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Turn Your Notebook Into a Media Center For Less Than $100
{mosgoogle}According to IDC, more than half the PCs sold this year will be notebooks...and the demand continues to grow. Want one that's a Media Center with all the bells & whistles but the billfold is a little light for all the entertainment features? ADS Tech has the answer for you. It's called the Instant TV for Notebooks (don't you like the brilliant name?) and it'll transform your mobile workstation into a multi-media powerhouse.
Think about it. Instead of dropping $2,000 to $3,000 on a Media PC laptop like a Sony Vaio, you can get one of those "good" $300 - $700 notebooks. Then invest a few buck in the Instant TV for Notebook Card bus solution and BAM! you've got it all (ok, almost -- but at least everything you want).
Slip it into the slot and you're ready to go. It's cable-ready so you can:
- Capture audio and video on your notebook computer
- Pause Live TV
- Time-Shift Record your shows
- Rewind, Pause or fast forward live shows
- Schedule your TV recording
- Use the IR remote to control your channel surfing TV
- Watch in a small window while you work or enjoy full screen viewing
- Copy TV shows and personal video to CD or DVD
That's right, finally the 10-ft experience without the huge investment. The ADS Instant TV for Notebooks includes Ulead's InstantMedia for watching/recording shows and the Titan TV electronic programming guide.
Current Real Time Pricing
The Instant TV For Notebooks sells direct from ADS Tech for $109.99. However, a search of our price index shows online dealers selling it for less than $100. At this price, the product is almost an impulse purchase. If you have a notebook and you want to watch TV on it, then this is the product to get.
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The Package
{mosgoogle}The Instant TV For Notebook includes:
- Instant TV for Notebooks PC Card with built in IR Receiver
- IR Remote Control
- Audio/Video connection cable
- CD Containing: ADS Tech TV PVR, Ulead InstaMedia, Titan TV EPG
- Audio-Video Cable
- User's manual
There is also a Beyond Media and Beyond TV - Competitive Upgrade Offer. Instant TV For Notebooks Users can get Beyond TV and Beyond Media for a reduced price of $60. For most users, the included Ulead and Titan software will be enough. However, anyone who has used Beyond TV and Beyond Media before knows that nothing beats it, so it's something to think about.
Input & Output Connections
In addition to turning your laptop into a TV set, the Instant TV For Notebooks can also be used as an audio video editing station. The PC card has an AV input and the needed audio video cables so you can connect any analog device to capture video for editing.
Current Real Time Pricing
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The Remote Control
{mosgoogle}ADS Tech includes a handy remote to control the Instant TV For Notebooks. It's cool to have but for most users, it isn't really necessary as they don't sit too far away from their notebooks. However, for users with new big screen notebook, the remote is very nice to have.
The remote allows you to a navigate around the InstaMedia software or use the TV functions. To toggle back and forth you just press the T/S button. While not as fancy as other remotes, the Instant TV remote offers enough buttons and function to keep most TV junkies happy.
The InstaMedia Software
The Ulead InstaMedia software offers a nice simple interface that reminds us a lot of Windows Media Center. From here you can view photos, watch videos, TV, play games, etc. The first time you use InstaMedia to watch TV, it will scan for available networks and save them in the system.
As media software goes, InstaMedia offers pretty good control over TV and PVR functions. You can record shows on the fly or schedule a recording like a normal VCR and you can freeze and time shift live TV like a PVR. It will never upset Beyond Media and Beyond TV but it'll do in a pitch.
Current Real Time Pricing
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Installation & Testing
{mosgoogle}Installation of the ADS Tech Instant TV For Notebooks is pretty straight forward; plug the card into a free PC Card slot, attach the TV cable, install the drivers and reboot. After the reboot, install the InstaMedia and Instant TV PVR software. Total install time was less than 10 minutes.
The Instant TV For Notebooks works with both PAL and NTSC connections. The card itself is setup for PAL and comes with a PAL to NTSC adaptor. The nice thing about this setup is that when you needed to put the cable away. Instead of unscrewing the TV cable, all you needed to do is just pull the adapter out of the card with the TV cable connected.
As a TV tuner, the Instant TV For Notebooks works fine. The picture quality was quite good, as long as you don't watch it at full screen. If you do, then you'll want to step back a few feet from the notebook because the image is fairly pixilated. Non HD Cable TV is designed to be displayed on an interlaced TV, not a non interlaced high resolution LCD screen. The LCD screen on our test notebook revealed every imperfections in the TV image. We found the remote to be a hassle to use - its buttons were too close together and you can't find what you're looking by feel along. Also it requires perfect line of sight with the TV card since its IR based.
We found the Instant TV minimum system requirement of a Pentium III 1GHz too be low. You'll need a faster notebook than that to take full advantage of it. When installed into one of our older notebooks, the video was jumpy and the sound didn't sync to the TV show. It look like one of those very badly dubbed Chinese Kung Fu movie. However, when installed in the Dell XPS gaming notebook, the unit performed flawlessly.
Overall, we like the ADS Tech Instant TV For Notebook. For a student living in a dorm, this is almost a must have item. And it's priced low enough that even the starving student should be able to afford it. If the idea of adding TV viewing to your notebook appeals to you and you have a notebook that is at the Pentium M level or above, then Instant TV For Notebook is a good choice.
Current Real Time Pricing
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