We just dumped satellite and went pc to tv to save money. At first we tried a vga to component converter, which was good, but it didn't make use of our tv's high-def so the picture was a bit fuzzy. Then I saw this converter and at the price, just had to try it. The difference was night and day. We now have access to our tv's native widescreen resolution, and the HD picture quality is as crisp as on the laptop screen. I wish we had tried this first!
We have a Philips 42PFL5332D 42" plasma and a 2006 Dell laptop running XP. Our connection is vga to hdmi (this is the connection needed for HD quality). It took literally a minute to get the picture up, and it appeared at the right resolution without us needing to do a thing.
The sound was a different matter, due to our inexperience. With our old converter we ran a stereo cable out of the laptop headphone port to the audio-in on the tv. We left that as it was and got no sound. We unplugged it and got sound - from the laptop's speakers. I'm ashamed to say it took me half an hour to figure out that we had to use the audio cable that came with this converter, connected between the laptop headphone port and the converter itself so it could feed the sound through the HDMI cable to the tv. Hey, live and learn, right?
As other reviewers have helpfully noted, this converter comes with everything you need except an HDMI cable. So I also ordered an HDMI (2 meter) 6 foot cable HQ 1080P 1.3b, and it works fine with our setup.
There are just two small negatives that led to me giving it only 4 stars. First, as others have said, it doesn't have an on/off switch, which seems an incredible oversight. And that leads to the second negative: this converter runs hot. To allow a little airflow underneath it I put it on top of the two small plastic endcaps that came with the HDMI cable. We'll see if the heat this thing produces impacts its performance in future, but for now, we're very impressed with it. Component video (YPbPr) / VGA To HDMI Converter With Auto Up-scale
I wanted to connect our PC, which has only VGA out, to the LCD TV (720P), which does have VGA input, only coaxial, component or HDMI. My IT co-worker recommended going VGA to HDMI rather than VGA to component because analog to analog conversion is more "messy" and requires a higher end device to work well. I took his advice and after some research, I decided on this unit over cheaper alternatives because of the auto-upscale function (to 720P, which matches our TV), and the price is very affordable. (A note: since I purchased this a month ago from CE Compass, the price has dropped by $10. Wished I had waited just a little - but the new price makes this a even better value.)
My setup: PC(VGA) to VGA Splitter (w/ amplifier) to converter to TV(HDMI), plus audio from PC to the converter - this way I won't have to connect and reconnect the PC's VGA output all the time. (I also have audio going from the PC to the stereo system directly for watching movies.) As soon as we have the unit connected and the resolution on the PC changed, it started to work with no problem at all. Video quality is great and everything we have played fit the TV screen perfectly, always making maximum use of the screen. Some videos are darker on the TV than the monitor, which could be caused by the VGA splitter, but it can easily be fixed by adjusting the TV's brightness level.
The only con, if you can call it that, is the lack of an on/off button. There is no reason the unit should be drawing power even when not in use (light is on and body feels warm to touch). I may get a plug-in switch so
I can turn it off individually from the surge protector.
With this converter my family is able to enjoy streaming movies, TV shows and sports on the TV without buying a new computer with HDMI output. The video quality on the TV looks amazing when playing HD content, and with non-HD resolution videos it sometimes look better on TV, probably thanks to the auto-scaling.
The ETA was Aug 4th - Aug 19th and I received it on the 4th. Delivery was great. The item was exactly like described. A very quick, easy set up. Comes with all the wires except the hdmi cable. No off switch. The item got warm pretty quickly.
Now for the downside. It did not work. I can see the my desktop picture but it was blurry and it continually ran from left to right. I have a 47in rear projector 1080i Panasonic TV. I called customer service and they answered quickly. He was real helpful. Im pretty electronically savy but I let him run through protocol. He had me try several different troubleshooting issues. It still did not work. I asked him since my TV was 1080i not 1080p was that a problem. He said no that it should be fine because 1080i should be equivalent to 720p. He then gave me my options. He said I could send it back and I could get a full refund or they could send a new one. I asked him about the shipping costs for sending it back. He said they would refund it if the item if it was found nonfunctional. I then asked him what if the next one you guys send me doesn't work either. He said to call back and they would still refund the item but not for the shipping cost.
So, a week later I get the item and it had the same exact issue. I call customer service and they had me run through the same troubleshooting procedures. They then asked if I can take to another TV that has an HDMI in. So I had to take it to my in-laws. It worked on there TV. I then called back and told them it worked but it just doesn't work on mine. I asked for my options again. They said I can return it and they will send me one of there other more expensive convertors or that I could just get a refund. They didn't give me andy hassle about the product or any hassle about getting there other item.
There customer service was totally awesome. I just wish it would of worked. On the trail again. So theres no need to worry about what if it doesn't work on my TV because they have great customer service and refund policy.'
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