Customer Reviews:
 Gamebridge March 16, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Gamebridge AVC-1400 USB 2.0 Cnct Xbox PS2 To Pc Xp SP2 2K SP4. Fast delivery. Good price.
 Works decently, but has some lag problems. March 15, 2008
Although this device is marketed toward gamers, it allows for any composite or S-video signal to be converted to USB and played through a computer monitor. I got this device, hoping to be able to use it for when I didn't have access to a TV. This device was both pleasing and disappointing.
First, note that you are required to install the drivers and the proprietary software to use this. Unfortunately, Vista is not officially supported, and customer support from the manufacturer is literally nonexistent. However, with a LOT of hacking and manual work, it is possible to get the drivers running on Vista (32 bit, as I highly doubt you can get this working on 64 bit).
The device is quite small, and comes in 2 parts: the actual device itself, and an all-in-one cord that connects the video inputs to the Gamebridge via micro USB. You then connect the Gamebridge to your computer via a mini USB cable (included).
Unfortunately, these is some lag time. Surprisingly, it's video that works best, with lag times of about 1/4 seconds. Good enough for many games, but unacceptable for fast twitch games like Halo/SSBM or rhythm games like Boom Boom Rocket. It's audio that doesn't work well, with the sound coming out of the speakers anywhere from 3-4 seconds late. That is a major problem.
Video quality isn't great, but it's better than I expected. The image is somewhat blurred when stretched out to my entire laptop screen. Also, the Gamebridge only supports full screen, which is too bad.
The video recording feature included in the software gave me mixed feelings. There are three options for recording quality: Good, Better, and Best. "Good" quality ran well on my computer, although it recorded in a sad 292x240 resolution with noticeable artifacts. Works well enough for okay Youtube quality, but not much else. For video, "Best" quality was much better at this, at a clearer 648x480 resolution, but using this mode greatly slowed down my computer to the point where it would've been impossible to play any games. Also, the audio and video were out of sync by about a second. Still, the pure video quality of the recording was very good.
If you don't mind the image and the slight video lag time, and you have alternate ways of outputting the audio, this device may be for you. Otherwise, I might look elsewhere. That doesn't stop this from being a good item if you can find it for cheap.
Edit: After much playing and searching around, I found a great free program called DScaler [...] that works very well with all audio and video streams I've thrown at it, including this one. The difference was astounding; it works much better than the Intervideo software that comes included with the Gamebridge. The audio and video lag times were drastically cut. I did, however, notice that the performance decreased over time, but I was able to fix this by closing and restarting the program. Basically, it's a free, smaller, less bloated alternative that I would highly recommend you use over the included software.
 Great product that manufacturer no longer supports. March 4, 2008
The Gamebridge itself is fantastic. I want to mention this first. Once I got it working, it worked beautifully and will let me do exactly what I wanted to do with it. There really is little to no lag using this thing(though fighting or FPS gamers may notice some).
The only problem is that the company that made this thing doesn't support it anymore. This might not be a problem for most people, but the installation disc that came with mine was BLANK. I was able to find installation software within 24 hours online, however, and ultimately this caused me no real problems. I just find it strange that this would continue to be sold while the company that produced it refuses to provide any support.
Oh well. Still highly reccomended.
Terrible software, but it can work January 27, 2008
If you must use your computer as a tv, the gamebridge will fulfill your needs. However, the software package that ships with it (InterVideo Home Theatre) is terrible, and you may need to turn to a third party solution - I wasn't even able to get InterVideo Home Theatre to run. There is no troubleshooting documentation and Adaptec's support for the product is non-existant.
I eventually ditched the InterVideo program and used Dscaler to display the video stream from the gamebridge. This worked rather well, though it requires a lot of processor power to de-interlace the video stream. Unless you have a very fast computer, you'll have to settle for a reduction in image quality or suffer many dropped frames. After picking a de-interlacing algorithm appropriate for my processor's power, there was only the occasional stutter or rendering artifact.
In summary, using the gamebridge with a laptop won't be as good as a TV, but is entirely adequate if a TV isn't available. However, if you use a monitor that is detached from your PC, try a vga converter instead.
Bravo! January 27, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Perfect device, just what i needed, Wonderful, im really glad i purchased this item. Thank you!
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