Terratec Cinergy 2400i DT

It may be a virtually redundant technology, but there's one thing you can say about good old VHS; at least users could record one channel while watching another.

The majority of PC-based PVR (personal video recorder) systems - even those running Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition - feature only a single tuner.

And, while some users have installed two TV tuner cards in the same machine, Terratec offers an alternative with its dual-tuner Cinergy 2400i DT.

Effectively two DVB-T digital terrestrial tuners welded onto the same card, the Cinergy 2400i DT saves space inside the PC by only taking up one slot.

Unfortunately, that slot needs to be a PCI Express x1 version - the benefit of PCI Express architecture being that there's more bandwidth to play with.

The downside is that users who only have one PCI Express slot on their motherboards reserved for their graphics card or, indeed those who don't have a PCI Express slot at all, simply won't be able to use the 2400i DT.

Setting up the 2400i DT is easy and the card works really well. All of the 30 or so digital channels look sharp and clear and the card is provided with Cyberlink Powercinema 4.5.

This features time-shift recording, live TV pause and will also play slideshows and music.

Powercinema isn't quite as polished as Microsoft's Media Center alternative. Annoyingly, it's impossible to press record and then simply switch to another channel.

The Twin TV function needs to be run first, which seems like and unnecessary step. It's also a shame that Terratec didnít include the type of analogue video input usually found on TV tuner cards.

The 2400i DT is Media Center compatible and, should you already have Microsoft's entertainment software installed, a cut-down version (without the remote and Powercinema) is available for £15 less.

Although it obviously limits its market, it's good to see something other than a graphics card make use of PCI Express.

However, at £90, it's not cheap. If you're looking for dual-tuner PVR functionality, you might want to consider a standalone device such as the Humax PVR-9200T.

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