Difference between two different revisions of TV tuner card?

[Tokar]

I just got a replacement dv9500 laptop to replace an older one. I had a tv tuner with the old one and they gave me a tv tuner with the new one.

So I have two expresscard tv tuners, same make and model, except:

The old one is HP Part #: 438587-001

The new one is HP Part #: 438587-002

Same thing for the serial numbers... 439130-001, and 439130-002.

Old one says HP RMN HSTNN-TH15 Rev C

New one says HP RMN HSTNN-TH15 Rev A

The old driver CD works only with the old one, while the new driver cd works with both the old and new one.

When I install the new one with the new driver, Windows Media Encoder device properties says Hardware Model 77000, and shows a tab named CxCorona with audio firmware version 2.0.139.

When I install the old one with the old driver, Windows Media Encoder device properties says Hardware says Model 71000, and does NOT show a tab named CxCorona. However, if I install the old one with the new driver, I get Model 77000 and the tab CxCorona with the firmware version 2.0.139.

Is there any special way, sans opening the units (which I dont plan on doing, regardless), to determine any minute differences in the cards?

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

Revisions happen all the time. It's what companies are supposed to be doing on regular basis - going back to drawing boards and revise the product or process.

Is there any special way, sans opening the units (which I dont plan on doing, regardless), to determine any minute differences in the cards?

Looking for a label on the packaging which hopefully will state all the particularities.

P.S. You have too much free time, dude.

[Abhishek kapoor]

OMG...... TV tuner ADMIN

[s0nic69]

Just install the rev C drivers, and use the rev C tuner. Rev C means that it had some type of fix or change in it.

for example, one of the chips in Rev A gets too warm, so they changed to another chip, and created rev C.

Also, a chip in Rev A doesnt get made anymore, so they has to use a new one and so they create Rev C. If you open them, the only difference you will see is that one of the chips has a different lable. Also, do not use the drivers for rev A for the card that is rev C. Its not good :no:

If u want to check which one is better, just record a 30min show with both cards, and compare which one has the best bitrate, framerate, and aspect. You can use Gspot v2.1.

[Tokar]

Just install the rev C drivers, and use the rev C tuner. Rev C means that it had some type of fix or change in it.

for example, one of the chips in Rev A gets too warm, so they changed to another chip, and created rev C.

Also, a chip in Rev A doesnt get made anymore, so they has to use a new one and so they create Rev C. If you open them, the only difference you will see is that one of the chips has a different lable. Also, do not use the drivers for rev A for the card that is rev C. Its not good :no:

If u want to check which one is better, just record a 30min show with both cards, and compare which one has the best bitrate, framerate, and aspect. You can use Gspot v2.1.

i unfortunately had to send back the tv tuner unit (along with the defective laptop) to HP (there is a 3 day window between which I receive the new unit and have to send back the old unit, and today was day 2). So i sent back the old one (the one with Rev C, which is older).

The driver CD from the old tv tuner had drivers on that were an earlier version (1.11.24335), and did NOT work with the newer card.

The driver CD from the new tv tuner had drivers of a newer version (1.21.25165), and worked with both the newer and older card.

My friend finally convinced me that the newer card has to be newer based on the higher part number, besides the fact that the drivers are newer and the newer card doesnt work with the old drivers.

Do I have a lot of free time? Maybe...but I like to solve life's little mysteries if I can.

If anything, this thread will at least create the first Google search result for the new tuner part number (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=438587-002 :D). There are a few results for the old tuner part number (438587-001), and this is the first for the new tuner part number (438587-002).

[Tokar]

I figured out the difference after inspecting the driver file that comes with the Hauppauge HVR-1600 (but works for this HP tuner card, a rebranded Hauppauge HVR-1500) and then inspecting the driver file that comes with the older revision HP tuner.

The Hauppauge driver file, hcw85bda.inf, shows the following lines towards the bottom (which is what controls the identification in the Device Manager).

CX885.M7710 = "Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1500 (Model 77xxx, Hybrid ATSC)"

CX885.M7717 = "HP Digital/Analog TV Tuner"

CX885.M7790 = "Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1500 (Model 77xxx, Hybrid ATSC/QAM)"

CX885.M7797 = "HP Digital/Analog TV Tuner"

The driver file which comes with the older revision 438587-001, same driver file name, shows only the following:

CX885.M7710 = "Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1500 (Model 77xxx, Hybrid ATSC)"

CX885.M7717 = "HP Digital/Analog TV Tuner"

So it looks like the new revision includes QAM.

So in sum:

438587-001 Revision C = CX885.M7717

438587-002 Revision A = CX885.M7797, which has QAM support.