Customer Reviews

Grandtec Ultimate 2000 PC-to-TV Converter

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I use this device to connect a Win98 PC to my big-screen TV and it works well for this purpose. Image quality is better with an S-video cable, but was also acceptable with just a composite cable.
Hook-up only took a few minutes, but you will need to make some adjustments to your PC desktop to adjust the font size and spacing but that was all the tweaking that I needed. I stream videos from the net in full screen and the image looks just like regular TV.
Using a PC on a big-screen TV is a little different than sitting at a desk. In my case, I sit about 12 feet from the screen. which makes the screen text a little hard to read. I use Firefox for browsing and it has the option to hit CTRL + to increase the text size. This works for me.
For reference, I use a junky little Compaq Deskpro (no fans = quiet) that couldn't take a standard AGP card (the card needs to be notched to clear some rear connector, thanks Compaq) and PCI video cards are rare and pricey compared to AGP cards.

In summary, if your PC has DVI outputs and your TV has DVI inputs, try those first. But if that is not an option then the Grandtech Ultimate 2000 can fill the void and do an acceptable job with your basic VGA card.
Pros:
1. Easy hook-up to any computer
2. Portable. Send your image to a TV, Projector, VCR, etc.
2. Decent image quality
3. Price. If you're not computer savvy, this is the way to go.

It does what is claims

Use the S-Video cable if you can. It makes a big difference. The manufacturer also makes this recommendation

The ability to enhance the picture with the controls on the unit is very limited.

The item was shipped with a bad cable BUT their customer service was excellent and they sent me a new one with no questions asked.

Perfect for the classroom and wallet. I teach social studies and now can run PowerPoint and streaming video

I had been looking for a converter to hook a PC up to a TV in order to show power point in a youth room at our church. I purchased several cables, only to discover they would not do what I needed them to do. When I bought this it really came through. It was really well thought out, and a breeze to hook up. When I got it I was a bit concerned it would take me quite a bit of messing around to get it to work. I was very pleasently surprised at how easy it was to hook up. Just locate the cables that come with it to suit your computer, and you are set to go! I highly recommend this, it is a great buy for the dollar.

THE GOOD STUFF:
It took me longer to get this product out of the packaging than it did for me to set it up. VERY user-friendly. I have this connected from the VGA output on my laptop to my LDC widescreen TV. If you are just going to use this for modest at-home computing (and aren't trying to show off your crystal-clear wham-bamm pc-to-tv connection), then this should do you just fine.

THE BAD STUFF:
Videos and graphics look great, but like everybody else has said, it is NOT the best for viewing text (words are fuzzy and text must be made very large). If you buying this product to make your TV your only computer monitor, buy something else!!

PRODUCT COMES WITH:
1. VGA (PC output) to VGA (converter input) with additional VGA (PC output) port to connect another PC monitor for IBM PC & Mac PC G4
2. Grand Ultimate 2000 EX converter
3. PS/2 power cable
4. USB power cable
5. PC audio jack to red and whie audio input cable
6. 15 pin RGB to Y.Cb.Cr. (component) cable
7. S-Video cable
8. Video cable (yellow composite)

I haven't tested it on every device I have, I use it primarly with the cheap composite signal head mounted display i got for about $100 at geeks. this converter works beautifully with it, and works with my dell laptop and nec tablet pc equally well. It seem to have some kind of time-variant convertion algorithm that predict how the image will look like based on the initial image it got when it is powered up, this sometimes end up with a jagged image (for my hmd) when the background wallpaper was the initial image. To fix that, for instance for movies, i start the movie, full-screen it, and then power-cycle the converter and everything is beautiful. it get considerable better color/contrast then the graphic-chip supported build-in dell s-video out (then converted to composite) on 700m that I've tested on. Since it simply convert vga (within certain frequencies) to s-video/composite, it works equally well when I play movies on linux (ubuntu). I personally wouldn't get this for pc-to-tv, since composite and s-video are blurry substandard compare to today's LCD tv/projectors, unless you are only using it for movies or picture show. good luck.

I initially used this product to put repeat the display from a Dell laptop running Win-XP Pro on a Sharp LCD TV, using the component video inputs. It was easy to set up, and rendered the image well. Running my laptop at a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels I found 10 pt fonts readable only with difficulty on the TV, but that is not surprising. Overall this product provides an affordable way to display sVGA on a TV.

I tried to used this product to display the output RayMarine E120 on a 26" Sony HD-TV over a long cable (25 feet). This did not work; the long cable attenuated the signal too much to be usable. Few will try such long cables, but beware that long cables can be problematic.

The title says it all. It worked really well, but it just died almost five months to the day from when we bought it.

The product works perfectly. I can connect the VGA interface of my laptop in the Video/Audio input of my TV, and the quality of the image is good.

This item is a great tool to have when using a projector for presentations from a laptop or desktop PC. We have two desktop PCs that present Sunday services through wall mounted projectors. Easy install and management.

Everybody tried to get an overhead display to work in the 1st grade classroom at the Taos Pueblo Indian School. Then they asked me to help and I found this device on Amazon.

It's a little pricey, but it works in many different settings, not just the right one. I plugged it in, hid it in the back of the A/V cart cabinet and that was it. It's been happily working ever since.

What more can one ask?