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Monday October 30, 2006
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 PCMCIA was kind enough to send me AVerMedia's latest ExpressCard Tuner. If you don't already know, there's been a lack of ExpressCard devices out there, especially in the TV tuner space. Integrated TV tuners are typically found in big honking machines, so if you own, for example, a Dell Inspiron E1405 with a 14-inch screen, the chances that it has one built-in are slim to none. That's not to say you can't watch and record TV on your laptop.
The AVerMedia E508 Tuner slides right into the ExpressCard 54 slot. It protrudes a good 2 inches from the side, a slight inconvenience, but it beats the heck out of attaching a USB box. The card comes with AVerTV---utility software that works like a primitive version of Windows Media Center Edition 2005. The software immediately recognizes all your cable channels(provided you have a cable box), and it does time-shifting as well. Sadly, I couldn't get MCE to recognize the card, though their PC Card solutions apparently work with Windows MCE.
Accessories include an RCA-in and an S-Video-in dongle. It even comes with an MCE-like remote that works reasonably well from 10-feet.
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October 30, 2006 4:25 PM
Not bad, not bad. Now all I have to do is wait for someone to kludge it together with Mac OS X and toss this puppy into my MacBook Pro.
I'm glad to see the list of ExpressCard peripherals getting longer and longer.
October 30, 2006 5:31 PM
NTSC? Yuck. ;) In its favor, it does look like the antenna could be built into the card? I just got an eval HD USB tuner, but the antenna is separate - more junk to carry, break, and lose.
November 13, 2008 1:56 AM
pls how can i get this iem purchased