Well, I got had. Maybe not straight up, but definitely had. I know 2 blogs ago I was speaking about the new toy which I got, so I could start streaming live on Justin.tv, The Intensity Shuttle. Now, to this day, I still haven’t used this supposedly spectacular piece of equipment. Just so you know, me not using the Intensity Shuttle is definitely not for lack of trying.

For starters, I paid for the Shuttle and expedited it with 2day shipping. After a week and a half I called the company I was ordering the Shuttle from and apparently my order got “mishandled”; a week later (that’s 2.5 closer to 3 weeks since my original order) I receive the device. I was like a kid at Christmas, waiting at the door, in my pajamas, super excited for the delivery guy and I tore into the package immediately when it arrived.

I first started by connecting everything, from the Xbox came the HDMI to the input, from the output was HDMI to the TV and from the Shuttle directly to the computer by USB. The USB cable which came from the Shuttle was the same as a USB from your PC to a printer, male USB to printer male connection. Xbox, ON, TV, ON, laptop, ON, SYSTEMS GO…… black screen on the tv, Black Screen?.... BLACK SCREEN???!!! OK, I must be doing something wrong here.

So I go to the manufacturer’s website and this is what I see, and I quote, “Intensity Shuttle, the world’s first 10 bit HD/SD editing solution for USB 3.0 Windows computers! Simply plug in Intensity Shuttle and get access to incredible quality 10 bit HDMI, analog component, composite and s-video capture and playback.” Simple enough right? Wrong. After doing some research into what could possibly be my wrong doing, I learn that USB 3.0 is not on my Asus laptop. USB 3.0, the newest version of data transfer, reaches speeds of 5gbps and was newly revealed on January 5th, 2010 at CES.

OK, so this is not the end of the world. I found a USB 3.0 PCI Expresscard adapter which I have to order online because they’re so new they haven’t found their way to any local electronic stores, believe me, I looked. After about a week from the time of my order to the arrival of the card I finally am going to start streaming live! The delivery man drops off the package and I begin to connect it all again, except this time the only difference is that the USB cable is plugged into the USB 3.0 Expresscard adapter. I update the drivers on the Expresscard, restart the computer and away we go, so I thought, BLACK SCREEN.

Now this is just turning into frustration. I call everyone I know that might know how to fix this issue and nobody seems to have any answers for me. After extensive searching online I finally give in and call the manufacturer. The tech I speak to seems very knowledgeable and directs me to a site to update the firmware on the Expresscard and says that this should fix my issue. I was elated to finally have an answer but even after the update, BLACK SCREEN.

I call the manufacturer again and I was a little more adamant this time. “I have been through EVERYTHING and this is supposed to be basically “Plug and Play” and I am having all these issues, what is wrong with your product?”, the tech then replies, sounding confused, “The other tech told you an Expresscard would work? Expresscards don’t work with our product. As a matter of fact we have only tested one laptop that has EVER worked with our product”, my turn,”EXCUSE ME? Are you telling me you sold me a product that says all I need is USB 3.0 and it is “Plug and Play” but you guys have only tested ONE laptop? ONE LAPTOP and that is the only one you can guarantee it will work with?”, the techs low response and monotone voice replies, “Well only one laptop but 2 desktops.” Like this was some resolution for me! I was just amazed that a little more thought wasn’t put into this product’s research and development. To me, testing products compatibility should be top priority.

After a lengthy conversation with the techs I find out that only x58 or P55 chipsets will work with an onboard 3.0 in desktops and that only the 15” HP Envy laptop with an x58 chipset and an i7 processor will work. They even informed me that only the 15” will work because they tested the 17” with the same specs and it didn’t even work.  So at this point I either build a new desktop or buy a $1700 laptop, all for this one device. So much for simplicity.

So before everyone got this supposedly fabulous new cap card, I wanted to be sure to warn everyone of this backhanded advertising. Something that seemed so perfect, which I am sure will be amazing in the future, turned out to be the biggest headache of all. If you see me with a new laptop in the near future, you now know why.