Philips AE vs Sonicfury/Santacruz

[XAiN]

Once and for all, which of these cards is better? I get recommendations for both all the time...

I need:
Good drivers
Win2k compatibiltiy (ie. good drivers )
Good 5:1 sound (I gather both are good).
Good price, < £80
Availably in UK

The Videologic Sonicfury (marketing as Turtle Beach Santacruz in North America) is available all over the place here, usually around £70. I've read that the drivers are poor, but this is in reviews written as soon as it was out. Newer drivers are now out, although they are 25Mb to download - WTF is in there? I'm on a dailup!

The Philips Accustic Edge has a good repution for sound quality and I gather the new Win2k drivers are good. It's about the same price in USD, but I have yet to find any UK retailers (philips tv/hifi/speakers are sold here). I have heard of poor performance once, but I think this was someone bungling (they said a 30FPS decrease!).

What do people think?

Cheers,
Xain

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=11119" target="_new">System Specs</A>

 

[Stick_e_Mouse]

You probably know what my answer is already.
There are no known compatability problems with it, it has excellent drivers, excellent sound quality, and the price is very reasonable. Close to NO people are having problems with it. Whoever told you about the 30fps loss is probably doing something wrong.

See a real naked pic of Britney Spears <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/stick_e_mouse" target="_new">here</A>!!!

 

[XAiN]

Yeah, guess you could be right - Sonicfury it is

I orginally decided on the Sonicfury as it's bundled with Videologic 5:1 speakers, therefore cheaper. But I'm now looking at importing Midiland 5:1s so I'll lose the £20 odd saving anyway.

I still haven't found what I'm looking for (crap, that's a song) haven't found anywhere that sells them here. Maybe online audio equipment would be worth a look as Philips are big in that area.

Cheers,
Xain

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=11119" target="_new">System Specs</A>

 

[XAiN]

It looks like I'm going for a Sonicfury, 25Mb drivers or not.

Kinda hard to buy a product that's not stocked...

Cheers,
Xain

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=11119" target="_new">System Specs</A>