Sunday 9 April 2017

Wii2HDMI Conveter.

This is one of those convenient little addons to play more retro games on Modern TVs without much of a hitch. This Wii2HDMI Converter only cost me £7.48 from a shop on ebay. But this does that job but doesn't make it easy to record to a usb drive with some capture boxes. Watch the video to find out a slight more.





The Box.

Now, this is basically a cheap budget box with a bit of text and a bit of images. Some of it is pretty poorly translated but it gets the job done of showing its a Wii 2 HDMI converter. To let you play Wii via HDMI. 

The top of the Box

The side of the box

The other side of the box

The back of the box with the text and the Wii and a TV too. 

The converter itself is just inside with its packaging to fit its shape and that is it. No manual which might be useful to see how it can show you the button for 720p or even 1080p mode it mentions on the box. But hey ho, it made it easier for me to review this. 

Inside the box is just this

But the thing itself is light and looks cheap but thats what this is and its nice to have a seperate audio out as well as hdmi. Which can be useful for some PC monitors or some speakers for hearing the full sound experience with Wii Games


The hdmi out and the audio out

The Wii Connector


Setting it up. 

This was easy. Just plug this in to the AV out on the Wii and then a HDMI cable to the TV or Capture Box and turn it on, which to be fair is what I did and it worked FIRST TIME. I'm impressed. The only downside was the box was the TV was not saying 720p but 576p until I went to the settings and went to EDTV/HDTV then it was 480p. 

Connected up to the Wii

The Settings Menu to make it 480p

A Sporting Test:

So with me HDMI in, I tested a Game and did a match of Tennis on Wii Sports. There was no lag at all and I felt nice and smooth with playing it and since it was sharp, some games can have better accuracy which all in all sounds better. Sadly I could not use my Capture box to record any of it so it was not ideal for what I really wanted to use it for.

The Crystal clarity of the screen with a tennis match on

Verdict. 

Well it does the job, but for me it missed out the chance to record footage but I think it would work with OBS Studio so its not all lost. 

omracer's Rating: 8/10

The Good Points: 

  • Good Value
  • Allows the Wii to work on HDMI only Screens 
  • Separate Audio jack if some screens have no speakers. 
  • No lag when playing games 
  • Very good looking quality even at 480p

The Bad Points: 

  • No up-scaling so my Capture Box could not record it since it wants 720p or higher to record to usb. 
  • It can stick out if the Wii is in a tight cabinet or space. 

And thats that, a nice weekend of Reviews done and more will be around next month or if special ones arrive then you might be in luck.

omracer
























Friday 7 April 2017

SCART to MHL/HDMI Converter

Well one product i've been wanting to try out is a SCART to HDMI Converter. This was actually tested when I sold one to a customer in work for his VHS since he bought a LG TV and it got me an idea. Would this work for PS1 Games so i can stream them on Twitch. With the feeling of nostalgia beaming it at me with. The cost of this was actually 12.55.  The video will be below:





The Packaging. 


There is no packaging, only an envelope. 

The envelope with the converter




A Look at the contents. 


This was pretty simple. There was the Converter, the cable and the manual. Simple but it was actually readable and also not hard to get setup. The power cable is actually quite nice and with some retro consoles that have a usb port but not a hdmi port. This is ideal really. 

The top of the converter

underneath it

The scart port with input above it 

The Scart Input

The Power Cable

The manual

The otherside of the manual

Setting it up. 

It was actually very simple to setup. So I got the PS1 out and the Capture box to see if it would work, which it actually does quite nicely. But I saw it in a nice sharp manner and it was actually widescreen too. It was useful for the Logic3 PS1 Video Cable which it can work on PS3 too.

The Boxx Connected to the hdmi

The main concept and it works

How it connects to the Logic 3 adapter

What it shows when plugged in and turned on.

A Play Test: 

1: Rage Racer (720p)


So, Rage Racer was the first to try and MY GOD it was sharp and quite responsive. Now the contrast was on 100 for my TV so the colour was slightly off but adjusting the TV can fix that.  I turned the lights on to make it seem ok. I could race quite nicely. I would say a ideal way. Recording it to the Box worked first time.

how it looks in 720p on a 48" HD TV


2: Point Blank/Gun Bullet (720p)

This was tricky to get working on the capture box but eventually it worked. But there was a sound delay on the soundbar compared to the old Beko TV. 

Point Blank

3: Crash Bandicoot 2 (1080p)

Now we celebrate the N Sane Trilogy coming on PS4 and the Hang Eight Level being shown (embedded) . Well, I did this on 1080p to compare it. You can really tell the detail is not as sharp as 720p was. But it was still playable. There was no major lag but it was either me being old or some missing jumps, but it was also this big border around which maybe it was showing 720p on a 1080p resolution. 





