 |
|
|
|
In the Forums... |
Posted: August 16, 1999 Written by: tapped MSRP: $199.99 (after $30.00 rebate) Company website: www.guillemot.com The Big Picture Some need it. They have to have it. They've had it before, they know what it's like, and there's no going back. Others could care less. They may even scoff at the idea. After all, if you really want to play games on a TV, you might as well drive up to K-Mart and pick up a PlayStation... right? Having experienced big-screen gaming myself, I have to admit it: I fall into the former category. Once you've played Need For Speed III on a quality 35" television, there really is no going back - no matter how big your monitor is. Good thing Guillemot decided to include a Brooktree 869 TV-out. The Brooktree in particular has made a name for itself - largely as a not-so-great implementation. Sometimes a manufacturer makes the most of it and the results are better than usual. On the other hand, the outcome is so bad as to make one wonder why it was ever used. Guillemot got it right. Getting the TV-out to work was fairly painless. Plug the s-video dongle into the back of the Xentor 32 and run an RCA cable from the dongle to your TV's composite Video-In connector. Make sure your TV's set to receive auxiliary input and click your way through to the Output Device control applet. Select TV-out as the output device, and wha-lah! Done. How's it look? Not bad, actually... not bad at all. Given a television's display limitations, the Xentor 32's s-video TV-out works admirably. The image quality is more than adequate for gaming purposes and free of the horrible 'black borders' that can plague so many Brooktree TV-outs. The only downside I could find with this otherwise quality implementation was that it doesn't support simultaneous TV and monitor output. While it's no great loss, such little 'extras' are always nice. Still, I found it odd that Guillemot left out any documentation on the TV-out, considering the quality of the manual. I thought I'd find something in the .pdf manual, but there was nothing to be had. While the .pdf does include descriptions for each setting on each tab of the Display Control Panel, there's no mention of TV-out. Thinking about it a bit, it does make sense, as the manual and .pdfs are generalized to cover the entire Maxi Gamer line of products, most of which don't include TV-out. This creates a situation, though. What about those who buy the Xentor 32 and need some sort of referene? Well, there is none. While a quick call to Guillemot would most likely alleviate any trouble, perhaps it would be appropirate for Guillemtot to consider adding a brief TV-out supplement to the otherwise excellent manual. Click here for a walk-through on getting the Xentor 32's TV-out functioning properly. Famous Last Words The Maxi Gamer Xentor 32 isn't perfect, but then again, no product is. It would've been nice to see a slightly beefier HSF unit keeping the TNT2 cool, but I can take the positives with the negatives. After all, it was mounted correctly, which is a change. Also (yes, I'm saying it again), as thorough as the manual is, it's a wonder that there nothing on TV-out. Why not? It's right there on the box as a feature! On the other side of the coin, this card has a lot goin' for it.... The board installed flawlessly, overclocked reasonably, ran everything I expected it to... and then some. The drivers are stable, and the PowerSprinter utility is a nice plus. The card's performance is breathtaking, the image quality is great, and the TV-out is well implemented. (I won't say it again...) When it comes right down to it, I'd recommend this board in a heartbeat. Guillemot has put together a quality package with the Maxi Gamer Xentor 32, and for a price of $199.99 (even less if you shop around), you really can't go wrong. [+] Good
|
||
|
| |||
|---|---|---|---|