It's been a few years since the first introduction of the TV Wonder USB. In that time standard TV has moved on to High Definition Television for most users and ATI has released the HDTV Wonder, which provides over the air HDTV programming. Not everyone has a big screen television, and many people would like to watch television on their notebook computers. The problem being that the USB 1.1 bus doesn't have the necessary bandwidth to run full 640x480 resolutions @ 30 fps.
ATI's TV Wonder USB 2.0 is the perfect solution for those without a PCI slot or for a notebook computer that normally doesn't have a solution for television tuning. After a few minutes setup, you'll be up and running watching standard over the air broadcasts or Cable TV. At a MSRP of $99, this solution is also very competitive with solutions from Hauppauge and the quality is superior. You basically get all the functionality of the PCI TV Wonders without the disadvantages inherent in the USB 1.1 bus.
It's also a good device for those with one of those new LGA-775 boards with only 2 or 3 PCI slots. If you have a SB Audigy 2 ZS and a Promise ATA controller in the PCI slots (many of the 915/925 boards only have one ATA controller for the CD-ROM), you might not have room for a standalone TV tuner. Being a USB device, once the drivers are installed you can take out the tuner easily and attach it to another computer without any hassle.
The negatives of the TV Wonder USB 2.0 are few. First is the lack of a Remote Wonder or Remote Wonder II remote control. While ATI does give a 50% discount on the purchase of them, this device is very useful when using an ATI TV tuner. The second negative is the need for an external power supply for the device. The power connector is bulky and limits the usefulness when using the TV Wonder USB 2.0 with a laptop if you're using it without an AC/DC adapter. Otherwise I like the device as I can watch high-quality TV anywhere.
