HP ExpressCard Digital/Analog mini review

Ok, since I couldn't find a freakin review (anywhere, sheesh) when I bought this, I thought since it's like the only digital expresscard tuner available in the U.S, I thought I should give it a go. Here are my impressions:



Here's the stuff it comes with: Expresscard, remote, remote sensor, IR emitter cable , RF coaxial cable adapter, a portable antennae, composite/s-video cable, installation cds and instructions.

Installation was very easy, put the expresscard in, install drivers, restart. What's cool is when there is activity, the little blue light goes on. The card kind of sticks out a little, so watch out for that.
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=6gejq6c


I love the remote, it's very nice and it makes watching T.V with Media center very easy.
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=5yw0b48 (pic of the remote)


The T.V antennae is useless indoors. I could pick up maybe 2 or 3 stations, but they would cut out every so often. As soon as I got it closer to the window, the reception did get better, but if you're indoors I suggest using your antennae that you have on your roof (if you do).

Haven't tried the s-video/composite cable connections, but then again I really didn't buy it to use those.

As for image quality, I encoded a little video and a few caps to give you an idea what video quality is like. My encoding skills suck bad, so please excuse it These were done in 1080i. Cpu usage was only like 20-30% while recording in 1080i or 720p. I didn't notice any slowdowns or anything during the recording process.

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=62rn04n (pic 1)
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=6aqy2ki (pic 2)

http://rapidshare.com/files/40201403/capturetest.mp4
(mp4 (h264) video in 1080i; 35 megs for like 30 seconds, sorry heh)


Now while I love this little think (I'll love it even more when I go to Japan) There are 3 things that bother me. If you decide to take it out and then put it back in a while later, it will freeze when you try activating it in Media Center. I found that you also have to restart the computer if you put it in after you've started the computer, kinda odd but oh well. The portable antennae/ RF coaxial cable adapter's cable falls out of the expresscard slot very easily. Even the slightest touch will unplug it, kind of annoying. Another problem I found was that windows reported the captured file to be 704x480, however when I converted the file to mpeg-2, it would read the correct 720p or 1080i resolution. http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=660z6yv


For reference, my computer specs are:

S96J T2400 1.83ghz Centrino Duo.
2 gigs of PC2 5300 ram
1680x1050 res (oddly enough I had a 1280x800 or whatever it was, I sent the computer back because of pixel problems, and now I have this, strange..oh well)
60 gig 7200 RPM drive
Mobile Radeon X1600 256mb


Conclusion: All in all this is a great card, I'm gonna love it in Japan. I suggest anyone that wants to watch hdtv channels on their laptop, get this. Media Center is very easy to use, simple setup and watch. It might be a little expensive, I bought mine for $130, but it's worth not carrying an external USB one around. If you're looking into getting this, I suggest you go for it as it's a nice little hdtv tuner on the go.

Btw, sorry for any stupid errors and sorry if this is in the wrong forum, couldn't decide between this and the HP area.

 

Thanx for the review! I was looking around for an expresscard tv tuner to hook up my game consoles to, but I guess I'll have to wait for it to fall into my budget.