Dell USB TV Tuner - XPS M1530

Hi all

This is my first post in this forum, and firstly thank you all for making my task of choosing the right notebook much easier!

I am looking at getting an XPS M1530 over the next few weeks (as soon as the 1440x900 LCD is available), and have a quick question re: the Dell USB TV tuner listed on their Australian website. Is it a digital HDTV tuner, or analog only? Has anyone included one when they bought their notebook, and how does its performance (reception, quality etc) compare with other tuners? The reason why I am considering the Dell tuner is that I am going to salary sacrifice the whole package with my employer, meaning the laptop and all accessories will have to be on the one invoice for me to get money back from the company...

All feedback and comments are appreciated!

 

jeff - i've just done the same thing - and bought the tuner to be able to salary sacrifice.

it says it's dvb-t - so definitely digital. am yet to test it out - so can't confirm whether it's high def yet.

the downside with the dell tuner is that it's HUGE! i was expecting a small usb stick tuner, but it's a big-ish box, PLUS a separate little box for the remote control!

 

Thanks achw, is it possible to make a few comments on the performance/quality of the tuner after you've had a play around with it?

 

sure - will try to do so. might be a few days away though.

apparently it's meant to work well with windows media centre - so i'll need to learn how to use that - and then work out how to properly output it to the tv so that the laptop can replace my vcr!

 

I ordered this TV tuner for christmas http://www.amazon.com/Hauppauge-Win...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1198121659&sr=8-1

I don't trust that dell tv tuner

 

i agree - the dell one isn't great, but as jeff pointed out, in australia, there's huge tax advantages in packaging it all together with your laptop.

if the dell one turns out to be crap, i'll be buying a usb stick type (like the one you just bought). the digitalnow one looks good for $A99 (twin hd tuners).

 

Thanks for the info, I might actually go without the Dell TV card, since with salary packaging I only end up saving ~40% or so, and obviously Dell overcharges on their card (over A$200)...

 

you know that you can also depreciate it as well as using pre-tax dollars? so, if your tax rate is 40%, you effectively save 80% over 3 years (plus you get the gst back...)

anyway, could be a wise move - not sure i'm a fan of the dell one myself - but too late for me!

 

good point achw, however if the dell one turns out to be crap, it would just be the upfront $250 (minus $25 gst, amortised over 3 years) down the drain!

 

isn't it the upfront $150 - since you're saving 40% from salary sacrificing?

(yes, i know you're not meant to do it with peripherals, but i understand dell's invoices only have 1 numbers, so you can't separate out the amount of the peripherals - and effectively treat it as if the tuner was built in, like on the xps1730!)

 

hmmm... ok... maybe i'll ask my company's dell rep and see whether he can discount it any further... in any case I won't be buying until they release the 1440x900 screen, and hopefully this won't take too long, seeing that it has already been released in other markets

 

jeff - the dell tv tuner is definitely high definition, and works a treat. no local tv guide though, so you'll have to manually enter in the details to record any tv programs - or subscribe to something like icetv.