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Plextor ConvertX PVR PX-TV402U
Page: 3/3
(2072 total words in this text)
(67542 Reads) 
VIDEO QUALITY/STRESS TESTING:
When it comes to video quality, the ConvertX PVR offers a great variety of options. There are eighteen available recording quality profiles. Included in these are the standard MPEG-2 DVD formats such as standard play, high quality, medium quality, and so on. In addition to this, you can choose to record in MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and (drum roll please) DivX®.
I chose to record primarily in the medium quality MPEG-2 format because I already had many files from my pvr-250 that I could use for comparison. My modest computer, an Athlon XP+2000 with 512MB of RAM, had no problems processing these files. The ConvertX PVR itself acts as the primary workhorse for the encoding process so little strain was put on the main CPU. The resulting files looked nearly identical in quality when compared on my MediaMVP hooked up to my television. On my computer screen, however, the ConvertX PVR files looked a tad grainier than the pvr250 files. I also occasionally encountered some sync issues between sound and picture when fast-forwarding theses files on my MediaMVP. This has never occurred with my PVR250 files.
The ConvertX PVR has a trick that my PVR250 just can not do. This trick, of course, would be that it encodes directly into the DivX® format. For you neophytes out there, this means it can record to a file format that takes about 1/3 of the disk space for a similar quality. When I record a half and hour program in decent quality MPEG-2 format, the file can be as large as 1.4 gigs. In the long run, that means you need to have a huge hard drive in order to store/archive many programs. Recording into DivX® means that you can have about three times the hours of television programming stored on your hard drive.
When recording into DivX® format, I was rather impressed by the quality of video for the much smaller sized files. When I played the files on my computer screen, the quality was very respectable and comprable to my larger MPEG-2 files. My main issue is that the encoding seemed more labor intensive on my computer than recording MPEG-2. I was consistently seeing the encoding process use 30-40% of my computer’s processing power.
If you’ve read my previous article, Building a PVR in 3 steps and around 200 dollars, you’d know that my “media server” doubles as my main day to day PC. I sometimes surf the web, type documents, or play games while GBPVR records programs in the background. The encoding failed a few times when I was playing more graphics intensive games (i.e. dropped frames). In general it’s probably best to NOT play games while encoding DivX, both for the good of the capture and for the effect on frame rates in game. I don’t fault the Plextor unit for this, but wanted to mention it for those of you who don’t run dedicated PVR boxes. Note: I only encountered the higher cpu usage with DivX encoding, MPEG-2 encoding was less cpu intensive.
I had some issues with audio sync when playing back the files on the MediaMVP, but local playback of the files were fine.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The ConvertX PVR is an interesting piece of hardware with a lot of potential. There are certain circumstances in which it would be on the top of my list of encoders, such as if I were a laptop user looking for a high quality external encoder, or if I was (Mac user), or was just interested in saving valuable disk space by employing the DivX® format. On the other hand, if you are on a tight budget and are not afraid of mucking about in your computer case, then other solutions out there that are a little easier on your wallet.
The Pros
• It is a piece of cake to set up.
• You don’t have to open up your computer to install it. This could be a big selling point for laptop users or people who are chicken and are afraid of voiding their warranties by opening up their computers.
• Multitude of encoding options
• It has lovely and easily accessible front ports to connect to If you want to hook up additional VCRs and other video gizmos for encoding purposes.
• InterVideo DVD Creator looks to be a valuable program if you are looking to make DVDs.
• DivX® BABY! YEAH!
• There’s a Mac version TV402UMac with Elgato EyeTV bundled
The Cons
• It requires a somewhat robust computer. A 1.8 gHz processor is required and a 2.4 GHz processor is recommended. My computer barely qualified. (minimum specs are 800mhz NOT 1.8ghz as previously posted)
• It needs USB 2.0. (No USB 2.0? No ConvertX PVR for you! )
• Some of the higher compression video recording takes up a substantial chunk of processing power.
• The bundled DVR software is mediocre. This can be remedied by any number of commercially available programs including SageTV 2.1 or GBPVR ( which is free )
• It is also a bit pricy - the suggested retail is just around $200 dollars. You pay a little bit more for the convenience of external and portable devices.
Overall Score: 8 out of 10
Thanks again to Plextor for providing the ConvertX PVR TV402U unit for review.
If you have questions or comments about the review please post them in the Plextor ConvertX Review thread
GENERIC REVIEW BOILERPLATE:
We would certainly love to evaluate any HTPC / PVR related products provided by
manufacturers, but BYOPVR is not in the business of “selling” favorable reviews
for free hardware (unless it was an ipod mini – we’d sell out for a couple of
those). Read
this article on how hardware payola works on “other” review sites.
If you would like your company’s product reviewed on Build Your Own PVR, send
an email to reviews AT byopvr.com for more information.
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