AutumnWave OnAir GT Review (Page 2 of 3)

Page 2 - A Closer Look - Hardware

The AutumnWave OnAir GT USB is a relatively pocket sized device that's portable enough to be carried around in regular laptop bags. Shaped somewhat like a car radar detector, red and blue LEDs are located at the front of the device behind the darkly tinted plastic window -- which sure falls stylistically within its naming scheme suffix!

The antenna extends to roughly 40cm in length. The remote IR receiver for use with the included remote control is also located behind the darkly tinted window in front of the device; to the left in the photo above.

Standard information on the AutumnWave OnAir GT USB HDTV tuner such as serial numbers are located at the bottom along with a few air vents for heat dissipation.

The OnAir GT is quite simple in terms of connections -- the back of the device has a total of three wired communication ports. From the left as shown in the image above is a cable coaxial in for cable or over-the-air connections with the included antenna; whether its digital or analog -- so there's no worries if you want to connect your OnAir GT to a home cable outlet.

A/V input connectors are supported via a dongle for S-Video and composite video/audio input; which allows convenient connection for miscellaneous devices such as game consoles, cable box, VCRs (If you still have one!) or pretty much anything in those formats. To the very right is a standard digital camera type USB connector for hooking up to your computer -- this includes video and audio, which is excellent. AutumnWave's OnAir GT also has its power supplied via USB due to relatively low power consumption, which definitely adds to the convenience of carrying it with a laptop.

The AutumnWave OnAir GT with cables connected.

Hardware wise, highlights all over the AutumnWave's product page is the LG TDVS-H062P tuner -- this fifth generation ATSC/NTSC tuner claims to sport much better over-the-air reception over previous generation products. AutumnWave claims that "the 5th generation LG tuner performs better than silicon-based 'stick' tuners". This digital and analog tuner completes the package with over-the-air digital HDTV as well as standard broadcasts. Both analog and digital cable TV is also supported; with unencrypted QAM64 and QAM256 signals supported for digital cable. The LG fifth generation vestigial side band tuner provides native support for Terrestrial Digital TV. As this is a HDTV tuner, support for up to 1920x1080 resolution is a given, baby.

The AutumnWave OnAir GT's remote has a relatively simple and standard button configuration. The power, number pad, channel and volume controls, 4-way navigation and control pad are located in the top section; with the record and play controls finding a home in the section below. Eight programmable buttons are implemented to the preference of the user. Basically, it mostly consists of the stuff you'd expect with a TV and video recorder -- which should nice and familiar to many!


Page Index
1. Introduction, Specifications, Bundle
2. A Closer Look - Hardware
3. Testing/Usage and Conclusion