Reviews of Multimedia Products

At long last, ATI's new TV Wonder is on the shelves. But is it a good fit for your living room, too? We take apart the TV Wonder Elite's successor to see how it fares.

Whether you're toting a high-end multimedia notebook, or simply out of PCI slots in your

main desktop PC, the Roadie offers a simple, highly portable way to add surround sound to your PC via external USB. Is it all it's cracked up to be? We break it down and analyze the Turtle Beach Roadie's pros and cons.

If you are looking to build or upgrade your HTPC case, how could you exclude a TV card? The WinTV PVR-350 allows you to record live TV, pause it, and even burn it to a CD or DVD. It appears that this may be a true all-in-one solution, so let's check it out to see if that's the case.

Known in the past for respectable audio solutions like the Monster Sound series, Diamond Multimedia returns to the sound card business, aiming to undercut market leader Creative Labs. How does its latest 7.1-channel card fare?

"Whereas most media receivers send tunes over WiFi or Ethernet, the Logitech avoids the traffic jam and configuration headaches using a widely-known wireless PAN technology - Bluetooth. And over this 2.4Ghz frequency, Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (aka. A2DP) is the only option to transfer stereo audio from the USB transmitter to the receiver."

Following up on our recent portable-storage roundup, Vantec sent its latest portable solution that's not just storage, but a full-function media player. Theoretically, this versatility promises great things: On-the-go business users will no longer need that bulky notebook to show their video presentations and graphics slides, while travelers can watch their favorite videos in high definition, listen to their favorite tunes or view their photo albums in the comfort of their hotel room.

A review of Creative's new sound card

"ATI's new All-In-Wonder (AIW) X800 XL picks up where the company's X600 AIW card left off, which means a faster core processor, more multimedia capabilities and a heftier price. Surprisingly, the AIW X800 XL isn't the company's most expensive All-In-Wonder product though. Nestled in between the AIW X800 XT and the X600 PRO on the ATI product line, the AIW X800 XL offers impressive performance while still maintaining a somewhat modest price. But what is the main difference between the AIW X800 XL and the AIW 800 XT, and have multimedia capabilities really been improved over the previous year's offerings?"

"If you hadn’t noticed lately, the age of digital entertainment is more than upon us. Your old analog VCR and camcorder which served you so well through the early 90s are wearing down, as well as the tapes you use with them. It is time to digitally convert and backup your old wedding and graduation videos if you hope to keep them for the future. Turtle Beach, a maker of PC audio solutions, thinks they have an easy solution to help in this endeavor in the form of the Video Advantage USB."

"This little white box is designed to be a universal gateway to pipe all sorts of external media into your PC. And when I say little, I mean little. We’re talking about the size of two or three Pop-Tarts stacked on one another. With its two coax inputs, you can not only plug in to watch cable TV on your desktop, but with the included antenna, you can also tune in to local radio stations. It also has single RCA and S-Video inputs which opens a floodgate of possibilities and uses for this device. Imagine being able to record old VHS/Camcorder tapes digitally into your PC so that you could then record them to DVD. With the right audio adapters, you could even plug in your favorite console and play on your high resolution monitor."