Satelliteguys.us First Look, Digital Transition Conversion Boxes.

[steve615]

With all of the talk and comparisons about the digital converter boxes,which one seems to be the best to go with at this time?I have two of the coupons that I got for my parents use.They don't pay attention to all of the digital talk about the conversion coming and I want to get two good boxes for them.I will install and set everything up for them.Basically just wanting opinions about which box to go with.The coupons expire 5/29/08.

 

[Peter Parker]

Does anyone know if these do analog passthrough. I have a lot of low power stations in my area, They will not switch to digital next year and Dish does not carrier any of them right now. I have my Coupons in hand just waiting for the right box.

The Philco TB100HH( does. I understand that some others do as well.Not all of them though.

 

[Nevyn]

Side note: the Philco has to be turned on for APT to work.

 

[Ronald_Jeremy]

Does anyone know if these do analog passthrough. I have a lot of low power stations in my area, They will not switch to digital next year and Dish does not carrier any of them right now. I have my Coupons in hand just waiting for the right box.

If they aren't going to switch to digital next year then they will not be broadcasting and you won't be able to get them wheter you have analog pass-through or not.

 

[digiblur]

Some stations are not required to go digital I believe. But don't quote me....

I played with the Magnavox box at a friends house. He also has the older USDigital OTA box to compare it to. The only plus I could find with the Magnavox was the receiver sensitivity. It picked up a low power PBS off the backside of his CM4228 where the USDigital did not.

Other than that the Magnavox box is a piece of garbage. Cheap cheap cheap.... I love the signal meter that shows zero and slowly climbs up even though the signal on the other two TV's is blasting.

Do any of the other boxes have volume control? This one also did not have analog pass-through.

 

[gpat]

No, this box will not pass through analog channels. Just use a splitter on with one cable to the converter and another directly to the regular 75 ohm input to the TV. Use the rca cables to the composite input to the TV. The dish remote can be programmed to control the Video input. Just program the coaxial input of the tv tuner to receive only the channel to which the modulator is programmed.

there are several on the list of 'approved" boxes that will pass analog thru.

 

[hdtvtechno]

Some stations are not required to go digital I believe. But don't quote me....

Yes The Low Power independant owned stations are not required to go to digital
just yet

 

[riffjim4069]

I picked up a Zenith DDT900 from Radio Shack this afternoon. I haven't opened it up yet, but I stayed away from the Wal-Mart RCA DTA800 and will probably pickup an Insignia NS-DXA1 from Best Buy tomorrow. Hmmm...C/NET rated the RCA DTA800 head of the Zenith DDT900 and Insignia NS-DXA1 which, according to some posts, are the same box. Perhaps I'll save $10 and go with the RCA.

C/NET DTV Converter Box Review

 

[Joe K]

Thanx for the reviews.

The Insignia looks pretty good, but I have sworn off the Best Buy house brand products after getting screwed on one of their LCD TVs. It has a bad power supply or something.

Best Buy stinks.

I bought two Insignia LCD TV's from Best Buy. One came with a bad power supply. I called the Customer Service number that was in the box, and they sent me a new power supply, right away. I give them high marks for customer service. And the TV's are awesome--720p HD at a very low price.

 

[ronniejay]

I bought two Insignia LCD TV's from Best Buy. One came with a bad power supply. I called the Customer Service number that was in the box, and they sent me a new power supply, right away. I give them high marks for customer service. And the TV's are awesome--720p HD at a very low price.

What size lcd? Internal or external power supply?

 

[jayelem]

Just got my coupons. I wish I had known that they will expire in June before I ordered them. I now have to hope a decent unit with S-video output becomes available before my coupons expire.

Last night I went to FRY's Electronics ( Downers Grove ,IL ) and they have a NEW Converter box ...... Channel Master CM 7000 , this box has S-video Output but has a price tag of $ 79.99

I opened the box and took a peek at the manual to see if there were any other features that could justify the higher price , thought maybe a better EPG but I couldn't determine that from the manual.

FRY's had 3 different converter boxes , Zenith $ 59.99 , GE ( ? priced higher ) , and the Cm 7000 $79.99

I have the Zenith and I'm happy with the performance so far , was looking forward to other units with improved features but only have until the end of May to use my second coupon.

 

[jayelem]

Finding channels was just as quick as our first review and the unit found all 30 channels I am able to receive in the Chicago market minus WBBM. At the time of this writing WBBM is on VHF Low and is Un-receivable in many locations including mine. WBBM is scheduled to change to VHF-High channel 12 at 3.3KW in 2009. All included features are there, but the one downfall of the program guide was it does not populate guide data from other channels. You have to physically tune to the channel to get data. As promised it does have a TV guide but without populating guide data from other channels, this feature is useless

WBBM CBS Channel 2 .... I had the same problem which doesn't suprise anyone I know because that station has never come in very well.

My Zenith Converter box was hooked up in the basement to simple rabbit ears and picked up 29 channels with decent results , I'm closer to the city so I guess the results are typical .

I have used Antenna Web and Titan TV to see whats available , I get most of it .... maybe I'll try that Coat hanger antenna that's on You Tube that alot of people have talked about. YouTube - Coat Hanger HDTV Antenna!

My guide on the Zenith does populate for other stations but only for 2 programs which is displayed as NOW and NEXT which can be 2 half hour slots or longer time slots example 6:30- 9:00 Morning News / 9:00- 11:00 Regis and Kelly .

 

[Anole]

I initially only requested one, but I discovered that I could request a second one so I submitted that request via www.dtv2009.gov

Has this been actually confirmed by anyone?
I can see getting one coupon now, and then maybe a second several months down the road when better equipment hits the market.
edit: YES, I read more closely the PDF form on the government site.

I like the Echostar TR-40, and look forward to a review.
edit: which has now been provided by Scott (tyvm).
At least the remote looks familiar.
That's a big plus, as well as the week-long guide, undoubtedly in a familiar format.