Does nVidia's Cinema FX suck or what?

Computer Hardware
#1

God almighty. Another evening down the drain. Another Windows OS malfunctioning.

I got me the nVidia Personal CinemaFX 5200 (Pal edition) and was busy this entire evening to get it running.

Finally installed Windows XP Media Center; It doesn’t recognize the card. Okay. fine… Back to the normal tools and applications.

It takes hours to scan the tv cable and it doesn’t show the tv signal (video overlay) on the television output (nice blak screen). Thank you nVidia.

I hope the DVD recording works better and where the hell is my Guide+ Plus tv guide?

I hope it gets better, i’ll keep you lot informed.

#2

ATI’s All-in-Wonder series are far better than nVidia’s Personal Cinema series and will always be.
Sorry, but this is one area nVidia hasn’t been able to keep up.

As for me, I’d prefer the 2 solution method.
Graphics card separate, and a TV Tuner on another slot.

#3

You could be right Lothario, although several reports on the internet rather convinced me to go for nVidia’s solution. Oh well shrugs

A little report:

Price : just under € 100 ; nice

The hardware is excellent:

  • Aopen Aeolus CinemaFX 5200 (PAL) :

      - VGA output
  - 49 pins connector for break out box
  - PAL TV Tuner

  • nVidia Remote (rebranded Marmitex X10 remote)

  • usb reciever for the remote

  • break out box (49 pins connector) directly connecting to the video card :

    • s-video, composite and stereo sound in
    • s-video, composite and stereo sound out

The software though … :

  • nVidia NVDVD 2.0
  • Ulead DVDR tuner and recording software
  • Ulead Movie Creator (or something like that)
  • Philips Teletext Viewer (that must have been cheap)

Pros:

Hardware is excellent, except for the remote control which response is poorly
It’s very very easy to make a dvd of your movies, pictures, mp3’s or any other media that has to do with pictures or sound.
1024x768 TV out. is nice (still can’t read any text though)
Fast 3d card, DirectX 9 supported
Passive cooling, no noise whatsoever

Cons:

Software is just a bunch of Ulead software, i had expect better from nVidia
Where’s Guide+ Plus? never seen it!
Software is extremely resource hungry. Do not expect to game and record simultaneously :slight_smile:
The remote control’s response is poorly and has lots of buttons you’d never use
Not compatible with Windows XP Media Center

Conclusion :

Excellent product for people who want to record their media on dvd.
Great device for turning your pc into a multimedia recording studio, but not to watch tv.
Bad crappy product for people who want to watch tv, record, and playback using only their tv: Get a Media Center PC (2000 euro’s) instead.

#4

Latest reviews show nVidia’s TV Tuners in dead last position.
…Well, maybe not dead last, but pretty darn close to it.

http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2393

Well, good luck with your Tuner anyways.

#5

Thanks :slight_smile: It’s not the tuner which is that crappy though, it’s more the software that came with it (and the lack of).

#6

Finally installed Windows XP Media Center
First problem the personal cinema editions are not comapatible with MCE 2005, and neither are the ATI AIW cards, you will need to get a standalone tuner card for MCE 2005 I am using the NVTV dual tuner for MCE 2005 and it’s a great card that works very well with MCE 2005.

Another thing, don’t listen to anandtech, they forgot to mention that ATI has crippled their AIW and tuner cards with the last couple of versions of their WDM drivers, they default to digital devices, and you cannot select analogue, you can no longer hook a vcr up to them to record anything, it would appear that in their endeaver to prevent copying a tape with macrovision they just stopped all tape copying, thats with the newer WDM drivers. ATI hasn’t given their MMC a significant update or facelift in years, and I had been using them up until last week, when I switched.

I have been running the personal cinema 5700 for about 4 months now, and it’s been great, i’ve not experienced any problems with it and the software features are great. Did any of your disks come with the “ForceWare” on them?

#7

Oh yea, and the only third party software my 5700 Personal Cinema came with was the Gem Star +, everything else was nvidia’s. No ulead stuff at all. Very poor review all in all, they left alot of good information out, like onboard ram, copy to dvd, they didn’t do enough comparisons to even make a good comparison at all, that has got to be one of the poorest reviews I’ve ever seen. He covered nothing, at all, and I’m sure there was more than one driver conflict from the very beginning. I’ve been using the Personal Cinema and NVTV dual tuner, i’ve not experienced anything like that, but of course I built my box from scratch I didn’t buy it and just plunk in whatever tuner I wanted to view next.

#8

Big bummer :frowning:

they default to digital devices, and you cannot select analogue, you can no longer hook a vcr up to them to record anything

WTF!? That’s really weird.

I have been running the personal cinema 5700 for about 4 months now, and it’s been great, i’ve not experienced any problems with it and the software features are great. Did any of your disks come with the “ForceWare” on them?

Err no, but i’ve downloaded the latest forceware drivers and installed them. The card itself works great and an FX5200 is a significant increase from my earlier TI4200 :slight_smile: I’d wish they told me it doesn’t work with MCE though.

Thanks for the input! :bow:

#9

I wonder if your 5700 software would work in my 5200 :slight_smile:
I’ve never even seen the Gem Star + software, though it was mentioned in reviews of the 5200.

#10

W00000T!

nVidia is gonna send me some new programs to test with :bow: :bow:
I’ll keep you informed.

#11

The ForceWare drivers are completely different, more of a multi-media center, looks and has the feel of MCE 2005, this is where the GemStar + guide software was located for me. You can’t download the multi-media forceware at least not yet, I have found the description of the forceware but not the download link. Hopefully this is what they are sending you to run. I can zip them and make them available if needed?

#12

I’d at least be interested in them :slight_smile: You sure they’d work on my PAL FX5200? Only if you can redistribute them of course, no need for illegal downloads.