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Rating: 
Summary: N4 - Nice try but ...
Review: Have a spare Sony 15" flat screen CRT monitor, in good shape. Wanted to view VHS/DVD entertainment w/o adding another screen to my small space, so ordered and installed the N4.The device produced images on the monitor, but the output quality was so poor, and the configuration via remote control and onscreen display was so fussy I decided not to keep it and returned it to Amazon. No resolution setting or scan rate change improved the screen output (640x480 to 1024x768). Most disappointing was playing back a high-quality DVD (Twin Peaks box set) which uses full screen framing and having the image distorted (compressed horizontally giving skinny figures) no matter how I changed the settings on the N4, the DVD player or the Sony monitor. Infuriating! A VHS tape played more-or-less OK. Used the RF inputs for VHS and DVD and the S-Video inputs for DVD w/o seeing any improvements. Sound quality was OK -- it's just passing on the audio signal. By way of comparison, playing the same DVD in the combo drive on my Dell laptop w. 14.1" LCD screen and DVD software gives a beautiful, full-screen high-resolution image, great sound and all the rest. N4 setup was straightforward but printed troubleshooting information was very sparse and of the "check connections" variety. Nothing to help me solve the horizontal distortion. It's too bad -- a device like this that really works would be a boon. I should have guessed this item was not a success given the small number of reviews and low rating.
Rating:
Summary: N4 - Nice try but ...
Review: Have a spare Sony 15" flat screen CRT monitor, in good shape. Wanted to view VHS/DVD entertainment w/o adding another screen to my small space, so ordered and installed the N4. The device produced images on the monitor, but the output quality was so poor, and the configuration via remote control and onscreen display was so fussy I decided not to keep it and returned it to Amazon. No resolution setting or scan rate change improved the screen output (640x480 to 1024x768). Most disappointing was playing back a high-quality DVD (Twin Peaks box set) which uses full screen framing and having the image distorted (compressed horizontally giving skinny figures) no matter how I changed the settings on the N4, the DVD player or the Sony monitor. Infuriating! A VHS tape played more-or-less OK. Used the RF inputs for VHS and DVD and the S-Video inputs for DVD w/o seeing any improvements. Sound quality was OK -- it's just passing on the audio signal. By way of comparison, playing the same DVD in the combo drive on my Dell laptop w. 14.1" LCD screen and DVD software gives a beautiful, full-screen high-resolution image, great sound and all the rest. N4 setup was straightforward but printed troubleshooting information was very sparse and of the "check connections" variety. Nothing to help me solve the horizontal distortion. It's too bad -- a device like this that really works would be a boon. I should have guessed this item was not a success given the small number of reviews and low rating.
Rating:
Summary: Do not buy this product
Review: This is my review for the N5 but I think it will do some good when it comes to buying an N4: whatever you do, do not buy the N4. Now this is the one review you should listen to. Seriously. I bought the N4 because it was cheaper and I didn't care about closed caption or parental controls, wow, big mistake. The next day I returned it and got the N5, best choice ever. The N5's picture blows away the N4's, true it doesn't have surround sound support, but to me that's no biggie. The picture is crisp (when one sits a few feet back) and looks very close to that of a TV. My only problem is that when using this with a computer doing a VGA pass though, the computer screen is a but blurry, it's because of this that I strongly reccommend a dual input monitor. I'm running it on a 21" sony and it looks excellent. Also it supports wide screen, which is a plus for all us home theater buffs. In short, the N4 felt cheap and worked just that way. It also got extremely hot, too hot to touch, and did all this while skipping frames attempting to process Xbox. Pros:
Excellent picture
Better construction than the N4
Runs cooler
Stand is great
Remote is easier to use by feel Cons:
Costs more
Rating:
Summary: Do not buy this product
Review: This is my review for the N5 but I think it will do some good when it comes to buying an N4: whatever you do, do not buy the N4. Now this is the one review you should listen to. Seriously. I bought the N4 because it was cheaper and I didn't care about closed caption or parental controls, wow, big mistake. The next day I returned it and got the N5, best choice ever. The N5's picture blows away the N4's, true it doesn't have surround sound support, but to me that's no biggie. The picture is crisp (when one sits a few feet back) and looks very close to that of a TV. My only problem is that when using this with a computer doing a VGA pass though, the computer screen is a but blurry, it's because of this that I strongly reccommend a dual input monitor. I'm running it on a 21" sony and it looks excellent. Also it supports wide screen, which is a plus for all us home theater buffs. In short, the N4 felt cheap and worked just that way. It also got extremely hot, too hot to touch, and did all this while skipping frames attempting to process Xbox. Pros:
Excellent picture
Better construction than the N4
Runs cooler
Stand is great
Remote is easier to use by feel Cons:
Costs more
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