The second part of our testing involved using the Leadtek TV2000XP Expert equipped PC in a home theatre setup. I wanted to see if the recording and time shifting features of the tuner, plus its ability to write to CD and DVD, could make it a viable VCR replacement.

Using an MSI Geforce FX5600 videocard to send the signal to the TV, we had no trouble at all in getting an excellent image on our TV through the TV2000XP Expert. While it was slightly inferior to the original image, mostly due to slight motion blur, it was certainly more than watchable.

The DirectBurn feature, which allows you to record directly onto DVD or CD (in VCD format), was easy to get to work on our LG multi-format drive, despite the lack of detail for this feature in the instruction manual.

Using a DVD recordable or rewritable disc (the program seems to support all formats, though we did not try with a DVD-RAM disc), simply select the 'directburn-DVD NTSC' capture format option and press record. The video stream will be burned directly onto the disc. Stopping and then restarting the recording will create a second track or chapter on the disc, and so on. Closing Winfast PVR will cause the DVD writing session to be finalized. You can then play the disk on your DVD player. Very nice.

If you invest in a few rewriteable DVD disks, the TV2000XP Expert card does seem viable as a VCR replacement for the tech-happy. For DVD authoring purposes, the software also has the ability to create DVD formatted files without automatically burning them onto a disc. Scheduled recording is possible through the scheduling configuration screen too.

The process for scheduling recordings was easy to understand. Pick a format to record in, select the time to record (you can also set a recurring recording for a certain time each week), and let it go.

Sound quality throughout our tests was excellent through a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy card. As I anticipated, it was next to impossible to discern any difference between a direct-to-TV audio signal and the Leadtek TV2000XP Expert's audio signal. Sound quality did not suffer perceptibly on recorded video or burned DVDs either.

I have to say I liked the included FM tuner too, since it worked well to the extent it was tested. The FM tuner picked up the local radio stations with our first channel scan, and its sound quality and signal reception were fine. I've received a few questions in the past about users looking for ways to integrate radio into their computers - say for recording a faviourite program - and Leadtek's solution would be a perfect choice.

Conclusions on the TV2000 XP Expert