Blaze Game Boy Advance TV Tuner

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
This TV tuner accessory for the Game Boy Advance came as a great surprise: it's a great idea that actually works. It's very simple to use, clipping securely on to the rear of the GBA using the cartridge port (the tuner has a cartridge slot, in which a game must be inserted for it to work); extend the aerial and switch on your console. Once you're fired up there's a wealth of options available to you via a combination of the GBA's buttons: auto-tune, contrast, brightness, PAL type etc. Auto-tuning takes around two minutes, and the picture quality is very impressive, only restricted by the limitations of the GBA screen. The sound quality is also clear. Quality can be affected, however, if you try to use it where reception is poor--among big buildings, in moving vehicles etc. The tuner can also be connected to DVD players and other consoles, which is useful if the other TV in your house is being watched. Battery life (4x AA batteries) is around 110 minutes; the unit comes with an AC adaptor and Blaze has also indicated that they intend to release a car adaptor. All in all, this is a gimmick that turns out to be quite functional and surprisingly effective. --Laurent S Hall

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2007-06-19 rating:
rather BIG mistake
I did buy this like 2 years ago, and back then i thought as many do, 'wow..i can watch Tv on my GBA..ANYWHERE!!'..so i got one, and the first thing you notice is the size of the thing..it is pretty big for a tv tuner, but..anyway, i set it up, and it was pretty rubbish..lol, the reception wasn't very good or clear, and it kind of does drain power abit, so it needs to be connected to a mains, but its ok for just like, if your desperate to watch Tv, but otherwise, you may aswel just stick to the normal Tv.

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review by: gworf date: 2005-12-19 rating:
Nice, but.....
NTSC version (Canadian Purchase)

Bought this unit on Dec 2005. Nice shiny box looked impressive already. Plugged GBA cart in tuner and away I went. Surprisingly and quickly found reception. Some of the channels look excellent, volume is also good. No frame skipping seems like it is 30fps, manual colour, brightness and contrast control, nice touch. I plugged in the mini cable adapter, great looking reception. Ran my mini dvd player, that too was exceptional. Not bad for 40 Canadian dollars.

After a hour of fiddling, here's what I noticed: Changing the channels via d-pad really sucks, need the use the select buttons and L/R to channel hop. Cable channels are not in the proper sequence I'd expect it to be. Can't be mobile (box indicates it's great on a bus, car, but manual says otherwise). Battery life is short to my standards. Used 2500mah rechargeable (NiMh). It last only 2 hrs. With 800mah rating on the unit I should get 3 hours of air time. I'll double check my batteries and try again later. Power adapter is HUGE, needs to go on a diet. They should have added a stand for GBASP users, now I have to create one. No display to indicate what channel you are watching unless you change the channel. No power switch. Im not sure if power is being used when GBA unplugged. One more peeve, I don't think it remembers the last channel watched after powering up device. I did not save the channels after capturing. On the to do list.

This is a great unit for the price, lots of minor problems but worth it in the long run, would recommend if you have an GBASP and cartridge already.

BTW my three star rating is good. I'm just very picky!

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review by: date: 2004-07-27 rating:
My thoughts on GBA tv tuner
When I first found out about this I thought I have to have one, how great would it be to watch tv anywhere? and it also has AV in so I could plug in my portable DVD player(which has no screen of its own) and watch films where ever I was.
So I purchased it at half price £30, Which I thought was a great price and could not wait to play with it. It all looked ok when I took it out of the box.
The problem with this it that it is awful at picking up a signal. We have have a good signal where I live but this hardly could pick much up. It was not watchable. I tried it in lots of places but did not get a good signal. When I could get a just about watchable picture any slight movement in direction would cause the signal to go all snowy. The signal and picture quality was great when I plugged our house aerial in, which you have the function of doing - don't really see the point as you buy this knowing that it is portable thats the whole point in it. I've already got a telly in my house. It also worked great when I plug the DVD player in but I did not buy it just for that. Batteries also do not last very long but I could deal with that I had alot of rechargeable batteries so that was fine
FINAL VERDICT>>>> the player is good it you want to plug a dvd player into it or have a very small tv in your bedroom when plugged into main aerial. It was not up to what i bought it for so sent it back and got refund.

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review by: date: 2004-06-15 rating:
Amazing Gadget
This is item comes in very nice shiny packaging. The instructions are short but manage to explain most aspects of the tuner use.

The Menus are a bit clunky to use but once you get used to them they aren't to bad.

Depending on Station and Reception the quality can be very good on the GBA. I recomend plugging it into a house areal if you have one for best quality.

Another option is to use the GBA screen to watch DVD's or play video games through the cables provided. The quality on the screen is surprisingly good. I didn't know that the GBA screen was capeable of such a good picture. When tuned in perfectly the quality is comparable to the small TFT screens available for the Gamecube.


review by: date: 2004-06-03 rating:
Great Gadget
The first point that I wish to make about this is that it is not a television. If you expect it to run your GameBoy like a television you are not likely to enjoy this product to its full potential. It is a gadget, and only a gadget. It is not a full blown TV, just a gadget, and it is a great one too. It is good fun to use and it is not difficult to set up. Lots of other people who wrote reviews complained about the length of the ariel and the poor quality of the picture, but that is all variable depending on the surroundings. I do not see a big ariel as a disadvantage. If you have the space then there's nothing wrong with a long ariel. Secondly, you have to be in good light to get a good picture, like any normal GameBoy game, or failing that, just buy a small torch to shine on the screen. They are usually quite long-lasting and it's much cheaper than paying a bill for it.
People also complained about the rate at which this thing ate up batteries. It is not necessary to use batteries at all! It comes with a mains adaptor and there's no reason for you not to use it. And if you want to use it in the car, there's a car adaptor! Seriously, this thing may have its faults but they're so trivial that they're hardly worth mentioning!
So before you turn down this offer and buy a Casio handheld TV for twice the price, just consider this: This thing is a gadget, not a TV, and if you want to go and buy a 14" portable, I'm very happy for you. But until you buy this you won't know what you're missing out on.

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