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I want a TV tuner for my laptop and I have narrowed down the search to the AverTV Hybrid Volar Max (USB) and the AverTV Express Mini (Expresscard). Which one is better? If the difference is small then I will get the Express mini because sometimes I use all the USB ports and I don't like to remove things a lot.
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I bought the AverMedia ExpressMini the moment it came out. My Sony FW notebook only has an Express34 slot so Avermedia's earlier ExpressCard(54) tuners couldn't be considered. Having had a built-in tuner (NTSC) in a previous Toshiba Qosmio, I wanted the same functionality in the new notebook.
I specifically wanted to avoid USB since a.) my notebook's ExpressCard34 slot wasn't earmarked for anything else and b.) after having owned various notebooks throughout these many years, the less gadgets I have camping on my notebook USB ports the better. No chances of someone (or myself) knocking into a USB gizmo and in turn knocking loose or destroying the notebook's USB port.
As for the ExpressMini tuner, I'm enjoying it when I have the time to use it. It sits flush when in the ExpressCard34 slot. A detachable dongle-cable goes from the pressure-click connector at the end of the tuner to your standard coax connector. It cost around $14 (shipping included) to get an extra cable from Avermedia. I've left one of these extra cables connected to the rooftop coax on my desk, another kept in the bag to travel with. A detachable bracket is included for notebooks that have the larger ExpressCard54 slot.
Under Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate, the card works like a champ and its driver plays nicely with Windows Media Center. Now if there's something I absolutely want to watch, I can let Media Center record it and know I'll be able to take that high-def with me. Media Center also ties into this card's FM radio tuner for that rare occasion you're without a web connection and want to listen to old-school radio.
Image quality? The ExpressMini does a pretty decent job IMO of recording Over-The-Air ATSC high definition (16:9 DTV) shows. My notebook's got a 16:9 1080 display, so if anything it's gonna reveal whether the tuner can cut it. Details are crisp, colors are vivid. The tuner's hardware encoding limitations are revealed only in complex motion scenes like full-screen fiery explosions where I can detect macroblock patterns... nothing I'd complain about for a tuner selling for $60-$75.
The application AVer MediaCenter (AVMC) seems to work LESS smoothly than Windows MediaCenter. For whatever reason, AVMC picked up fewer TV stations in its initial setup scan. Windows MediaCenter, on the other hand, picked up just about all the stations as my HDTVs. AVMC does offer to record video into what it claims is an iPhone/iPod friendly H.264 format. I haven't tried nor verified this yet. It's mostly AVMC's cr@ptastic and laggy user interface that keeps me away.
At home when the ExpressMini tuner is connected to the rooftop antenna, the signal's strong and the picture's clear. The bundled clip-on telescoping rabbit-ears work passably... don't expect miracles - part of this is due to the nature of the digital ATSC signal. My limited testing of it in the downtown canyons only yielded a small handful of channels that was watchable. Haven't yet had time to test it where I had a clearer line-of-sight to the broadcasting towers.
The final but critical thing to consider is heat. In my 2.8Ghz Core2Duo T9600 machine, the ExpressCard slot is under my left palmrest. When it was originally empty, it never really got hot there. The AverMedia ExpressMini DOES warm up, but as my hour-long MediaCenter recordings show, doesn't suffer for it.
For those whose empty ExpressCard slots are already warm to begin with, the multiplication of heat from an ExpressMini might cause picture-breakup whether watching or recording ATSC shows. This should be a non-issue for those of you with CPUs running cooler than the T9600.
Being able to turn any notebook into a full-fledged PVR for around $60 is a no-brainer. The ExpressMini greatly expands a computer's versatility without getting in the way.
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choose between 2 tv tuners
Discussion in 'Accessories' started by raul_219, Feb 16, 2010.
