Sadly, I was so happy with the subscription model. It took me a long time to finally say enough of iTunes (even though I knew long ago that I wanted to stop paying per track to fill my music player only 10% of the way) and despite some clunky interface issues and restrictions placed on To-Go tracks - I was happy to say I was never going back to iTunes. Now what? I've used Amazon - and I like it alot (cheap, no DRM) - but I'd still prefer the subscription route. Anyone have a recommendation for a different subscription service - with why you choose it over others?

Here is the text of a helpful chat with "Kathy"...

Kathy: Hello. Welcome to Real's Live Chat. How can I help you?

Jeremy: I can't log into Rhapsody - despite repeatedly resetting my password

Kathy: Am I correct in understanding that you are not able to login to your account?

Jeremy: I get "Account not found. Verify that the email address and password are correct, then try again." error message

Kathy: Please give me a couple of minutes while I check your account.

Kathy: Thank you for your time.

Kathy: I find that you have an active Rhapsody ToGo subscription with this e-mail address: xxxxxxxxxx

Jeremy: right

Kathy: I am sorry. We are currently experiencing technical difficulties with Rhapsody Server. We are working on it and I request you try after sometime.

Jeremy: It hasn't worked for days...when will it?

Jeremy: Will they be crediting my account?

Kathy: We are working in it. I apologize for the inconvenience caused.

Jeremy: So no ETA on a fix, no credit for not being able to use the service? Way to make a good impression on a new customer

Kathy Has Disconnected


NO LIE - She just disconnected from chat and ignored my question. Less than a month ago I made the switch to Rhapsody to Go after being an iTunes customer for years.. What a horrible horrible mistake. My account is being canceled first thing tomorrow.

Well I received the card yesterday and based on your comments and those of others, I spent two hours last night backing up files, making sure I had email passwords, etc. to prepare for the worst. I even considered having paramedics standing by like evil knievel just to be on the safe side. The system I was installing in had XP sp1 with a rolled back sp2 install, an Audigy 2 sound card,ATI 850XT PE video card, P4 2.8 Processor, and a gig of ram. Having read all the crying about needing XP sp2 and the troubles with the Audigy 2 line of sound cards, I really thought I was heading into the perfect storm. I installed the remote first, downloaded the latest drivers and plugged it in. It worked fine so I powered down and moved on to installing the card. After powering up XP, it detected the card and said it was installed properly. I then went to the ATI website and downloaded the 4 files for the HDTV wonder and installed each of them in the order they appear on the site. I received no errors, and proceeded through each files, rebooting as I was prompted. After about 20 minutes of downloading and installing, I was ready to go. At this point I was still convinced I would not be watching HDTV last night, or any night for the next few years while I continually reinstalled software. Imagine my surprise when I clicked the DTV button, scanned for channels, and was watching HDTV in minutes. I SPENT MORE TIME BACKING UP MY SYSTEM then getting this card installed. I had no errors, no wild reboots, no audio problems, NOTHING. I can rewind, pause, fast forward, HDTV, with no issues. Bottom line � If you are a user considering this card, remember that not EVERYONE has problems with it, I believe most folks like me have no problems at all. CompUSA has it now for $99 with $20 rebate, which in my opinion is not much money for one of the coolest things you can add to your PC.

Alright, fair enough. However, that extremetech article is over a year old. You can download current drivers that are from the last few months. One only hopes they have resolved the many issues identified early on. To be a good sport I ordered one today from CompUSA for $69 AR to see for myself. I'll post my results. After my ranting, perhaps you'll at least find some humor if I suffer the same fate you did.

I'd say the WMCE article about the HDTV tuner card. The whole series has been just what I have been looking for, but choosing the ATI HDTV Wonder card finally made me decide to purchase it as well, and then I found it today at CompUSA for only $69 AR, so double bonus. http://www.hdbeat.com/2005/11/27/sub-grand-wmce-3-hdtv-tuner/ http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=314569&pfp=srch1

Alright Daniel, I have to comment when I see a post like yours. Don't you think, with having to "reinstall 2 dozen times", wacko popups, computer freezing up, and hell fire raining from above, etc. that maybe just MAYBE some of that has to do with a poor configuration or installation on your part? I mean come on, if you are the example of the typical end user, folks would have been launching these things through ATI's front windows long ago. I get tired of people posting these reviews as if they believe they had an average experience with the product. I don't own one, and the support is probably lacking, the drivers not so polished, but at $69 (which is 1/10 the cost of your Sony unit) I think I can buy one and deal with a bit of an unrefined experience.