Leadtek WinFast DV2000 review

We don’t all have the necessary cashflow to run out and buy ourselves a Media Centre solution like the Elonex eXentia, but thanks to Leadtek, it needn’t cost a fortune to give your old beige box a boot in the right direction.

To pigeonhole this product as a video capture board would mean ignoring the range of additional features provided by this PCI card and accompanying software, but it’s fair to say that the WinFast DV2000 will appeal to anyone who wants their PC to be more than just a PC. Particularly if you have more than a passing interest in video.

The card itself carries a combination PAL TV and FM radio tuner (peel the Leadtek sticker off and you’ll find an entirely unsurprising Philips logo hiding underneath), a Conexant CX23881 signal decoder that’s currently standard issue for Windows Media Center-based hardware and an OHCI-compliant FireWire interface chipset from Texas Instruments. However, while the PCB is relatively sparse, the backplate couldn’t be more cluttered, with no less than six ports barely squeezed onto the back for aerials, A/V inputs, FireWire, audio line out and a socket for the IR remote control sensor. So much so, that if you want the other two FireWire ports (four and six-pin) promised by the DV2000’s specifications, you’ll need to add the supplied expansion bracket, which will render one of your spare PCI slots useless. Alternatively, the card’s FireWire pin-outs might be useful for hooking up a front-facing FireWire bay if your PC case has one.

Once you’ve connected the alarming number of cables and installed the software, it takes no time at all to put more profitable matters aside and start watching telly instead. Naturally, both radio and TV functions have a channel scan and recall function, as well as automatic fine tuning for optimal results.

Although you’ll find that the software bundle leaves a trail of largely unwanted shortcuts all over your desktop, the TV and radio apps are both kept to a tidy launcher applet that sits quietly in your system tray. Of course, if you can’t reach your keyboard because you’re already sprawled out on the sofa, then the remote control will let you boot up and control both radio and TV features in comfort. This includes common options like channel search, volume, Teletext, and full-screen (with de-interlaced pictures that are better suited to your PC’s progressive scan display). But the DV2000’s software also adds PVR options like program recording and timeshift to the set, as well as scheduled recording and Picture in Picture for watching live broadcasts and recorded material at the same time.