Rating: 
Summary: Great add-on for home
Review: The ViewSonic ViewBox is a great addition for a home computer. I have it hooked up to a Samsung SyncMaster 151s and there is no loss of picture quality at all between that setup vs. just running my laptop straight into the monitor. It doesn't take up much space, and the range/angles in which you can effectively use the remote are very impressive (I'm able to change channels using the remote at almost 90 degree angles). The one negative is the remote itself. The keypad does not have a very intuitive layout, and it only allows you to scroll through the various inputs. Since I only have two, that means I can't just jump between the TV and my monitor; rather, I have to scroll through the two empty inputs to get from my laptop back to the TV. The onscreen display for adding/removing channels and tagging channels with descriptions is also very clunky. Overall though, a great product, especially for the price.
Rating:
Summary: Works excellent!
Review: The ViewSonic Viewbox is a TV tuner, that meaning it lets you use your monitor just like it was a TV. There are many TV tuners, some a lot cheaper, but the image quality they produce is horrible. The ViewBox gives beautiful, sharp image. Its about 9 inches wide, 6 inches long, and about an inch and a half tall. Its black in color. It has all of the different kinds hookups, so you can hook up your Cable, VCR, DVD player, video game system, etc. The remote is average. It has all the buttons of a regular remote and more. The image quality is very sharp. Its like taking a really big TV, and crunching it down into a nice, smooth and sharp image. However, you will have to do some tuning to get the image to look the way you want. The image may appear muddy or blurry when you first turn it on. This can be fixed really fast by changing the Picture Options though. Oh yeah, I wouldn't get this unless you have a decently sized monitor. Atleast 800x600. A benefit of this is you can watch the show up close, without hurting your eyes. Unlike TVs, you can sit as close as you want and not worry about hurting your vision. The sound is just as good. However, make sure your speakers will work with this! I had to buy new speakers because mine wouldn't work. What I really like is how easily you can switch between TV and computer mode. Lets say your watching your favorite show, and a boring commercial comes on. You can just hit a button (on both the remote and the box), and the view switches right to your PC. Play a game or something, hit that button, and your right back to your show. So, the pros of this product are: small, affordable, cost less than a TV, good image quality and sound, ease of use, and you can watch the show close without damaging your eyes. And the cons: Only average remote, you cannot work on your PC while watching TV at the same time
Rating:
Summary: Viewsonic Viewbox rocks
Review: The ViewSonic ViewBox VB50HRTV TV Tuner Box is a very good product at a great price. In my system, a Daewoo 9000 DVD player is connected to the VGA input and a Panasonic S-VHS vcr is connected via S-video. Cable tv is also connected to it. The VGA output of the Viewsonic goes to a 17" computer monitor.
The Viewsonic acts as a line doubler/scaler for vcr and cable signals and passes through the DaewooVGA progressive scan signal without being able to alter it. The picture quality from the Daewoo has a 3D look to it on my computer monitor. The remote controls resolution, refresh rate, and picture controls for the video and cable inputs only.
One drawback is the use of a stereo mini-plug for the VGA input's audio. The S-video/composite input uses a much better set of RCA input jacks for audio. The audio output is a stereo mini-jack which can connected to headphones or to a receiver.
Highly recommended - especially in a bedroom, den, or small office video system.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: This device is fantastic! It was extremely easy to install and is a joy to use. Everything was intuitive and no instructions were needed, although they were included. The only drawback is that there aren't 2 input buttons, one to switch between the computer and the TV, and the other to switch among the video inputs. These functions are combined into a single input button which means that you have to cycle through them to get the one you want. Since most users (including me) will rarely use all of the inputs, you need to skip to get to the input you want. All in all, this is an ideal product!
Rating:
Summary: The best TV-Tuner available.
Review: This is a great product to have if you want a TV, but don't have space for one. I live in a college apartment, so my TV is downstairs and sometimes it is in use when I want to use it. With this I can watch TV in my room. I have not had any problems with this. Installation is easy, you just plug every connector into the labeled slot. Unfortunatly There are alot of wires: speaker wires to and from the box, computer video to and from the box, power, and cable/Antena line.
