Having never applied for a coupon before it was too late, this was the most affordable over-the-air dtv converter option on Amazon after I moved, bought a used 32-inch WEGA for my new apartment, and then realized that between netflix and hulu, I probably didn't need cable.
I have it hooked up to an RCA ANT1450 that is sitting on top of my TV that I picked up at wal-mart. I had been planning to get both the box and antenna at wal-mart so I could return them easily if I wasn't getting any channels, but they just simply didn't have any boxes left.
Pros:
1. Lowest priced box I could find anywhere. I have no idea when all the coupons would expire thus eliminating the artificial price floor on these, but I couldn't wait.
2. Great picture quality on my large-screen SD TV (when the signal quality is good)
3. Auto scan is reasonably quick. Takes about 1-2 minutes to do a complete re-scan detecting about 68 channel numbers (45 active channels/sub-channels among them) in the process (this obviously depends on your area and antenna)
4. Seems to work fine based on the number of channels it detected for me and the smooth video & audio for nearly half of them most of the time (admittedly I have no other boxes to compare with)
5. Clear, large fonts and menus that are well categorized and very easy to use
6. Has all the standard features; auto-scan, CC options, language options, CC size, program info, signal meter, aspect ratio switching, local-time auto-update, etc.
7. Compact, minimalist size and design
8. Has analog pass-through (I believe this is to hook up a DVD player to an old tv with just a coax input). Don't need this and haven't tried it.
9. The box shows whatever video & audio it can with the available signal without trying to 'pause and wait'. This is good, especially with the lack of any artifact/static noise. Audio is just broken when the signal is poor without any annoying clicking noises.
Cons:
1. Not a speed demon. Time between switching channel and picture appearing varies from 1-3 seconds, with most taking 1-2 seconds. For channels that have no program or too poor signal to display, the 'Poor signal' or 'No program' message can take between 3 to 12 seconds to appear, which can get pretty annoying
2. Supports quick switching between 4 video aspect modes - anamorphic, 16:9, 14:9 and zoom. This makes quick switching very easy and that's good, but I would expect to not be too difficult to detect the incoming signal resolution and choose the mode accordingly, without the user having to choose the correct mode each time you reach a channel that uses a different native mode from the one you chose last. At the very least, the last mode setting should be remembered at the channel level, i.e. if I switch to 16:9 while viewing channel 4 and then switch to anamorphic when viewing channel 11, the mode should go back to 16:9 when I return to channel 4. This doesn't happen.
3. The program guide is very basic, and I mean VERY basic. You cannot see what programs are on other channels without switching channels, the guide itself takes about 1-2 seconds to update after switching a channel, it displays a very limited number of characters from the program title and there is no PIP browsing.
4. Has controls for TV power & volume adjustment, which do not work for my TV. The set-top box volume adjustment works fine though. This just means that I still need to use my TV remote to turn my TV ON/OFF.
5. Remote pointing angles aren't very wide.
6. Included coax cable is very short (probably 2ft) with slip-on connectors (instead of the standard screw-type). Picked up a 6ft coax cable at wal-mart.
Overall: Recommended for anyone on a budget who wouldn't mind the slight delays in switching channels and the really basic program guide. Excellent value given the picture quality - can't get much better than this.
Note: 2 of the current customer images show a DTX9950, which is NOT what I received. My box has the same number as the Amazon product title - DSP7700P - and the same curved-front appearance as the Amazon product image.Get more detail about Digital Stream DSP7700P Digital TV Converter Box (Black).
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