Joined on 12/10/04
Works perfectly
Pros: Works perfectly well in my Canon SD600. Video mode works flawlessly.
Cons: None
Change my review
Pros: Daul tuners, cheap price
Cons: Unable to see a couple normally strong ATSC channels. They read as no signal. So I'm not sure if this is the Tuners fault or Media Center.
Overall Review: OK, my last review was not quite accurate. It turns out that these cards will do Clear QAM. The problem is that you have to have Vista TV Pack for media center to be able to see the QAM tuners. You also cannot get this from Microsoft. For some reason they are not making this available for download, so only newer PCS with the TV Pack can use the QAM tuners, although I was able to track down a copy and try it out, and now I can see the clear QAM tuners. So it looks like the bottom line is that is you need QAM on media center, you need the TV Pack or wait for AverMedia to update the drivers.
Not Quite there
Pros: Compact, built in wireless, up scaling DVD player, quiet
Cons: Slow, no support, discontinued model, very limited codec support. Constant network problems.
Overall Review: I bought this for $130 dollars, can't imaging paying close to $300 for this thing. It's a good idea that just doesn't have the support or refinement to make it worth it. I was able to get it to work fairly reliably by running a dedicated ethernet cable, scouring the net for hours looking for solutions, trying different tweeks and then finally a different NIC card. Not two many people can get this to work without a great amount of time invested. Mine was actually more reliable when I ran it wireless, but the interface was just to slow for me to put up with it. I had also bought a Xbox 360 arcade to see which one to keep. The Xbox has it's own set of issues, but it run the media center far more reliably, smoother and faster, plus it can also play games and is supported. It's only downside was that the fan noise is a little to loud to be next to a TV. I was able to solve this by putting it behind the wall in the garage. Not the ideal solution, but the controller is RF so it works fine.
Deceitful advertising
Pros: Cheap for Dual Tuners
Cons: Advertised as a Qam tuner, but there is no support for Qam. Also does not get a lot of OTA stations that two DTV converter boxes receive strongly with same input. I'll be returning mine.
Mix results
Comments: If you get the correct brand of media, then the results were pretty good. I have been having good luck with TDK -R 8X but could not burn a single Memorex +/-R X4 that I had, 5 out of 5 coasters. Other than that it seems to work very well, although it sounds like an airplane taking off sometimes.