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  • Overall Rating
    5 stars 5 Star Review
    Reviewed by: d_esmond

    Updated:06-30-08

    Duration of ownership:3 Months

    Strengths: CheapRebranded Hauppauge product (good quality)QAM TunerComes complete with antenna & dongles for all inputs

    Weaknesses: Gets hot while in useTuner is not the most sensitive

    Overall Evaluation: This tuner can be had for cheap on ebay... I didn't get mine there but saw tons of brand-new ones on there after I had already bought mine from circuit city.Anyway, this is a Hauppauge tuner, and those who have researched TV tuners know that Hauppauge has a lot of experience in the TV tuner market. I have owned lots of Hauppauge tuners and this one is great. If you have an expresscard/54 slot (not compatible with the smaller expresscard/34 slots) then this is perhaps the best way to get a tuner in your laptop, as it will stick out a lot less than a USB tuner and doesn't require an external power source.It's a hybrid tuner, which means that you can use it for either NTSC (going to be a dinosaur technology soon), ATSC (the new standard for Over-the-air HD and SD broadcasts), or QAM (the new standard for cable television transmission). You can't use all three at the same time--but it has ultimate flexibility for whatever transmission method is available where you are (which is great for a laptop). In the case where you have satellite or are otherwise stuck with a set-top box there are also composite and s-video inputs... so this thing covers all the bases. In addition it comes with a suction cup monopole telescoping antenna for picking up NTSC and ATSC broadcasts if you happen to be within a few miles of the transmitters (the antenna is not powerful enough to pick up distant stations).It is fully compatible and works great with Windows Media Center. I tested it with the version in Windows Vista (did not test Media Center 2005/XP but have read that is is compatible despite verbage to the contrary on HP's packaging). And because this is really a Hauppauge card underneath you can actually use Hauppauge's WinTV software with it as well, which in most ways is inferior to MCE but can be handy for testing or if you need to use the QAM tuner (which MCE doesn't yet support).It does get rather hot when in use, so it would be best to keep it uncovered so that air can circulate around it. I've only had it for 3 months so I have no idea of the longevity, but for now I've had no problems.Note: also keep in mind that early revisions of this card lack the QAM tuner (they still have NTSC and ATSC) so if QAM is important to you, you may want to research what version of the card you're getting when you buy.

  • Overall Rating
    1 stars 1 Star Review
    Reviewed by: olympus510

    Updated:03-23-08

    Duration of ownership:5 Weeks

    Strengths: none

    Weaknesses: all

    Overall Evaluation: Item did not get a clear image of tv channels. I went from the country to the city to try it out still doesn't work out good for me. I am very disappointed with this HP product.

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HP (Hewlett-Packard) ExpressCard TV Tuner
$114.99 • •Specs
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