There are also input jacks for S-Video and RCA (the three color cables used by video games and DVD players) The reception is great. I didn't notice any difference between the ViewSonic and my TV. I use a LCD screen, so I do not know if CRT monitors are any different. I did notice a slight degrading in the video quality when using the RCA jacks for my video game console. But it is only slight and not worth bothering about. The tuner can shown in pixel resolution of up to 1024 X 768, which is the standard for monitors nowadays. Most other types of tuners cannot handle high resolutions, the USB tuner I used to have would slow the system down and get chopping signals, even at low resolutions of 320 X 200. One plus is that the tuner can be used even if the computer is not on, or even hooked up to it. I really like this feature because I do not always have my computer on, and it would be a nusicance to have to turn it on ever time I wanted to watch TV. Because the TV tuner does not connect to the computer directly, such as ones where you have to install it into a PCI slot or connect via USB, there is no software to install and you do not have to open the computer to set it up. The only down side to the ViewSonic is that it cannot show both TV input and computer input at the same time, when the ViewSonic is on, it shows the TV, other wise the Computer signal just passes through with the ViewSonic on standby. This does not bother me, since the majority of computer programs I use, like MS Word and Explorer, take up the entire screen, so I wouldn't be able to see the TV window anyway. For people with slower computers, it is actually better this way, because TV tuners that plug into a PCI slot or USB port can slow the system down and disrupt the TV stream. I would highly recomend this product over any other type of TV-tuners for computers.
Rating:
Summary: Good but it has its flaws
Review: This is a nice tuner, it does its job for the most part. The only problem I had with it was the image loss. When I connected xbox to it through the s-video connection, in wreckless the yakuza missions the wheels weren't as shiny as they were on a television. In Dead or Alive 3 when there is fast motion there are these black lines that appear on the characters legs which were not apparent on a television. However, the tv tuner part of it is excellent (which is why most people probably buy it for I'm guessing), it is better than most other internal tv decoder solutions. Despite my small gripe with its video game problem, it is difinately a strong performer, with one of the best tv tuners on the market which gets it a 4 out of 5 from me.
Rating:
Summary: Good deal
Review: This product is amazing. I have it paired with a good to high quality 19" computer monitor. It allows a pass-through so you can use it with your computer when not watching TV. It comes with a remote and some cables. You can also connect a set of speakers and another DVD or VCR to it. My only complaint is that the highest supported resolution is 1024x768. However, the picture is still amazing. The picture quality of televison broadcasts and DVD movies surpases one of my televisons. If you would like a LCD TV but can't afford thousands of dollars. Get this with a good computer monitor. You'll save yourself at least a thousand dollars and get something pretty darn close in picture quality.
Rating:
Summary: Another great product from Viewsonic
Review: Viewsonic has always been known for their quality products. Personally, I've owned several Viewsonic products, and I've been pleased with everyone of them. The VB50HRTV is basically a VGA-adapter/TV-tuner that directly connects to the monitor. In essence, it turns your monitor into a TV! PROS:
- GREAT picture quality compared to many TV tuners. Most TV tuners nowadays have horrible picture quality.
- Doesn't need computer to be on to use.
- High Resolution Display (1024x768 24-bit). CONS:
- Cheap look. It doesn't look ugly... but could be better.
- Horrible remote. This has got to be the worst remote ever invented. The buttons stick, the remote looks like a brick, and there are no lights telling whether it's working or not.
- Indirect connection to monitor leads to degradation of signal. If you interconnect monitor to VB50HRTV to computer, the signal will blur drastically. You're better off directly connecting inputs. Although it has some flaws, I don't regret buying it. It works great, but those few CONS would prevent me from giving it 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: A real space saver
Review: When I decided to purchase a digital flat panel computer montor for my Mac, it ocurred to me that it might also replace the honkin' big 19" TV set box in my office along with the CRT. This product is perfect in that role and now my Neovo X-174 seves both purposes admirably. I couldn't be more pleased.
Rating:
Summary: Great Stuff
Review: Works great. Easy to use. Close aption capability would be great.
| 
