The Converter is a very nice effect and does just what you see on the video demo. The effect requires very little skill as the gimmick pretty much does all the work for you. There were a couple sleight-of-hand methods to accomplish this effect, however none of them that I've experimented with are as direct or look magical as does this effect.
Now, for the silly questions. Yes, the changed card can be examined. No, the deck cannot unless you want to cop off a gimmick which is as thin as can be for the method used.
As magical as it is, I think the effect would do really well as part of a routine (the revelation of a card, appearance of an Ace, etc.) Like WOW, it is a great trick, but better when not used as a standalone effect.
You might also check out Tim Star's version of pretty much the same effect. It is called Push Thru 2. Tim's approach uses just three cards, the middle one in between and perpendicular to the other two, rather than the entire pack. Tim's uses a different gimmick and takes a little more set-up.
You might also check out Kreis Magic's (creator of Converter,) Elevator. It seems to have been a sleeper because it is a killer effect. If you like Gaeton Bloom's Escalator you'll probably like Elevator even more because it is angle-free. Not quite the same effect, but equally as visual. I perform them both and recommend them highly for real world work.
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