need stereo and S/PDIF connections. According to this discussion coaxial S/PDIF output works fine on the i9200 through the S-Video output using an adapter cable (S-Video <-> Composite video & Coaxial S/PDIF audio). Probably it should work alright on the i9300 as well...

As for inputs, this tuner card has stereo input but it also has S-Video input and using the same solution as above should give you S/PDIF input. Although the above mentioned discussion is concerning only S/PDIF output I don't see why the opposite wouldn't work with this TV-tuner if the pins are the same

too bad XPS2/9300 does not have ExpressCard/54 slots, or you could use this which will eventually replace PC Cards
http://www.trustedreviews.com/articl...rt=782&head=71

Can I put this card into my Inspiron 6000 ?

could be wrong but I don't think any Dell notebooks come with ExpressCard/34 or 54 modules yet. Seems like Dell may have cut a corner here. Newer Toshiba, HP, Compaq and IBM models now have it so I expect Dell will eventually come around as well. I think it has the potential to finally solve some issues with external hard drives and video apps.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6809717

Well, ExpressCard comes with either a USB 2.0 or PCI-Express interface, the USB 2.0 version being only half the speed of Cardbus. I don't know which ExpressCard versions have been introduced this far on other laptops but I suspect that many of them might use USB 2.0 and some are probably not available on the laptop itself but on docking stations which makes them far less appealing...

Anyway, lack of ExpressCard connectivity and the Azalia 7.1 sound chip are the only reasons I still haven't bought a laptop yet even though I'm torturing myself with a noisy desktop P3. The best ExpressCard setup would be to have one large PCI-express module for high-def TV-tuners and the likes and a small USB 2.0 module for removable storage media If the i9300 had these features it would be a near perfect laptop for me, as it is I'll have to wait some more...

As I undertsand it, if it's a real ExpressCard slot then it can utilize either USB2 and/or PCI Express depending on the design of the specific module. Notebooks like the HP ZD8000 and new Toshiba Tecras have both an ExpressCard/54 slot and regular PCCard slot.

I suspect the PC Card implementation in the XPS2 and 9300 will support a USB PC Card used as a "carrier card" for an ExpressCard/34 module. This is how a manufacturer can claim their PC Card slot supports ExpressCard technology, but it's strictly a USB2 implementation. This implementation does not use PCI Express nor can it use ExpressCard/54 modules. Dell calls it a transition solution but it seems more of a half-baked implementation of ExpressCard technology.

Obviously a real dedicated ExpressCard/54 slot is best in order to utilize future high speed PCI Express apps like external hard drives and HDTV video apps, and current Dell notebooks don't have it. There are no USB PCCard "carrier cards" for ExpressCard/34 modules to date, which maybe why Dell has not promoted their PC Card slots as supporting ExpressCard Technology. At some point Dell will need to add a real ExpressCard/54 slot to their notebooks. Until then, it's probably not a big deal as the ExpressCard apps just don't exisit yet. But when they do, you may wish your system had it. As always, time will tell.

I cant seem to find the AverTV Cardbus in America. All the places that have it are in Australia. The LifeView LifeVideo To-Go Cardbus is the closest thing I can find ( http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...118-108&depa=3 ). I have hever head of LifeView or read any reviews on the product. I wonder if i should try it out.

I just bought the PCcard lifeview today. After the simple installation and some testing, my VERDICT:: Return it to Fry's and have a refund. The video quality is very poor and software is just very unprofessional. All is said and PERIOD. I think USB 2.0 tv tuners would be a better buy in terms of video quality.

Im getting the Leadtek Winfast USB II Deluxe. Better quality and WAY better software. I have Winfast XP Expert on my desktop and all is very well.