Plextor PX-TV402U-NA ConvertX PVR Personal Video Recorder for PC

by Plextor

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 8 x 7 x 2 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0002WYKAW
• Item model number: PX-TV402U-NA
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Plextor ConvertX PX-TV402U is the ultimate personal video recorder (PVR) for the PC. You can use it to connect a satellite TV, cable TV, or broadcast TV signal and to record programs to your PC. You can then watch the video from the PC or burn it for playback on a DVD player. You can also connect a camcorder, VCR, or DVD player to record home videos to the PC. Use the built-in multi-format encoder chip to convert video to DivX, MPEG-4, MPEG-2, and MPEG-1 formats as it is being recorded to the PC.

DivX Certified
The PX-TV402U is the world's first DivX Certified PVR. The DivX format can record up to three times more video than other formats without sacrificing quality. It also gives you the ability to record video into resolutions perfectly suited for playback on portable and handheld devices. In addition to DivX, video can also be captured in MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 formats for compatibility with all computers and players.

Pause Live TV and Easily Record Shows for Later
The integrated TV tuner is of outstanding quality to assure the highest quality video. After connecting it to a satellite, cable, or broadcast TV signal, you can watch TV shows, pause them, and record them to your computer. The integrated programming guide makes it easy to schedule recordings for shows at any hour of the day or night. After they are recorded, you can watch your shows whenever you want to.

Home Video and DVD Authoring
If you have a camcorder, you can connect it to the ConvertX and record your home videos to the PC, cut out unwanted scenes, add titles and transitions, and then add special effects. Everything you need for home video editing is supplied.

When burning a DVD, you can choose between menus and background clips for a professional-looking DVD.

Easy to Install and Use with Exceptional Software Setup is as simple as loading the software and then plugging the PX-TV402U into a computer and connecting a video source. For a limited time only, Plextor is bundling, free of charge, Ulead VideoStudio 8 SE DVD video editing and DVD creation software, a versatile application for people of all skill levels. For people wanting a nicely edited movie without putting in the work, VideoStudio has a Movie Wizard. Just select a video, select a style template, and VideoStudio will automatically edit your video complete with titles, transitions, and special effects. For users who want to create a masterpiece from scratch, the VideoStudio Editor has all the high end video editing features you could want, including titles, transitions, special effects, automatic background music generation, picture-in-picture, and video overlays, as well as DivX and MPEG-2 smart rendering. For people wanting to record their video directly to a DVD disc, VideoStudio's Direct to Disc feature will record directly from any camcorder, VCR, TV, or DVD player to a recordable disc in the VCD, SVCD, DVD, or DivX format.

The ConvertX PX-TV402U is backed by Plextor's industry leading service and support program. Plextor offers a 1-year full warranty (parts, labor, or replacement).

What's in the Box
PX-TV402U-NA ConvertX personal video recorder, AC adapter and power cable, USB cable, S-Video cable, Composite Video cable, Composite Audio cable, software CD-ROM (Ulead Video Studio, Intervideo WinDVD Creator, InterVideo WinDVR), device driver installation manual, and user's manual.

Product Description

Marketing Information:

The Plextor ConvertX PVR model PX-TV402U is the ultimate personal video recorder for the PC. The PX-TV402U allows you to connect to a satellite TV, cable TV or broadcast TV signal and record programs to your PC. You can then watch the video from the PC or burn it to DVD for playback on a DVD player. You can also connect a camcorder, VCR or DVD player to record home videos to the PC. The heart of the PX-TV402U is its multi-format encoder chip which converts video to the DivX, MPEG-4, MPEG-2 and MPEG-1 formats as it is being recorded to the PC.

The PX-TV402U is the world"s first DivX Certified PVR. Recording video in the DivX format gives users the ability to record 3 times as much video as normal without sacrificing quality. It also gives you the ability to record video into resolutions perfectly suited for playback on portable and handheld devices. The PX-TV402U contains an integrated high quality TV tuner to assure the highest quality video. The PX-TV402U is an external USB 2.0 device which connects to a PC running Windows 2000 or Windows XP.

