I have the i9100 with the dongle. I have a regular tv/vcr at home. I want to record a local news bit tomorrow on my lappy. Can I do it with the dongle? Do I need special software. I don't care about the format (wmv, whatever)

What dongle ?

Unfortunately, the 9100/XPS by default only has video out, not video in. You will have to purchase a USB or PCMCIA TV tuner card to record video from a source.

Any special software?

Any tuner card you buy will pretty much come with it's own software. (Assuming you don't think there is a software fix for not having built-in video in on the 9100.)

The hard thing is trying to work out which USB 2.0 External Tuner card to buy...

Do you have an old PC kickin around with an open PCI slot? Like a PIII 800 or above? I did so I installed a PCI Hauppauge PVR 350 (this one has tv out) with GBPVR (freeware software, thats getting better everyday). It makes a great DVR . I can play the videos across my wireless network, so I can watch my recorded shows anywhere in the house. As well I can burn it to DVD and bring with me to work or a fiends

Hey Guys just noticed this thread and was about to post about this fantastic USB High Definition Digital TV tuner I recently purchased.

Go here... www.dvico.com

and look at http://www.dvico.com/products_dvbt_usb.html for the exact product detail..

I use this card on my I9100 with an Sxga screen and the picture quality is absolutely awesome! I have never seen television so crystal clear. Also, you can record it digitally, either in Standard Definition or High Definition, if you want to burn it to a DVD, be sure to record in SD only as the typical DVD player gets overloaded with the HD bit rate.

Aside from my 9100, this is the best PC product I have ever purchased!

Ten out of Ten from me.

Does this device have the same audio synch problem that most USB tuners have?

No audio sync problems at all. I have viewed over 30 hours and recorded over 15 hours of TV and neither original stream or the recording displays any audio problems on playback.

I use the new ATi USB 2.0 tv tuner for laptops, with no issues

Er, I have the same tuner, and have the slight audio delay. You probably do too, maybe you just don't notice it? Most USB 2.0 tuners have it, because of the time it takes to convert an analog to digital. It also looks like it's a Bug with SP2... This was a link on ATI's FAQ for the TV Wonder 2.0: http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;887131

Now Microsoft being Microsoft, rather then actually POST the hotfix, they have it set up so you have to *ask* for it, otherwise you have to wait for SP3 to come out. Oi... :0)

i got the tv wonder 2 also... that problem you speak of on ATi's site is lag between the audio heard and video seen on the computer... i dont have that problem, but it did happen before when recording for some reason. I blame the software package for the lag created when comparing the feeds seen on a regular tv and the one on the laptop. I've actually used the capture function in my oem copy of nero and there isn't a lag between the video on the laptop and the video seen on a regular tv(problem is there is no audio), i don't know why but i wish someone could come out with some software that the card would work with...

The good thing i like about the Ati tv wonder 2 is that it records very well... other than that you can't use it to use the LCD as a monitor to play a console game (because of the lag), but the quality of the picture is great IMO. As for that hotfix, i didn't see a difference so i uninstalled it...

Didn't see a difference? How exactly did you download it? Did you contact Microsoft support to download it? Because that's the only way you can get ir right now? (I'm also waiting frantically for the PSP. What game(s) did you reserve? :0) )

yeah, you have to contact a MS tech support person, they'll setup a private link and provide you with an email for the download for a limited period of time...

As for the PSP games, i haven't reserved any yet since i just barely finished allocating the money for the PSP unit itself and got NBA street V3 this week too... i'm planning on going this week to ebgames to get reserves some of the following probably: MG acid, NBA street, NFS underground, Luminies, GT4 mobile, and the GTA game... the PSP is looking expensive when i think about the system, some games, and a huge memorystick (1GB or more if possible this year) but i think it'll be worth it as an entertainment system and all that style