Upscaler questions and reccomendations

[lotusoftheleaf]

I've been looking into buying an upscaler as a way to not only hook up all my consoles to my HDTV but to try to get a more decent looking picture from the older ones. The two I've seen talked about most here and other sites are the DVDO Edge and the Micomsoft XRGB. Can anyone tell me which of these is the better choice? I tried looking up some information on both of them but I don't understand much of the technical jargon so I'm not really sure what makes the two different other than the fact the Edge seems to be a little less expensive.

[Azarkhel]

Just grab the XRGB Mini. It's still being updated/supported by it's maker and has nicer scaling. The DVDO units are prone to ringing, which admittedly can be masked with a scanline generator. Hiowever that leads me to another point the XRGB has over the DVDO, the XRGB has a scanline filter built in which can be tweaked from the on screen menus, the DVDO would require the additional purchase of a product like the SLG 3000.

[lotusoftheleaf]

With the XRGB Mini being made in Japan, is there anything special I would need to be able to use it in the States?

[Azarkhel]

For starters you'll need a compatible US power supply or an adapter of some kind. Both much easier in the US than for me in Australia.

You might need some other things depending on how you intend on hooking up your consoles. RGB, SVideo, Composite etc.

[wiggy]

Japanese AC adapters work just fine here without any need for a step down or anything like that

[lumberjoof]

Well, to get scanlines from an Edge, you would need an HD Fury and a scanline generator. The HD Fury is $100, I think. The SLG-3000 is something like $70, although I would recomend the T-SLG  as it is cheaper and has more functionality. Scanlines, for me, are the biggest reason to get a scaler, so the Edge would be more expensive in the long run.

Aside from this, XRGB mini does a much better job at scaling the low resolutions that old gaming systems output. I do actually own both of these scalers and I would recommend the mini over the Edge.

[lotusoftheleaf]

This might be a dumb question, but what's the difference between the XRGB Mini and an A/V receiver? I'm asking because I talked to a co-worker of mine and he suggested just going to a pawn shop and getting a cheap A/V receiver because it'd do about the same thing.

[JDavis]

Some A/V receivers have upscaling capabilities, but they'll introduce terrible delays.

[lotusoftheleaf]

Ah, okay, the XRGB Mini is what I'm going with then. Buying it from the manufacture's site, I can get it and the D-terminal to component adapter I'll need for about the same as an A/V receiver will probably cost me anyway. Looks like I know what I'm getting with my next paycheck, then.

Thanks to everyone who helped!