How it shows on the TV in 1080p

Conclusion. 


This actually does the job well and it now lets me play retro titles for twitch or for a YT video in good quality. 

omrascer's Rating: 8/10

The Good Points:

  • Awesome Value
  • Easy to Setup
  • Can be used off USB or Mains Plug
  • Works with Capture cards or Capture Boxes
  • LightGuns work (if a CRT TV is connected)

The Bad Points: 

  • Can be hard to source or to find the right one (not a HDMI to Scart) 
  • Some sharpness can be lost in the 1080p mode
  • Some lag that is very minor unless you need like 2ms precision in games but I don't even know if this is true.

There will be more reviews soon. 

omracer




Thursday 6 April 2017

Kool-Aid Cherry Limeade

Now, following a Trip to looe last week.  I bought some Sachets of Kool-Aid for the very first time and i wanted to try at least one out for a review. So here you are, a Review of Kool-Aid. Costing me £0.35 each from a american import shop in Looe called Heavenly delights. The chap that sold me them was a decent chap  and knew what to  go with them. But here it is, the review of something i've always wanted to review. You can buy a pack of 8 for £7.00

The items
The video reviews is below:




The Packaging. 



Now we talk about the sachet. Only weighing in at 4.6G, this is full of info and colours and even mascots. Also including more of the different languages which can confuse you sometimes. But its nice to just pick up and ignore the details. Some people will need glasses to read the text.

The front of the sachet

The back of the sachet 



Getting it made:

This Recipe is actually easy. Just pour this powder into a jug and add sugar (it says 1 cup but i used 3 table spoons ) then pour cold water in there and this is it. It looks colourful and almost like jelly. The colour is that vivid. 

The jug of water

A closer look



So, I drink it, and i taste the cherry and also the lime, but one thing I might say is that you can feel it to be a bit sour if you don't add enough sugar but people say about too much sugar these days. It was pretty good really.

The selfie to get the drinks in


Now to sum it up.

omracer's Rating: 9/10

The Good Points: 

  • The powder gives you quite alot
  • The value of these were amazing when i bought them.
  • The flavour matches what the name of flavour is
  • its easy to make
  • perfect for parties

The Bad Points: 

  • Can be hard to buy locally except online
  • People who are daiabetic can't have them if you follow the sachet to the text
  • Different languages on one packet thats small


and there you have it. A review of Kool Aid. Theres more reviews soon this month I hope.

omracer.




















Saturday 1 April 2017

Holland and Barrett Maximum Strength Aloe Vera Juice

This is the Review which is to help me prep for an event soon, this month. Which I might need to be more toned or have a major detox and since Aloe Vera Juice is a favourite drink of mine, it was time to taste some strong version of it. This does exactly that for £6.64 each (half price) from Holland and Barrett and you can see why below: 





The Bottle,


This is a thick bottle to show of the 946ml of juice inside, in a white design, it seals the contents quite nicely and the sticker has a lot of small print but its clear enough to read without needing to lean in or some cases, wear glasses. The front of the bottle is quite clear and "MAXIMUM STRENGTH" is a good sign this will perform they way you want it t. Its heavy when lifting it as well so that doesn't make it a false product either. 

The size of the bottle

The front of the bottle

The middle part of the bottle

the back of the bottle. 


The top of the bottle


A look at the juice and a taste test

So with this, I opened the seal and poured some into a glass and it looks like lime cordial in a slight way and it was interesting there was no pellets of aloe vera in this, But it was also like the colour of the packaging on the bottle, I think thati s a clever idea. 

a look at the juice and it looks clear

when you look from the side, you see a slight lime cordial looking drink

Then it was the tasting, which to be fair is MUCH different than i would EXPECT it to be. Now it has a slightly Bitter taste to it, like lemon juice, you can feel it appearing in the throat after a short time but its not really strong but not invisible either, Its not an addictive drink and shortly after 2 glasses of it to drink for the review, I needed the toilet, which means it might actually do its job. 

A drink of this 

The Conclusion:

All in all, this drink is not meant to be a everyday drink, but as mentioned on the packaging, a supplement to detox yourself with so it doesn't taste good enough to be a only drink it unless you really want to empty yourself (actually me), with this in mind:

omracer's Rating: 6/10

The Good Points: 

  • The bottle is full of the juice
  • it can help detox or empty the stomach
  • The advice is quite clear to read
  • i went toilet shortly afterwards

The Bad Points: 

  • its quite expensive EVEN at HALF PRICE 
  • The taste can be a bit bitter
  • I went toilet shortly afterwards

And there we have it , a review done at the start of April, I have more reviews coming soon as well. 

omracer