Which TV tuner ? USB or ExpressCard ? For Dell M2010.

[rmaciag]

Circa 2 months ago we bought Dell M2010. It is mainly used by my wife. OK, it is heavy but it is "portable", i.e. we use it both downstairs and upstairs. Moving it around the house is very easy. We love it.

One of the reported "weaknesses" of the M2010 is supposed to be the lack of a TV tuner. It did not bother us initially but now we wish the M2010 had it built in.

Anyway, I have just started a search for a suitable (compatible / good quality) TV tuner for our M2010 (with MCE).

To start I am a bit confused as to what kind of accessory can be fitted to M2010 ExpressCard port. I am not familiar with modern laptop ports so the limited documentation left me confused. It is a kind of "PCMCIA slot" but it is "NOT PC Card compatible" (?). However, the documentation states that it is "ExpressCard compatible". As I said it is all a bit new to me. The system has two USB2 ports too.

I looked at 3 products from AverMedia (but I would not insist on this manufacturer if good alternatives are recommended here) :

I found some good offers on the "AVerTV Hybrid+FM Cardbus" but it seems that this card is a kind of older PCMCIA card so it is unlikely to be compatible with the ExpressCard slot of the M2010. Could anyone clarify that for me ?

Then I came across "AVerTV DVB-T Express" card. Hmmm ... well, it is more expensive and it is out-of-stock from the only one outlet that I found to have it in its offer in the UK. It is also a purely digital TV card however it should not be a major issue for us as we are likely to use a rooftop aerial anyway. Good news are that it should be compatible with the ExpressCard slot of the M2010 (I hope). Is it ???

The last card I considered is the "AVerTV Hybrid+FM Volar". It is the USB2 version of the "AVerTV Hybrid+FM Cardbus" card. It seems to offer the same functionality as the Cardbus version. The price is similar too. But is the USB2 card worth considering ?

If the "AVerTV Hybrid+FM Cardbus" card turns out to be not compatible with the M2010 (very likely) and if the "AVerTV DVB-T Express" card turns out to be not readily available then ... well, I would consider the USB2 alternative but ... is there any major difference in reception quality / speed / functionality between generic USB2 TV cards and other designs (older PCMCIA / newer ExpressBus) ?
In other words, is it worth trying to find and buy an ExpressCard model rather than rushing to buy the widely available USB2 one ?

[nichomach]

You cannot use CardBus/PC Cards in and ExpressCard slot; they're a completely different interface. The AVerTV DVB-T Express, if it's THIS is also a CardBus card. USB2 is looking like your best (only) option.

edit: Hold the phone; how about THIS ? Turned up by a quick Froogle.

[rmaciag]

I have just found THIS Hexus review of E568 model (DVB-T / ExpressCard).

It is now in stock at Komplett, £50 +p&p.

I may have to call Dell support to check for compatibility. I am worried that the ExpressCard slot of the M2010 may not provide sufficient power for the card to operate correctly.

[rmaciag]

The HP card looks cool ... Let me read more about it. The price is reasonable too. I heard somewhere about the HP card but I was not sure which one it was.

[nichomach]

Aha! The AverMedia card's a nice price - remoteless, but that may not matter to you. The ExpressCard spec does include minimum power requirements, so I can't see you having a problem there - manufacturers have to conform to the minimum spec or they can't use the ExpressCard trademark. http://www.expresscard.org/web/site/standardsummary.jsp

[rmaciag]

Thanks for your feedback.

1. re: remote control
It may not be essential to have one if I can operate the tuner with the one supplied with the system / MCE (a fancy one that senses movement). I will check this tonight.
The HP model comes with a remote.

2. re: power requirement
I think I misread something in the system documentation. I thought the port was passive i.e. it could only read memory cards but was not able to supply power to TV card. I have just read the documentation again (user manual, hardware manual and service manual) and could not find any info like that anymore. I will double check that anyway.

Regards

[rmaciag]

A quick update.
I ordered AVerTV Express (E568) from Komplett.