Safe Upgrade for G51j-a1?

So I'm looking at purchasing one of these...

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4179072&CatId=4261

But I remembered that the Creative software installed on the g51j-a1 was the root of many freezing issues.

I'm not sure I want to take that risk, any thoughts?

Anybody know of any external sound card upgrades for laptops?

I'm looking into purchasing a pair of Sennheiser PC350's but they don't have a usb connection and I've read that without a good sound card i wouldn't be doing them justice.

 

IMHO you should only buy Creative if you play games that require EAX. Their drivers are just awful. I don't know much about Express Card sound cards, but I'd take a USB turtle beach over a Creative any day.

 

I've used my Creative card (I already owned one) with my G51J-A1 since I bought it, and haven't had a lick of trouble with anything.

The Asus-bundled Creative software is pretty worthless without the card, so I don't know what they were thinking by including it on the G51. I uninstalled that and installed from the disk that came with my card, then let it update itself. The software only works if a Creative card is detected, otherwise, it doesn't run.

I have to agree with cookie, though: if you don't already own one, it woudn't be my first choice for an upgrade. It's got some neat effects (and more of them than stock driver), but not enough to justify the price. And the EAX feature is a personal preference...again, not enough to justify the cost.