Reviews - HEXUS Reader Review: Gigabyte SkyVision WS100

[HEXUS]

HEXUS.community member Ferral tries out Gigabyte's WHDI transmitter.

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[cheesemp]

No remote to switch devices - kind of limits its usefulness I'd say... You've got to stick the box on prominent view to push the buttons!

[Ferral]

The receiver box is tiny, hardly notice it at all.

Its about 4 inches square and about 1.5 inches deep. I have it sat at the back of my TV stand which is black glass so it kind of blends in.

My only disappointment is lack of remote control, you have the 3 buttons (Home, Left & Right) on the front of the box so when adding extra devices you need to use these 3 buttons to enter the names of additional devices so can end up messing up naming at times! But it works fantastic, one of my favorite products ever must admit, hated having to run a long HDMI cable from my PC across the middle of the front room. It does exactly what it says on the tin.

I would have gave it 5 out of 5 if it had a remote control its that good!

[tad2009]

I really like the sounds of this and know plenty of people that would find plenty of uses for having one receiver and several transmitters.

What I am more curious about though is whether this device can be use with one transmitter and multiple receivers? Can the transmitter be used in a SkyHD box?

[Ferral]

You know, I didn't actually try it on my Sky box, didn't think about that in all honesty!

It does have a USB port on the back, will give it a try in the next 10 mins or so and get back to you on it.


EDIT : Yes it works on the Sky box, however the USB on the Sky box will not supply power to the transmitter. So I plugged it in and then had to use a spare micro USB phone charger I have lying about and once I had power it sprang straight to life with no issues and no messing about

[tad2009]

Thanks Ferral for such a quick response and for taking the time to test and verify this.

[miniyazz]

Nice review, any word on pricing once it's available here?

[Ferral]

Looking around at similar devices they are going for approximately £88 up to £150, so thinking this will probably sit at around the £95 mark. That is just a guess though, looking at another review they are speculating slightly lower more aggressive pricing at £99 (lower than the Edimax etc), just have to finally wait and see when it lands. I have looked at a few of the suppliers listed under where to buy on Gigabytes site but none have it listed as of yet unfortunately.

[Major_Trouble]

Could you please give us some idea of the range at which it still works? If like tad2009 suggest he want to use it on his Sky box for another room range might be an issue.

[Ferral]

I have not tested it to the maximum range. It does state on the packaging that it will work up to 30 metres, however, I have no way of testing at such a distance really unless I physically move something like my PS3 to the opposite end of the house which is about 15 - 20 meters.

It does say optimally though that distance should be 10 metres or less and transmitter / receiver facing each other. I should think that doors, floors etc would most likely be a hindrance to the performance in the same way as putting a wireless router behind a door or on a different floor in the house.

[voxstream]

That device Ferral looks great, just what I'm looking for. I've tried some others, one of them was around £150. none of them worked reliably. I cannot find out when, or even if we are going to be able to buy it in the UK. Do you have any idea when? That was a very enjoyable review Ferral, it's nice to get an actual user review, it's so much more realistic. Thanks for the effort, excellent stuff.

[Ferral]

I don't have a release date yet unfortunately, but if you visit the official Gigabyte site on the product specs page at the top it has something like Buy Now and it takes you to a Google Map with UK suppliers. Like I mentioned in the review though, when visiting suppliers websites none of them have it listed as of yet.

I should imagine it is going to be available within the next week or two so I would ring around different places and keep an eye out on Scan, OCUK, ebuyer, Aria etc

I am using it on just my PC now and its really cool not having to trail a HDMI lead from one end of my front room to the other, it was literally just what I needed and does the old "exactly what it says on the tin!"

When I first set it up on my PC I was having to go into the sound properties and my Samsung TV was recognised (via the transmitter / receiver) but I was getting no sound out of it and had to change things over manually. Literally though now I don't have to do that, as soon as I plug it in Windows changes over to my TV automatically.

Brilliant device, well worth getting even though it doesn't have a remote

[voxstream]

This seems worth waiting for Ferral, I'm also fed up dragging 15 meters of HDMI cable across the room. As for a remote, I don't really need one as the only thing I want to connect to the TV is my audio/video rig. I've looked through all the suppliers on Gigabyte's website, but as you say, no one has the kit yet. Oh well, a few more weeks won't hurt really, I will keep checking.

[roorooroo]

Nice review Ferral..quite an interesting bit of kit too.

[wasabi]

Good review. Initially confused by lack of remote but I suspect most people will use this 1:1 with a laptop and use AV receiver remote to switch to hardwired Blueray, Xbox etc

Interesting kit but personally I'd rather save cash and live with cable mess.

[voxstream]

I finally bought one of these, but I will not work through my Onkyo TX-NR1007 receiver. It works very well directly in to my TV or a monitor. If I use the receiver's on screen display, it says 5.1 audio in and out also 1080p in and out, but all I get is a dark grey screen and no sound what so ever. It has normal standard HDMI inputs and works via a cable. I've tried several players with the transmitter, but all have the same problem!
So, annoyingly I still have to use 15m of HDMI cable to use my HTPC with 5.1. Most annoying as I have no space to get the machine and the receiver closer what ever I do.
Any thoughts on the subject would be most welcome.