Avermedia AverTV Hybrid Express Slim review

Can this turn your laptop into a googly box?

18 December 2007 9:00 GMT / By Stephen Patrick

Notebooks are increasingly becoming the multimedia hub of the home and what better way to celebrate this than by adding TV functions to your portable?

The easiest way to add a TV tuner is by adding a USB tuner. However, this latest version from Avermedia takes a different approach by opting for the ExpressCard slot.

You'll need the larger 54mm card slot but the main advantage is that while USB tuners protrude from your notebook, this card is hidden completely away, so less likely to be caught or knocked out.

The only problem we found with this card was the amount of heat it generated, as our test notebook grew quite warm to the touch near the ExpressCard slot.

Supplied with a mini-aerial, this is fine if you can rely on the quality of the signal but as with all portable TV tuners, we'd recommend plugging it into a standard rooftop aerial for the best results.

Avermedia has updated its software, so you'll find tuning the device using Aver TV6 is now a lot simpler. This also acts as the PVR control, which works exceedingly well. That said, we did find that recording for longer that 45 minutes did tend to lead to problems, mainly with lip-sync starting to fail.

Verdict

The Portable TV tuner isn't a mature market and continues to develop and the Avermedia AverTV Hybrid Express Slim is merely part of the latest generation. With that in mind, it works as well as any other TV tuner but you must be aware of the pitfalls of a technology that isn't yet fully formed.

Score

Review Recap

Made by: Avermedia
Price as reviewed: £70
The good: Compact and neat design, good software
The bad: Grows hot quickly
Quick verdict: The software works well and the design is appealing but as with all portable TV tuners, the results can be unpredictable
Score