Package Type: Retail

Product Name: ConvertX PVR PX-M402U TV Tuner / Video Input Adapter

Product Type: TV/Video Input Adapter

Technical Information

Host Interface: USB

Functionality: TV Tuner

Functionality: Video Capture

Graphics Resolution: 176 x 144 DVCapture

Graphics Resolution: 352 x 240 DVCapture

Graphics Resolution: 352 x 288 DVCapture

Graphics Resolution: 352 x 480 DVCapture

Graphics Resolution: 352 x 576 DVCapture

Graphics Resolution: 640 x 480 DVCapture

Graphics Resolution: 720 x 480 DVCapture

Graphics Resolution: 720 x 576 DVCapture

Interfaces/Ports

Interfaces/Ports: 1 x TV Antenna Input

Interfaces/Ports: 1 x S-Video Input

Interfaces/Ports: 1 x Composite - RCA Video-in

Interfaces/Ports: 1 x RCA

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great product, mediocre software..., April 18, 2006

By	David Hensley (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Plextor PX-TV402U-NA ConvertX PVR Personal Video Recorder for PC (Electronics)

I was nervous about getting any converter after reading reviews of quite a few of them here. I have never done any video conversion or editing before, and I had about 2 days to transfer an analog videotape and clean it up for a work project.

The Plextor installed and ran perfectly under XP with absolutely no problems. Since I had the unit, I also took the opportunity to convert about 15 VHS tapes I had to DVD :) with no problems on any of them, even older ones. Specifically, I had no video or audio sync problems with anything, commercial or non-commercial origin. If I could give a separate rating to hardware, I'd give it a 5 and give the included software a 3.

Intervideo's WinDVD comes with the product and is generally usable, but has installation issues, at least one persistant bug even with the current update, and a generally non-intuitive interface (YMMV). Please note that, contrary to common practice, the product serial number contains the letter "O" and alphas *must* be in upper case. I couldn't get font size changes on title screens to stick--they looked right on author playback, but reverted to the default (huge) size when the DVD was actually recorded. Otherwise, most basic stuff appears to be there if you click around, and the help isn't bad.

Completely met my needs. Thanks to prior reviewers for the info I needed to make my decision.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great hardware unit; mediocre software included, December 14, 2004

By	Sebastian Knight "PKtm" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Plextor PX-TV402U-NA ConvertX PVR Personal Video Recorder for PC (Electronics)

Still embarking on spooling off all the Hi-8 tapes I have, but I've been VERY satisfied with the Plextor unit so far. First thing I did was to spool one Hi-8 tape and then make a DVD, using the functionality of the bundled WinDVD Creator software. Good news: it worked, and a few hours after I started, I was watching the DVD I created, on my bedroom DVD player. Bad news: the software is full of minor and sometimes more than minor annoyances. It may be that I'm still climbing the learning curve with it, but I think it's just not very good. I'm looking into other solutions, such as Pinnacle, Adobe Premiere Elements, etc. Meanwhile, I keep spooling.

I haven't yet tried the TV capture in any depth. It looked like it worked, but again, with some annoyances on the software side. Plextor could improve this offering vastly with the addition of some better bundled software.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommend this product, March 14, 2006

By	Surf40 (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Plextor PX-TV402U-NA ConvertX PVR Personal Video Recorder for PC (Electronics)

I was seeking a fairly inexpensive method of doing it all with video capture: getting cable televsion, VHS tape, and old DVD footage into the computer. After some tweaking and playing, I've successfully accomplished all of the above using this products' HW and SW package. Although DivX is the best format for recording off of cable TV, remember its 4 GB file-size limitation. The biggest concern for most home video editors is the ability to edit your footage in the common editing software applications. So far, I've not been able to edit my VHS-now-PC-(MPEG 2 & 4)footage in Pinnacle 7, but I'm hearing it might be possible in Adobe Premiere and Pinnacle 10.
Nevetheless, the product works, and has proven itself reliable.