Plextor ConvertX PVR PX-TV100U

You have a few options when you want to add television and video to your computer: Gut your video card and replace it with an “all-in-one” model; add a TV turner card; or take the incrementally simple step of plugging in a USB-based TV tuner like Plextor’s ConvertX PX-TV100U. A year ago, the ConvertX and its $99 MSRP would have been great news. Times change, however, and, with current alternatives, the PX-TV100U could end up being not ready for prime time.

The ConvertX is a two-part solution. There’s the PX-TV100U hardware, a 1x4x4.5 inch silver box with a collection of cables, and a CD filled with drivers and a gaggle of third-party software it needs to navigate the TV universe. Even with just the supplied Quick Start Guide, the hardware is almost self-explanatory.

On one end you’ll find the A/V inputs (component and S-VHS), while on the other side are the antenna (or cable/satellite) connector plus the USB port (2.0 only). There’s also a mystery port labeled “AUX” which, the Quick Start Guide explains, will only be needed if you have an older version of Windows (pre-XP) that won’t carry the audio signal through the USB port. In that case, you use the supplied mini-cable to connect the PX-TV100U to the audio-in port on your sound card. You could physically install the ConvertX in under 30 seconds, but it’s not the first thing you need to do.

Drivers come first and that’s also your first opportunity to become really frustrated. Although it’s not mentioned in the system requirements, the drivers are not Windows XP 64 compatible and they will refuse to load. Plextor’s advice via its online tech support? “Hang in there, we’re working on driver upgrades.” Not an auspicious start. The drivers do install in both Home and Pro versions of XP. You then connect the ConvertX via its USB cable, Windows recognizes the device, and you’re ready to tackle the third-party software.

Two TV emulation software packages are supplied: SageTV Lite and a 21-day free trial of SnapStream’s Beyond TV3. The latter appears to be the more robust of the two but, for me, it was the more problematic. The software loaded fine on one system but it couldn’t automatically detect any active TV channels. Manually activating them, using a channel line-up based on my television provider, did work –mostly. There was a picture. There was also much horizontal scrolling of the image, in segments, at different rates. On a second system, the Beyond TV3 software couldn’t find an active Internet connection, which it needs to complete a SnapStream account. Theoretically, that should have only prevented the online television guide from being loaded, which it did prevent. (Amusingly, when told I wanted to upgrade to the $169 package, it seemed to easily find an Internet connection.) However, Beyond TV3 still couldn’t detect available channels and, on this system, an AMD FX-55/SLI box, trying to watch TV caused the computer to reboot.

SageTV Lite installed with comparative ease. First you install the software, then you run the software and configure it. SageTV Lite has the same generic “window” user interface as Beyond TV3. It lacks any obvious TV metaphor, with tuner controls accessed by left-clicking on the “screen” while set-up/configuration commands are displayed by right-clicking.

The initial video presentation was horrific –the image was too bright, the color too washed out. The controls needed to change this condition are embedded in the hierarchical set-up menu system but finding them proved elusive. A quick note to SageTV’s tech support was answered a day later with the advice, “Page 68 of the manual shows you how to do this. The manual can be found by going Start > Programs > SageTV.” Thanks. (The manual, supplied in PDF format, is 169 pages in total.)

A few deft brightness, saturation, and hue adjustments brought things to acceptable levels but it took several attempts. Apparently, The color quality differs when an image is displayed under the color control overlay than when it’s viewed directly on the SageTV Lite screen. Once done, overall picture quality was acceptable, but not nearly at the level achieved with current ATI All-in-Wonder or Hauppauge PVR plug-in cards. There was a slight wateriness to the image and, when expanded to full screen, it was obvious that the promised 29.97 frames per second video rate was not being delivered.

A year ago, when tuner cards from Hauppauge and ATI started at $180 and only went up from there, Plextor’s ConvertX PVR PX-TV100U and its somewhat idiosyncratic behavior would have been a welcome alternative at its price point. This time around, however, Hauppauge has lowered the bar with its $99 WinTV PVR-150 tuner card that offers similar features, better quality image, and a more intuitive interface. In fact, if you upgrade the TV100U with full versions of either SageTV or BeyondTV3, you’ll be spending considerably more money.

The bottom line for the ConvertX probably rests on whether or not you’re willing to crack open your computer and install hardware or simply want to plug the TV100U into an available USB 2.0 port. It’s a valid argument in favor of the TV100U for the casual TV watcher but it may not sway the more hardcore among us.