Originally posted by: inspiron8200guy
Hi all! I have an Inspiron 8200 and a very basic external soundcard (2.1 channels). recently I have started watching more movies, playing more games and lots of music work. I am going to get a basic analog 5.1 system anyways and need a soundcard to drive them. As I said, more games then not support Dolby surround and such as well as movies. I would definitley like Dolby decoding capabilities. I have super sensitive ears so I notice the smallest increase in quality. I would assume that an upgrade like this would be like night and day? Oh, yeah I am thinking of getting into DVD audio which definitley needs a newer soundcard. What do you guys think? is it worth the money? If it isn't what is a good alternitive?
Thanks
Forget about the Audigy's for Dolby. Their strong point is with analog.
Dolby Digital 5.1 is best when simply passed through to a DD 5.1 receiver.
No soundcard in a laptop can do on the fly DD encoding, such as found in nVidia NF2 desktop's with MCP-T or MCP-D chipsets. Gaming with 5.1 Digital simply will not work. DVD or HDTV in DD 5.1 should be passed through, so again, soundcard is not important.
The only things SB Audigy add are GREAT 6 channel analog gaming audio!
I have the ZSN, (Audigy 2 ZS Notebook) and it is a great card, well worth the money, but for gamers.
For all my DVD audio needs, as well as HDTV tuner audio, I simply pass digital out to receiver using onboard S/PDIF. If you lack onboard S/PDIF (look carefully as many times it is hidden inside SVideo out jack, and a simply $8 cable is all that is needed), even then the ZSN is not a great choice because it only has Digital Optical, not Digital Coax. With a portable laptop, it is much easier to tether the laptop to a receiver using coax then optical. That is another reason I prefer the Dell onboard, since it is Coax.
You can not use ZSN with another PCMCIA card above it.
DVD-Audio (or DVD HiDef Audio) is Analog, so yes, the ZSN does work well in this area.
Another Analog only area is WMV-HD. Only Analog is supported, so ZSN works well.
EDIT:
Yep, i8200 does have onboard S/PDIF, so you can simply pass the DD 5.1 from DVD's to your receiver using an adaptor such as this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...44&category=51151&ssPageName=WDVW&rd=1
Not sure if that specific one will work for you, but it seems like they all interchange.
I picked up one for my i9200 from:
http://www.svideo.com/7pinwspdif.html
but again, I think they are all the same, even though they list another part for i8xxx.
Do some research to confirm the item will work with your i8200.
