What is a good DVD Recorder/Capture Card?

PCMCIA DVD Decoder card for Windows XP

• I have a Dell Inspiron 2100 Laptop. I am currently looking for a PCMCIA DVD decoder card with standed RCA video & audio out (for playback on a TV). This device *must* work with Windows XP. Also note that I am not looking for a DVD player, just a card to output the signal to a television. Please let me know where I can find such a device, if I will need special software to view DVD's (currently using InterVideo WinDVD), and a price.

• Answer:

  Hi, I think I've found exactly what you are looking for: the Margi DVD-to-GO PCMCIA card. Basically, what this card delivers is a hardware decoder for DVD (which will result in a smoother frame rate and consumes less system resources) with audio and video outputs so you can watch DVD movies on your television. For sound, Dolby Digital, Dolby Surround and normal stereo are supported and for picture NTSC and PAL are supported. The card, software and drivers run under Windows 95/98/ME as well as Windows NT so Windows XP shouldn't be any problem (although it's not specifically mentioned but that's probably because the site is older). The following is mentioned in the Margi DVD-to-GO FAQ concerning drivers: "Does the DVD-to-Go card have Windows NT 4.0 driver? When is Windows 2000 driver available? Currently we do provide NT4 driver for specific platfors due to Zoomed Video compatibility with PCMCIA socket controllers, VGA adapters and AUDIO chipets. Please contact our sales team for a compatibility test report and to purchase a copy of our NT4 driver. We also have a "Beta" version to support Windows 2000 and it is available for download from our web site." DVD-to-GO FAQ http://www.margi.com/support/dvd/dvd-to-go/faq.html#TOPIC4B I called Baber.com (which sells the card) to make certain that Windows XP was supported but they were currently in "company meeting" and they couldn't answer my call. If you want, I can call them again tomorrow or you can call them yourself at: 800-290-0189 Windows XP supports a lot more software and drivers than Windows NT and/or Windows 2000 so I don't think you'll have any problem (usually almost everything that was designed for Win 95/98/ME runs under XP). The card comes with it's own playback software but you can probably also use your own. You can find more information here: http://www.margi.com/products/dvd/dvdtogo.html Ordering information can be found here: http://www.baber.com/baber/products/howto.htm I've tried to find similair products but I couldn't find any. Google search terms used: +PCMCIA +"tv out" ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&q=%2BPCMCIA+%2B%22tv+out%22&btnG=Google+Search I hope this answer is to your satisfaction! Regards, paul_b_18-ga