Hauppauge WinTV-Express review

Verdict:

Review Date: 22 Sep 2005

Price when reviewed: inc VAT

Our Rating 2 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

The WinTV-Express box contains only a small PCI card, quick start instructions and an installation disc.

There's no remote control, so it can only be controlled using a mouse or keyboard. Installation is straightforward but time consuming, as you need to install numerous different drivers and several applications. The software scans for channels automatically. It found all five terrestrial channels, but we had to name and reorder them manually. The card has no hardware MPEG2 encoder, so you can't pause live TV shows. You can still record TV programmes, though. Recorded shows are saved as DivX or MPEG2 files.

Hauppauge's WinTV 2000 software is starting to show its age. The interface looks unattractive and its control layout is confused and awkward. It takes some perseverance to find all the functions. The picture quality produced was disappointing, with ghosting and bands of noise across the picture. The picture from a DVD player connected through the composite video input was better, if a little soft.

The WinTV-Express is extremely cheap. If all you want to do is watch the five analogue TV channels, it will do the job. However, it's not particularly easy to use. Most people will want a remote control and time-shifting functions. If you want a cheap analogue TV card, Leadtek's WinFast TV 2000 XP is a far better choice.

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