Alltek Vision External TV Box w/Remote $54.95

[virtueixi]

I was searching around for external TV Tuners and found this. Unfortuantly I have a laptop and this is no use to me. Shipping was $7 for me in NY.

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[kp1126]

A similar one goes for $71.99 too. It states a resolution of 1280x1024. Does that make a difference worth $20?

 

[kp1126]

oops

 

[corinthos]

Interesting. Wonder how this compares to the Leadtek TV2000 cards...

 

[DarkNephree]

Interesting, I never knew these devices existed.

 

[shearo]

AWESOME a cheap (<$200) External TV Tuner that can do 1280x1024 which is the native res of most of the LCD monitors. Any reviews for this?😀

 

[phvo2k]

The generic name for this sort of device is "upconverter" (with a TV Tuner thrown in).
It basically converts low resolution analog video signals to higher resolution VGA signal.
The cost of TV tuning hardware itself is almost the same among TV products, so the differences
in price would come from the converting technology. Depending on the technology used,
you'll get from really lousy to superb picture quality.

ViewSonic (and others) have similar products

http://www.viewsonic.com/products/compare_videobox01.htm

Here is another example:

http://www.avtoolbox.com/avt-3331.htm

 

[HarryK]

Originally posted by: phvo2k
Depending on the technology used,
you'll get from really lousy to superb picture quality.

Anyone know anything about the quality of this one?

 

[yukichigai]

Unfortunately the 1280x1024 resolution with the TV tuner is kind of moot since it doesn't decode HDTV. At best you'll get some realtime upscaling with a sharpening filter thrown in, giving the illusion of a higher resolution, but the pictures will still be coming to you at 320x240. The only way to really get full use of the resolutions this thing can do is if you hook it up via S-Video and you have a higher resolution signal going through it, like a DVD player or a digital cable tuner. (Or an Xbox. I wonder how well this thing performs compared to the X2VGA adaptor) Then you'd get HDTV quality.

Still, not a bad price for a nifty little gizmo like this. If I wasn't jobless I'd get one.

EDIT: First off, I find it really cool that the thing has a volume control built in. My only question is whether or not any universal remotes can replace this remote. 😛

Anyway, from the manual, some interesting info.

• The tuner comes with A/V, S-Video and Composite input adaptors. If S-Video wasn't high resolution enough for you the Composite inputs should let you get as far as 1080i resolution.
• The manual claims it can handle NTSC, PAL and SECAM. That means if, for some odd reason, you go/move to another country and take it with you, you can use it to watch TV.

Yes, that was a waste of a bulleted list, but I wanted to play with the tags. 😛

Oh yeah, in the manual it shows a picture of a Gamecube in the examples of things you can hook up to it. As a Gamecube fan I find this amusing.

 

[sunkim50]

OK.. I got a hold of one of these and it's not too bad..

The Goods:

1) Works as an external TV Tuner, which does NOT require your computer to be on, only your monitor.
2) Has Video Inputs
3) Has a Remote
4) Picture Quality is quite good and settings such as brightness and contrast can be adjusted with the remote

The Bad:
1) The remote control response is a bit slow.. you cannot press the button too fast
2) There has been a couple of instances where the the box did not want to work after I powered down the little box. I have no idea what the problem is. Could be the monitor or just my stupidity.
3) No video capturing capabilities

Overall I am very happy with the box. It allow me to use my monitor as a TV without having my loud computer powered on.

 

[yukichigai]

Does this thing have Closed Captioning?

 

[HarryK]

Originally posted by: sunkim50
OK.. I got a hold of one of these and it's not too bad..

4) Picture Quality is quite good and settings such as brightness and contrast can be adjusted with the remote

Thanks for the info sunkim. This was the feedback I was looking for.

I've got 2 extra 17" monitors in the basement and 2 guest rooms wired with cable but no TVs in them. I was thinking about picking up a couple of these to put my 17" monitors to use as televisions for the guests. Kinda wierd maybe... but it makes me feel less bad about having two 17" monitors in the basement 🙂

Of course, if there's a 'hot deal' that will get me a television for $50, someone should let me know 🙂

 

[2czyz2]

If any of y'all don't mind the noise made by your computer, you can just get any brooktree based video capture card and run Dscaler. Dscaler probably does much more sophisticated processing of the incoming video than the built-in hardware on these external devices (3:2 pulldown, etc), and it will also do 16:9, PAL, and NTSC. Dscaler is free, and PCTV cards show up frequently for under $20.

This is not meant to thread crap, just to inform. The external box mentioned in this thread seems like a really good deal, and it would be nice to have an external device that operates independently from the computer. But if you're happy leaving the computer on, check out Dscaler.

-Z

 

[vortix]

Originally posted by: yukichigai

• The tuner comes with A/V, S-Video and Composite input adaptors. If S-Video wasn't high resolution enough for you the Composite inputs should let you get as far as 1080i resolution.

I think you're confusing composite input with component input. Composite is the very low quality, single RCA jack connector, while component has 3 RCA connectors and is capable of 1080i resolution. There is no way you will get anywhere near 1080i resolution with this box....even S-Video won't look all that great on an LCD display.

 

[gtannenb]

I m looking for suggsstions on if this is the best item for my needs. I have a older video projector that only has a VGA input. I was wondering if this would allow me to use the projector without the computer and allow it to be connected to the DVD or Satellite Receiver that has s-video outputs.

Would the video quailty be any differnent that what I obtained using the computer VGA output? I was inpressed with the projector when using it with the computer.

Thanks