HTPCs or Home Theater Personal Computers are a great things, they allow us to use the big screens of our televisions for everything we can do on a computer, and as the name suggests specifically they allow us to create a theater experience with a PC. Creating and owning an HTPC of course requires building another computer, which means more expenses including the electric to run it. What if there was an easier way to get the PC experience on your TV?
Today for review I’ve got the InternetVue 2020 Wireless PC2TV Receiver, it’s an interesting little box that looks just like a wireless router, but it has a more specific job, which is to receive whatever is on your PC and play it on your television wirelessly. The InternetVue 2020 virtually eliminates the need for an HTPC in the home as your regular PC becomes the HTPC, no matter where it is in the house. As the name suggests you can also hook the InternetVue 2020 directly to the internet and enjoy streaming videos and more though the built in browser without having to even turn on your computer.
Included with the InternetVue 2020 is a remote control as well that will allow you to control your PC through it, so it really is just like having an HTPC, but without the need for a whole other computer in your living room. The InternetVue 202o is small and discrete, so it can be placed out of the way and out of view but yet you still have full access to it’s features.
So continue on to check out this great little gadget…
Of course first thing for you to see is the video unboxing of the InternetVue 2020:
So the InternetVue 2020 really has two parts to its wireless connection, one to the PC and one to your wireless router to be able to access the internet. So obviously you’ll have to have both of these things to make this product work with all of its features. On the other end of the connection you have your audio and video outputs which are just like any other AV device, just hook them up to your TV and you’re ready to go.
Included with the main program is a media player as well that can be used specifically to play videos on your TV, it has a feature that will output the video to the TV and you can still work with your computer without the video playing on it.
The main interface has several options on it, but most are mainly for information purposes, it tells you what kind of TV your connected to, how it’s connected, the network settings and you can adjust the quality settings as well.
So after you’ve got it installed your desktop will appear on your TV and you can navigate using the remote control. The remote has a pad on it with which to control the cursor, and it’s not the greatest, there’s quite a bit of lag, but it works.. There are two mouse buttons, left click, right click, located top right and top left of the control pad. On the remote you’ve also got basic multimedia functions as well, play, stop, pause, FF and RW, along with page up/page down, a globe to signify the world wide web, along with a few other buttons specific to multimedia uses.
I found the included media player to work well, it’s very basic, but as I mentioned it can send the video/audio only to your TV while leaving the PC free for you to do whatever else you need to do. So someone can be watching a movie while you’re working and you won’t be bothered by them or them by you, I happen to like this little feature quite a bit and think it’s very useful.
There’s really not that much to this product, it takes whatever is on your PC and sends it to your TV, plain and simple and it works. of course you’ll have to have a wireless enabled PC to do this or you’ll be running ethernet wires all around your house. With the popularity of HTPCs on the rise, this little box might make them obsolete before they’ve really got a chance to take a hold in the market.
Of course if you enable the internet access on the InternetVue 2020 you can use the included browser to browse the web, it works for basic browsing where you can point and click, but don’t expect to use it for email or any such thing where typing is involved.
Conclusion:
The InternetVue 2020 is a great little product that will allow you to send whatever is on your PC to your television wirelessly, so you have no need for a separate home theater computer really.
The InternetVue 2020 works and it works well, it’s easy to setup, and easy to use, the included remote makes life much easier as well.
The price is a bit high though, coming in at well over $200, I’m not sure if it’s quite worth that much money for the convenience it gives the user, and considering most desktops are not wireless, you’ll end up spending more for another piece of hardware as well. If you buy the USB wireless dongle from AddLogix for $35, then your total price will be very close, if not over $300 shipped for the InternetVue 2020.
Then again if all you’ve got is a laptop then you’ll be set…
Pros:
Small and discrete
Easy to use
Wirelessly transmit everything to TV
Works great
Cons:
Must have wireless enabled PC or you have to use ethernet cable
Remote isn’t the greatest for PC cursor control, quite a bit of lag
Expensive
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