TV on a computer!
Written: Jul 07 '02 (Updated Jul 07 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cable on computer! Full-screen. Pause/Rewind live TV, remote control. Video input. Nice quality. Good Price.
Cons: Is it the best quality? Poor/no documentation. Odd line in full screen. Poor on-screen display.
The Bottom Line: Buy it if you want to save space and impress others. Not the best Creative product, but it's TV on a computer! It gets a 3 because of the remote.
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| waynething's Full Review: Creative Technology Video Blaster Digital VCR (700... |
I thought it would be really neat for my new computer if I could watch TV on it. I will soon go off to college, and I wanted to utilize my computer monitor as a TV, just to save space. I was already impressed with other Creative products, and counted on it when I decided to buy this product. What won me over the most was the remote control, how handy is that?
PROS:
Remote: Allows you to sit on the other side of the room. Has number controls, volume, REC, Play/FW/REW buttons and bookmark buttons. A remote like any other.
TV in a Window: I find this product most useful when I'm using instant messenger or surfing the internet. I can watch TV in a window (Which I set to "always be on top"). I can then minimize the window and just listen to the TV. TV in full screen mode is, well, TV...
S-Video input. Allows you to input, say, a regular VCR, video game console, camcorder, video reciever/switcher into the card then watch it on the video input channel. It is S-Video, but the package includes an S-Video to RCA adaptor. Also have stereo input, since S-Video does not carry audio.
Live TV functions: Basically Tivo. You can pause live TV, or rewind to get something you miss. Chunks ov video are saved on your hard drive. No, you CANNOT fast foward farther than has yet been broadcast.
Record functions: You can record into a specified folder on your computer. C:/MPG as a default. Unfortunatly, you have to allot a certain amount of space to this. In the setup, you choose a drive and location, and how much memory you want to give the program. Default is 5 GB less than what is available on your drive. Meaning, if you have a 40 GB hard drive and 1 GB of programs, 34 GB will be filled with 32 MB *.fre files. These essentially RESERVE the drive space for 32 MB, 5 minute sections of recorded MPEG. Thats why recording is set in 5 minute increments. This all confused me, because these files appear to take up space, and when I first had this installed, nearly ALL of my hard drive was taken up by these *.fre files. THIS is the type of thing to mention in the non-existent manual. The VCR has timers and such so that you can record shows daily, weekly, whatever. No bobbling with tapes, nice!
MPEG coding: Supposedly one could input from their camcorder, record onto computer and convert the video to MPEG so that one could edit the video. I haven't tried it, but it's supposed to be possible.
Video Quality: I think its as good as you can get from TV, and it naturally looks worse on a screen set to resolutions 10 times better than TV's.
CONS:
Manual: None. There is an "easy setup guide", I hate them. There are ones available on the computer, but they are mor like FAQs than anything. My other Creative devices have manuals at least an inch thick. It's like this product was thrown together.
Quality: It's hard to tell, but is this the best quality possible on a computer? Some stations minor interference that is almost un-noticeable on TV's seems to be accentuated. I have cable, so I have no idea how digital cable or antenna would look.
Full Screen Mode Line: This didn't happen when I first installed, but now when I put the video in full screen, everything below a line in the middle of the screen is choppy. I think it is my probelm, not the products.
Poor on Screen Display: The window that pops up looks like it is a DOS window. It is not a "Windows window" again, it makes this product looks cheap.
Bottom Line: Easy to install, handy. Not a must have but a nice add on. Buy this if you want to impress friends but not necessarily impress yourself with a FANTASTIC product...
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
waynething
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Reviews written: 7
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