Review: XCM USB VGA V-Box

XCM USB VGA V-Box
Manufacturer: XCM
Site: Buy from TotalConsole
Price: $59.99


Overview : Connect your Wii to a VGA screen. Record your gameplay on a hard disk for review, screen capture or to show your skills to friends!

The V-Box for Wii by XCM is more than just a VGA Box to connect your Wii console to any PC screens. It is USB based, you connect to any PC via USB 2.0 port and let you record or capture all that your Wii display on the screens.

An add-on recorder also can allow you to record DVD/VCD/CD via the V-Box from the disk player to your PC hard drive.

Features

• Crystal Clear Picture Screen.
• Supports USB 2.0, plug and play, does not require changing configuration
• Supports Streaming Video, which can be stored in multiple formats including MPEG-1/MPEG-2/MPEG-4/AVI/VCD/DVD/SVCD
• Supports multiple picture file formats such as: JPEG, GIF etc.
• Supports multiple input formats standards: NTSC/PAL/SECAM
• Auto playback, allows you to store in game action to your PC/laptop
• Additional optional addon recorder.
• Image can be configured: Brightness/contrast/Image sharpness/fullness/color
• Supports Windows 2000/XP operating systems
• The V-Box is compatible with Mac OS X, if you purchase the eMPIA drivers and player for US $29.95: http://www.echofx.com/videoglide.html

Quality/Usability : The V-Box is a cool unique little adapter. It allows you to play and view your Nintendo Wii using your computer or laptop. This is perfect if your TV is being occupied by family members or a semi-portable solution. The V-Box comes with the V-Box adapter and instruction manual. You must download their software online at http://xcm.cc/v_box.htm (14MB).

You can download US/Japan Windows2000/XP/Vista (32bit) or Vista (64bit). Dont worry, European users (PAL) can download Windows2000/XP/Vista (32bit) or Vista (64bit). MAC user? You'll have to pay for the drivers and payer for $29.95 and can be purchased at http://www.echofx.com/videoglide.html. Installation of the software is fairly simple and the manual will guide you through it. During installation, I did run into a problem. An error messaged popped up and it was not mentioned in the manual. The error message was


I contacted XCM and they replied back telling me to click on the IGNORE button. The other two choices to choose from were CANCEL or RETRY. CANCEL will cancel the installation and RETRY would retry but would keep giving you the error message. So I went ahead and clicked on IGNORE. It then informed me to insert the USB V-Box. In the manual, it had a section regarding install the drivers. Since this was tested on Windows XP, I did not experience a pop up regarding installing and locating drivers. Windows XP automatically recognized the USB and setup the drivers.

Once all the drivers and software was set up. Its time to open up the software. The V-Box Interface looks nice. There are 6 menus to choose from: GAME, EDIT, PLAYER, PHOTO, WEB, SETTING.

- GAME: This is where all your Wii gameplay will be displayed. You can also record and take screenshot images.
- EDIT: This a where you can edit your recordings/images
- PLAYER: This is where you can play your recordings
- PHOTO: This is where you can view all the screenshots that you have taken
- WEB: This allows you to browse the web
- SETTING: This allows you to change hardware (select your video; NTSC, PAL, SECAM), video (adjust brightness, contrast, chroma, saturation and sharpness) and record settings (select record quality; normal, high, highest and recording format).

The quality looks pretty good on the monitor. There is no lag or any delays. During my testing, I did not experience any problems with the V-Box. The recording feature works great and allows you to record you while you are playing so you can show off your friends or even save the recording to post on the web. You can also take screenshots of the game and the quality of the image is very nice as well.


Conclusion : Overall, the XCM USB VGA V-Box is a unique item. This is great for those who dont have a free TV to use and need to resort to using a computer or laptop. I love the fact that you can record and take screenshots of your gameplay. However, getting this to work was a little troublesome but once its set up and working, its a breeze.

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