Features question about basic digital tv converter boxes

I have bought one box so far. Its the Insignia one that Best Buy sells
for $59. Its ok, but my elderly mother has a hard time with the
channel and volume buttons on the remote. I can understand why because
they aren't raised up much at all from the surface of the remote and
are difficult to 'feel' when you grab the remote or use it in the
dark. Otherwise it works fine.

Before I use her other coupon I wanted to do some more research.
Specifically about the above mentioned remote buttons, but also the
amount of info that is shown on the screen when you use the Guide
feature. I have heard that the Radio Shack 'standard' model shows more
info than some other models. I know the Best Buy model only shows info
about the show your watching...and the next hours worth of shows on
that channel.

Anyone got any info?

Thanks

Brian

In article ,
brian wrote:
I have bought one box so far. Its the Insignia one that Best Buy sells
for $59. Its ok, but my elderly mother has a hard time with the
channel and volume buttons on the remote. I can understand why because
they aren't raised up much at all from the surface of the remote and
are difficult to 'feel' when you grab the remote or use it in the
dark. Otherwise it works fine.


The Digital Stream (Radio Shack) DTX9900 remote seems to have good sized
buttons on it for the main functions. Channel/Volume/7 menu navigation
buttons. (Menu/OK/left/right/up/down/Back) Good feel, but a little slow.
I like to use a remote one handed, but this one needs two hands and a
lot of looking back and forth from remote to screen menu when you're
navigating around the menu system. Most of that would be configuration,
but that also applies to the EPG.

The TV set controls are small and not that convenient, (up at the top).
There are two sets of volume controls, the TV ones may not work if the
remote hasn't been configured for your brand of TV. (It's one of those
"do it once and never remember how you did it" things. Save the
instruction sheet).

But there are some quirks

1. Changing channels with the number buttons is a timed operation.
Punch in the number too slow and you can't get to where you want to.
Not really a big deal unless you've got a zillion channels. There
are Channel up and down buttons and a Favorites (up) button. Favorites
are selected in a channel edit sub-menu from the configuration menu.
I just wish they had put the Favorites button in a better place.

2. Bringing up the Info (current program information) or EPG (the schedule)
disables the Mute button.

3. Some of the pop-up window toggle, some have to use the Menu button to
exit. (The instructions at the bottom of the window will tell you).
The Info and EPG toggle their window display, but the individual
program information sub-menu from the EPG menu requires you to use the
OK button to enter, and the Menu button to exit. (During this, the
Mute button is disabled. Poking around the EPG and having an obnoxious
commercial come on is pretty frustrating).

4. The Mute button interferes with the Closed Captioning. Several seconds
of the text don't get displayed.

Before I use her other coupon I wanted to do some more research.
Specifically about the above mentioned remote buttons, but also the
amount of info that is shown on the screen when you use the Guide
feature. I have heard that the Radio Shack 'standard' model shows more
info than some other models. I know the Best Buy model only shows info
about the show your watching...and the next hours worth of shows on
that channel.

The EPG is nice, although only as good as the information the station
inserts. On a good station, the EPG is two levels. The top is a one
line listing of program names up to a day in advance. Move, with the
navigation buttons, down to the listing and press OK, and you get a
short description of that episode of the program. But, sometimes the
details are there, and sometimes not.

It takes around 10 seconds of viewing on a channel before all the
information gets captured in the box. Even for sub-channels on the
same transmission.

Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

On May 17, 12:50 pm, (Mark Zenier) wrote:
In article ,

brian wrote:
I have bought one box so far. Its the Insignia one that Best Buy sells
for $59. Its ok, but my elderly mother has a hard time with the
channel and volume buttons on the remote. I can understand why because
they aren't raised up much at all from the surface of the remote and
are difficult to 'feel' when you grab the remote or use it in the
dark. Otherwise it works fine.

The Digital Stream (Radio Shack) DTX9900 remote seems to have good sized
buttons on it for the main functions. Channel/Volume/7 menu navigation
buttons. (Menu/OK/left/right/up/down/Back) Good feel, but a little slow.
I like to use a remote one handed, but this one needs two hands and a
lot of looking back and forth from remote to screen menu when you're
navigating around the menu system. Most of that would be configuration,
but that also applies to the EPG.

The TV set controls are small and not that convenient, (up at the top).
There are two sets of volume controls, the TV ones may not work if the
remote hasn't been configured for your brand of TV. (It's one of those
"do it once and never remember how you did it" things. Save the
instruction sheet).

But there are some quirks

1. Changing channels with the number buttons is a timed operation.
Punch in the number too slow and you can't get to where you want to.
Not really a big deal unless you've got a zillion channels. There
are Channel up and down buttons and a Favorites (up) button. Favorites
are selected in a channel edit sub-menu from the configuration menu.
I just wish they had put the Favorites button in a better place.

2. Bringing up the Info (current program information) or EPG (the schedule)
disables the Mute button.

3. Some of the pop-up window toggle, some have to use the Menu button to
exit. (The instructions at the bottom of the window will tell you).
The Info and EPG toggle their window display, but the individual
program information sub-menu from the EPG menu requires you to use the
OK button to enter, and the Menu button to exit. (During this, the
Mute button is disabled. Poking around the EPG and having an obnoxious
commercial come on is pretty frustrating).

4. The Mute button interferes with the Closed Captioning. Several seconds
of the text don't get displayed.

Before I use her other coupon I wanted to do some more research.
Specifically about the above mentioned remote buttons, but also the
amount of info that is shown on the screen when you use the Guide
feature. I have heard that the Radio Shack 'standard' model shows more
info than some other models. I know the Best Buy model only shows info
about the show your watching...and the next hours worth of shows on
that channel.

The EPG is nice, although only as good as the information the station
inserts. On a good station, the EPG is two levels. The top is a one
line listing of program names up to a day in advance. Move, with the
navigation buttons, down to the listing and press OK, and you get a
short description of that episode of the program. But, sometimes the
details are there, and sometimes not.

It takes around 10 seconds of viewing on a channel before all the
information gets captured in the box. Even for sub-channels on the
same transmission.

Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

Hey,

Thanks for all that great info. Since I posted, I looked at the
Circuit City box and it had the exact same remote as the Insignia I
got from Best Buy, so that ones out. I saw the remote for the radio
shack model (they were sold out but had one returned, broken). The
remote seemed a little confusing on that one too, without very large
channel and volume buttons. Better than the other one though.

That leaves Walmart, which always seems to have sold out of their
model (its only $10). I saw a photo of its remote on their web site
and it looks like its vol and chan buttons were pretty large. I'll
have to see it in person to decide.

EPG. I realize they can only reveal what the stations send out,
but I was curious if any of these standard boxes reveal more than the
other boxes. Like I said, the Best Buy model only showed the show you
were watching and the next upcoming show. I didn't notice that you
could scroll it forward in time, though I might have missed that. Will
check it next time I'm there.

Thanks

Brian

usethisone2007 wrote (in part):

EPG. I realize they can only reveal what the stations send out,
but I was curious if any of these standard boxes reveal more than the
other boxes. Like I said, the Best Buy model only showed the show you
were watching and the next upcoming show. I didn't notice that you
could scroll it forward in time, though I might have missed that. Will
check it next time I'm there.

Check out this thread on AVS Forum:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1022201

Del Mibbler