Lizabeth

scarrygary2

I have the Magnovox Box. It is a total disappointment. Do the research on the web and this forum. With a little reading you will be able to make a better decision than I did by going to Walmart and buying the junk I got. Has a very very poor slow tuner and the remote is micro miniture junk. I have just purchased an Insignia from Best Buy off of eBay. Hoping it will be much better waiting for it to try. Scarrygary

Aaron62

Agree with Scarrygary on the magnavox. A lot of us here like the DTVPal Plus. See DTVPAL-PLUS review. It is a bit more expensive though at $65. The Insignia is a good second choice and more available at local stores too.

NYCLA*

They're all capable of getting the same channels, though some might have a more "sensitive" tuner. I like the DTV Pal Plus for it's comprehensive EPG, the best on the market. That was a very important consideration for me. However, I have big problem with it's inability to override or ignore an AFD flag (which before I bought it, I was unaware even of AFD's existence).

curt_dawg2000

I have a magnovox tuner, during the channel scan it almost stops on some channels but it will not pull them. Will other tuners on the market slove this problem and pull in even weak signals or are they all basicy the same.

O-O

Some of the converter boxes like the DTVPal Plus have better tuner chips than others, so you may actually receive better signals than what you are right now, but it's not a sure thing. I've heard of the Magnavox converters freezing during channel scans before on this forum and others. Not sure if there's a fix for them.

DTVuser2009

The magnavox box (their newer black model without the power button on side) is the best in my opinion. it picks up signals as weak as 18% without breaking up.

Dish's DTVPal Plus has one of the best EPGs, and a ok tuner, but the tuner requires a signal at or above 58% to keep a steady picture, and channels i watch a lot, like RTV and This-TV, don't work on that box since they're weaker than that. lately the Magnavox has reported they're at about 18% but it's watching them fine. even my new Samsung HDTV Tuner has trouble since it's tuner has the bar set rather high for a steady picture.

If you normally get good signals above 58% the Dish DTVPal should work for you. but i'd recommend, from my own experience from weak signals, that if your signals fluctuate at all (which boxes don't like, they usually peg red after enough fluctuations and i call that 'red zoning') or are less than ~50% the Apex and Magnavox work wonders. only the RCA DTA801 seems to suffer 'lock-ups' and software/ROM failures in my experience. it never picked up anything aside from PBS and was my first digital box. the worst IMO.

and do NOT use the batteries or the cables with push-on quick connects that normally come with the box. i'd recommend good higher quality gold-plated high quality coaxial cables and a brand name or good battery. the batteries that come for the remote are lousy and hardly work long, if at all. and the quick push on type cables cause a ton of signal fluctuations.

__________________
Who is General Failure, and why is he reading my hard disk?!

curt_dawg2000

Yea on the freezing during the scan is usually where the borderline stations are, reason I say that is one time the scan will not show the channel the next time it will pick up the channel. I have gotten a signal as low as 15 would not be clear, usually at 18 or above it is pretty much stayable. Unless you are getting a direction and a relfected signal then the picture will freeze even up to 60 percent. Cause one signal will override the other signal but once you lock on the direct signal the problem is sloved. I know that the zentith digtal box works a little different than the magovox because it will show a strong signal on it when the magonovx will show a weaker signal. I guess it depends on how it rates the signal really. I would like to see a box that could detech a signal down to the point of almost nothing, heres want Im talking bout on the old anglog the signal would be coming in but it would have to be so strong in order the convert box to read it. I had it on a channel that was on the dtv and still on anlong well once the anlong signal got clear to a point then the digtal signal started coming in but if it fell below that point on anlog then the dtv singal would not come in. The station was producing the same power on both anlog and dtv at the time. Would like to see the dtv be so senctive that even the weakest signal would come in. I think going foward that is something convert box companys should look at as well as the tv companys ones that perduce the best tuner has the most sales on basic tv.

Eureka

Artec model numbers ending in "LL" have very good tuners for marginal/weak signals. I would suggest that one, if you find one available. Otherwise, another coupon-eligible box that is excellent is the DTVPal Plus. Costs a bit more, but you're getting $40 off, and it has a very sensitive tuner and excellent guide.

Don't buy a crappy RCA or Magnavox, unless you're sure you're getting a newer model Mag. If not sure, avoid them.

O-O

You don't like the RCA DTA800B? I always thought they had pretty good tuners from what I've read of reviews.