Customer Reviews

StarTech.com COMP2VGA Composite and S-Video to VGA Video Converter for Computer Monitors

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This product does exactly what I anticipated. It allows me to play the Xbox using my PC monitor and speakers. The device is an all hardware solution, that once connected has a button to toggle the monitor/speakers between the Xbox and PC. Note that this device will also work with any other game console (Nintendo, Playstation) that outputs NTSC video.

I use the device on a 19" Trinitron monitor and the video displayed from the Xbox is not quite as crisp and clear as when the Xbox is connected to my 27" TV. But I found the quality to be very good and many people may not notice that a regular TV provided a better image if the two are not directly compared. The bottom line is that a purist may be bothered by the difference in image quality, but it provides me a great alternative for playing the Xbox when my TV is being used by others, or when a TV is not available, e.g. playing Xbox System Link games (like Halo) at a friends house.

Simple and short. This product claims to provide superior video quality. IT DOES NOT!!! Very, very, very, very, very, very, very, poor video. Not what I expected at all. Someone must have already returned the item once because it shipped from Amazon's return dept. Well I am sending it back there!

This product is great! I hooked up the video / audio in in the right spots, yet the screen was flickering and wasn't clear. I think this is what may have happened to the previous reviewers and their bad responses.
ANYWAYS, i went and bought a connector for the PS2, that had the same connections EXCEPT it had an S-video input instead of the video plugs. Once I hooked it up this way, everything was great and I have never had a problem.

Frankly, the adapter does what it says. I connected my PS2 to my 17 inch LCD monitor. The graphics felt ok .. nothing gr8 but I had to adjust my monitor settings. I don't have any problem with that (although I was disappointed since it meant changing the settings everytime you toggle between PC and PS2). Additionally, I would have liked longer cables. Thats fine too. The thing which really [ticked] me off is that when I connected my PC and monitor to the adapter, I was not able to get input from PS2. I tried but my monitor kept saying "no signal". Now this can be a problem with my monitor settings but it worked fine when I connected my PS2 separately. And the box said its just plug and play. Well I plugged and it didn't play. So its going back. I will have to pay restocking fee for this junk but atleast I will save 40 odd dollars. Also I was not too happy with the display quality.

When I connected this device between my X box and Sansung 21" svga monitor, the display would occasionaly blink from a black screen to the normal display about once per second. After 30 minutes, the monitor stopped working and is currently being repaaired. The service man said the box most likely was outputing incorrect voltages and/or frequencies to the monitor.

(first review)
Simply put, this item was DOA, straight out of the box. I attempted all of the following as input devices:
* Wii console
* VCR
* DVD player

and both of the following as displays:
* 17" ViewSonic CRT monitor
* 20" Samsung LCD monitor

and regardless of the configuration I got the exact same result -- NO SIGNAL. I will attempt one exchange. If that one is DOA as well, I will get a refund.

(after getting the replacement)
I would like to amend a prior review where I gave 1 star, saying I would give 0 if I could, because it just didn't work. Well, the replacement does work, and I have successfully run the Wii through the analog port on my 20" LCD monitor. That's the good news.

The bad news:
* Piping sound through it is bad. Really bad. Tin cans and a string bad. Fortunately, you don't have to, and I don't any more. You just have to be inventive with your cabling.
* The video quality isn't great, but this may be as good as it gets with composite. Results might be better with S-video, but I don't have anything that delivers that. I blame outdated standards here.
* It doesn't drive 1024x768 like you may see in the specs, it drives 640x480. This makes the next point all the more confusing...
* It doesn't work with my 17" CRT monitor, which I had intended to turn into a TV with this, a VCR, and a pair of amplified speakers. The monitor works fine on the analog port of the video card, so there's nothing wrong with it. It just doesn't get along with the Video Game Jockey.

Also of note is that it sends an output signal even when there is no input signal. This means that if your monitor auto-detects source, it will lock onto the blank-screen analog signal if you try to connect the analog to the Jockey and the DVI to your computer. I can force-switch it, but occasionally it still flips back over to analog (and is guaranteed to if the machine is rebooted), and it won't go to sleep because it's always getting a signal. This can be dealt with by switching the Jockey to use the VGA input, even though I haven't connected anything to it. It does not attempt to drive a blank signal this way. I just have to remember to switch it back before I can use the Wii.

In short, it does what it says (other than the 1024x768 part) but it has crappy sound quality and doesn't work with all monitors. 3 stars.

The static on this device on the audio line is intolerable in my opinion. However, newer computer stereo systems, as well as radio shack, have a converter that goes from left right audio to 3.5mm stereo jacks. That solved the static problem by bypassing the device all together with some creative cabling.

As for the video quality, it's not too good if your using a composite device. You'll imediately notice a flicker on straght lines and text that gave me a headache. However, if you are using an s-video cable (which is what I use for my ps2) then the picture is decent. Not the best product on the market, I'm sure, but a functional solution if your like me and don't always have a TV available.

Bought this to be able to convert the composite video from my Directv box to VGA so that I could use an old computer monitor as my "TV." It does the job! No complaints.

The video game jockey works. With this device you can hook up any electronic device that has a composite or s-video output and use it to display on your computer monitor. However, it's not perfect. This device is ideal for people who don't have access to a television set. If you have access to a television, then I recommend you skip this device. Mainly because while it works, the results aren't too great.

First of all, the picture quality is not good. Using a composite hookup will cause the picture to flicker, and it doesn't look very clear. Using an s-video connection will stop the flickering, but the sharpness in the picture quality doesn't improve by much. You'll have a much clearer picture using the composite and s-video hookups on a television set. Another problem is the setting are very limited. You only have the ability to adjust the brightness of the picture. However, the setting is very poor and you'll have problems getting the picture just right with the monitor settings. Either the picture is too bright or it's too dark. Also the lack of settings like adjusting the color, the contrast, etc really hurt this device.

I also connected my computer through the Jockey and the picture quality also takes a hit for the worst. The sharpness isn't as clear, as a straight pc to monitor connection.


The only good thing is the status setting, which allows you to center the picture on your Monitor. I didn't test the sound, but judging by other reviews the conversion isn't any good either.

Bottomeline, I ended up sending this device back. I was looking for something that would let me enjoy my video games and other devices on my monitor and hopefully have a better image experience than what's on my tube television. I wasn't expecting HD, but I also wasn't expecting a picture quality far inferior to what you can see on a tube television.

If you don't have a television set, but a computer monitor, then this device could be great for you. Otherwise, it's not worth the money.

I don't have enough space in my dorm room for a TV, but the gamer in me told me I couldn't live without my Wii or my PS2. So I bought this product and it has made life a whole lot easier. I have a Compaq monitor from 1998, and I can play video games well on it. The complaints come from people who are playing games with very high quality graphics, granted this product doesn't produce a perfect picture it is hardly noticeable to me. (It depends on the quality of the monitor) I notice that the sound produced was sort of scratchy on my old speakers, but when I tried my newer, nicer speakers, the sound was perfect.

I am able to instantly switch from my game to my computer's desktop, so there's no set up trouble each time you want to play a game. It will hook up to anything that has RCA cables. A VGA cable is included for you to connect to it. If you are in a situation where there is no TV, this is a great thing to have, to be able to turn your computer's monitor into a TV!