Quadra630 Tv Video Review

Date: Thu, 15 Sep 1994 20:36:58 -0400 (EDT) From: Andrew Sinclair-Day <sinclair@pcnet.com> Subject: Quadra 630 TV/Video review I recently purchased the Apple TV/Video System for the Quadra 630 and thought I'd share my experiences with it, this should also apply to the Preforma and LC models. Before buying the Quadra 630 and the video system, I owned a Quadra 660av and will make some comparisons between the two. WHAT YOU GET for $249. A Manual (clear and well written). 1 Disk with the Apple Video Player extension & application. 1 CD-ROM with Avid VideoShop 2.0 and upgrade coupon to 3.0 1 Screw. 1 Remote control w/ battery (cool!). 1 Cable/Antenna Tuner Card. 1 AV Card w/S-Video IN, Composite Video IN,Stereo Sound IN 1 Warranty Card. INSTALLATION was very simple and took about 5 minutes and involved removing the back plate on the Q630, removing 2 screws, and sliding the motherboard out. The AV card goes in the Video slot on the mother board and installs in seconds, it is secured by the screw that came in the box. The motherboard is slid back in the case and fastened by the 2 screws. Next to the monitor port are 2 screws on a rectangular plate which must be removed, the plate comes off and inside is a ribbon cable that attaches to the Tuner card. The card is slid in the hole and secured by the 2 screws. At this point you attach your cable TV or antenna cable to to the card and put the back plate on. Now hook up all the other cables and install the software. If you have a VCR or Camcorder you can hook it up to the AV card. THE REMOTE CONTROL will turn the Qaudra 630 on/off, mute the sound, change channels, adjust the volume, turn the video software on/off, toggle the video display size, and has controls for the internal CD-ROM allowing you to play, stop, eject, pause, forward and reverse tracks on audio CD's. It's very small and light, about 2"x3"x 1/4", and is a Sony remote (model RMC-A1). If you have a Sony TV w/ remote in the same room as the Quadra 630, you may run into problems as it emits the same infrared signals as the Apple remote. If you turn off your TV, you can also turn off your Mac or if you use the remote to turn the Mac on you will also turn your TV on. However there is an option to disable the Apple remote, and you can always use the keyboard or mouse to do everything. SOUND from the Tuner or AV card is passed through the Q630, like it is with the CD-ROM, so it's not limited to 22MHz 8bit stereo unless you are recording the sound or are using the internal speaker on the Q630. I recommend getting external stereo speakers or hooking the Q630 up to your stereo system. What I really like about the sound on the Q630 is the ability to have 3 different sound levels, one for the CD Audio, one for the TV/AV cards, one for all system sounds. Setting these sound levels is done through the sound control p…