Unfortunately, budget parts keep the GrandTec Ultimate Wireless from living up to even that modest potential. You get your signal into the transmitter by using an included VGA Y-cable. Because the Y-cable is unpowered, you're essentially splitting the signal from your PC's VGA output (or DVI output, if you use a DVI-to-VGA adapter, which is not included), and that degrades the visual quality of both signals. Therefore, your pass-though signal to the computer monitor becomes fuzzy, and the wireless signal is likewise degraded. If your video card has multiple video outputs, you could send one to your monitor and the other to the bas unit, which would solve that particular problem.
Plugging the composite cable from our TV directly into the base unit produced a better picture than the wireless signal. We were able to improve the wireless signal by moving the base unit and the receiver and by switching between the four transmission channels, controlled by tiny dip switches on both units. Video quality was essentially the same when the base unit and the wireless receiver were placed 2 feet apart or 30 feet apart, but when we moved the base unit to a PC several rooms away, the signal was overpowered by static. A menu button on the base unit lets you scroll through brightness, contrast, and other settings, but the actual effect on the image quality was nearly imperceptible. In contrast, audio quality was good throughout, even as the video quality waxed and waned.
Technically, the GrandTec Ultimate Wireless performed largely as advertised, but the signal quality is mediocre at best, and the video output limitations mean that only a very small subset of users with very specific needs will find this product useful.
- See more CNET content tagged:
- signal,
- Media Center PC,
- TV,
- solution,
- video
Where to buy
GrandTec Ultimate Wireless:
$129.95 - $139.96
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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$139.96 | Yes |
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$129.95 | Yes |
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$139.96 | Yes |
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