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Review By: Eric Lizotte, Hardware Editor
Posted On: Friday, November 05, 1999

Introduction

Quite a few PCs come with DVD drives now. Many of them either have a hardware decoder or TV out on the video card. This gives you the theoretical ability to watch DVD movies on the TV in your living room. The reason I say theoretical is that the newer PC with the DVD drive is more likely to be in office than the living room. So what are your options? Expensive audio/video wiring through the walls? Moving the PC into the living room?

X-10 has a much easier answer. Pick up their DVD Anywhere Kit, and in a matter of minutes you can be watching movies on your PC. I will have to admit that I am somewhat biased towards this product. Over a year ago when I bought my first DVD player, I spent some significant time researching to make sure I covered myself in terms of usability. What I ended up buying was the Creative Labs Encore DXR2 2x DVD Kit, and the slighlty earlier version of the X10 DVD Anywhere.

For less than the price I could pick up a set top DVD player, I got a DVD player I could use in my PC, as well as a video transmission system that let me use it like a set top. I also got some other strengths, like the easy of moving the transmitter or receiver around quickly so that I could watch a DVD in another room, or run the output from the laserdisc player in the livingroom somewhere else.

In The Box

One thing to mention is that X-10 is not a company whose products you will see in a CompUsa or Best Buy (or at least I haven't). For the most part they sell their products direct to consumers, or through home improvement stores like Lowes and Home Depot. This is because their core products are home automation related (controlling lights + appliances via remote or PC). The box includes 2 basic parts, the Mouse Remote, and the Video Sender/Receiver pair, as well as about all the cables you could need or want. There are also manuals for the equipment.

Installation

Installation is easy, as it connects all via external connectors. The only drivers that need to be installed are for the Mouse Remote, and these are included on a floppy.

What Does It Do?

The X-10 DVD Anywhere kit is a 2.4ghz wireless video and audio transmission system that includes a combined RF/IR universal remote control that functions as a PC mouse as well. You can place the reciever and transmitter at least 50 feet apart without noticeable signal quality loss. I really couldn't test any further than that without carrying a TV into the back yard, and the smallest I have is a 27 inch.

Performance

It really is a pleasure to be able to use your audio/video components the way that you want to. Moving one end or another to a differnt room is no more than a 1 or 2 minute procedure. I can recall moving a VCR from one room to another to watch a movie, and many times the movie was not worth the effort.

The DVD Anywhere kit gives a really nice crisp picture. The audio performance is not perfect(at least in my house) as I have always had just a little background "hiss" that you can notice in really quiet moments. During louder moments, there is no noticeable noise or static. One performance issue that is a little more serious is interference from other devices. I have pretty much found two things that bring my DVD playing nearly to a halt.

One was kind of funny, as I had not thought of it, and it happened accidentally. My parents were visiting, and we decided to all watch a movie. Part way through the movie (I believe it was Godzilla), my wife and mother decided to make some popcorn. Bad idea is all I have to say. As soon as they turned the microwave on the interference was so bad that I had to mute the TV and stereo. As soon as the microwave was done, everything was great again.

The only other device that I have found that affects the transmission are wireless networking products (such as Diamond's HomeFree Wireless. The affect that they have is only slight interference and distortion, and it can be minimized by adjusting the positions and aim of the transmitter and reciever.

The last detail on the wireless performance that I should mention is that there are 4 "channel" settings on each unit, as well as a movable semi-circular antenna. Between pointing the antennae of each unit at each each other and adjusting them, and switching which channel they operate on, you can optimize the performance. It only takes a few minutes, and is easy.

One interesting thing is that with the multiple channels, you can use more than one set of the DVD Anywhere in one house. I tried it, and it worked pretty well. With the 2 receivers turned to the channel of either of the senders, more than one TV could watch the source movie. With them set separately, you could have a DVD movie sent to one TV, and the output of a satellite receiver sent to another.

As far as mouse performance goes, the Remote Mouse is really neat. It looks like a regular TV remote. The only thing that visually sets it apart is the rubber disc in the middle. You move the mouse around by using the disc like the direction pad on a console game controller. The two mouse buttons are on the bottom of the controller. X-10 obviously spent some time on the ergonomic design on the Mouse Remote, as it is very comfortable to sit in your hand and use. It is very controllable, and with a little practice almost as easy to use as a regular mouse.

The receiver for the Mouse Remote is RF, which means that it will transmit through walls, just like the Video Sender unit. With the software that X-10 includes to configure the Mouse Remote, it is easy to have a button launch an application or do other tasks. The interface to program it is fairly nice, and you have quite a few buttons you can use.

If you have a hardware DVD decoder and decide to get the DVD Anywhere, I strongly recommend getting Remote Selector, a program by Erwin van den Berg. It will let you select the X-10 Remote mouse, and directly runs the DVD player from it. Definitely handy, and a 2 step setup.

Inexpensive, allows you to share DVD player or other audio/video components, easily movable

Microwave oven kills reception, audio gets a little hiss

Final Thoughts:

I have been using the older DVD Anywhere kit for a year now, and I have been happy with it. The microwave oven issue sounds like a pain, but I usually watch movies later in the evening. If I plan to have popcorn, I just make it first.

Getting a home theater technician in to wire a house is at LEAST $500 to just run cables from room to room. Adding a set-top DVD player - $250. If your PC has a DVD drive, then adding just the DVD Anywhere kit is far cheaper. And the DVD Anywhere kit lets you do other things as well.

Want to play MP3s on your stereo instead of just the PC speakers? No problem here, X-10 even has special software to directly control 8 different (and all the most common) MP3 players directly with the Mouse Remote. You can also use it to run the video from the VCR or satellite receiver in the living room to the bedroom. Going to have a barbecue and want to play CDs outside? Take a regular boombox, and hook the DVD Anywhere up to it and the living room CD changer.

There are a lot of ways to use the DVD Anywhere kit. One that I have used beyond the others here is for my Playstation. My living room is a little on the large side, and I haven't found a set of wireless Playstation controllers that feel half as nice as the regular Sony Dual Shock controllers. Hook DVD Anywhere up to the TV and Playstation, and I can leave the Playstation near the couch, and still play on the bigscreen TV.

Overall the DVD Anywhere is a handy kit. It has a lot of uses, and is pretty inexpensive. With it, you can effectively pretend to have more than one DVD player, VCR etc, and that can save you a good piece. With the mouse remote added in, it is even nicer. Also, X-10 generally has lots of other free giveaways with purchases, so you may get some other cool X-10 component you want. As a matter of fact, currently you get 5 free rentals from Netflix.com, the Palm Pad X-10 controller, and the Socket Rocket lamp controller.

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