Access HD boxes???

The Rite Aid stores in the Portland Oregon area have the Access HD 1010D models priced about $60. These do not appear to be selling in any quantity.

The AcessHD boxes are like the Tivax.
They also have a advertisement for a new antenna when your signal level drops.

Try looking for locations and prises using the link in my signature EPG/Menu Styles & Prices
I have not kept anything current except for the DTVPal but at least it is a start.

You can also try contacting other vendors both locally and online doing a NTIA Vendor Search

In the Chicagoland area, Grant's TV & Appliances are selling the ACCESS HD DTA-1010-D box. I stopped in to see what brand/model box they had after seeing them on the approved list of retailers. The person I spoke with said they had none in stock and they can't keep them on the shelves at the different store locations.

Got one today. $40 before coupon at Rite-Aid. Returned it two hours later. Perhaps it's my location which is less than perfect. The Zenith (I have one) performs a lot lot better in comparison.

Russell_, which model did Rite Aid have?

I bought an AccessHD 1080D a couple of weeks ago and find the picture is not as sharp as my other box, an Artec T3A Pro. (The 1010D had very good reviews but it's not clear how similar the 1080D is...).

In the NYC area, Rite-Aid is advertising the AccessHD for $40 this week only. When I checked out the store on my block, they only had the AccessHD 1050D model.

http://www.compusa.com/applications/...C6zgPMsr.SC2pg isn't giving your CECB a model number of '1080' and putting 'HD' on the device a little disingenuous?

Access boxes......AVOID THEM!!!!......poor sensitivity!......poorer picture quality!!......poorest aspect ratio choices!!......
ditto for Tivax!!!!

The DTA1020.

A local chain, ABC Warehouse, carries them at $40. I asked (on the phone) how it differed from their other brand (Philco) and was told "it doesn't pick up as many stations."

Kiss of death.

I also picked up on the Rite Aid deal this week and got the Access HD DTA-1020-D for free for use in the garage and as a backup.

Some notes so far:

It is powered by 6.5 vdc wal-wart.
It has a 12 hour EPG.
It allows for additional channel scan without having to do a full scan.
It does not have an RS-232 port in the back.
It does not have a Smart Antenna interface.

Picture quality looks fine on the RF output, about the same as the Sansonic 300A I have out there too. The TV in the garage only has 300 ohm inputs, heh, so it also goes thru a balun. Sensitivity looks to be a little less than the Sansonic 300A, but I need to test it some more over a longer period of time. The aspect ratio choices are fine for that TV.
From what I understand, the Access HD CECBs with the -U codes have a Universal remote included. The ones with the -D codes have a dedicated remote included.


Ill try to take the cover off and post some pictures of it in the next few days.



I agree. I use a Zenith 901 in the house and its very good. But I like the signal meters on the Sansonic and the longer EPG on the Access. Its a shame I cant have it all, heh.

fyi for u all >>

i noticed today that TIGER (who also owns COMPUSA.com now) has the AccessHD 1080D box now....$40...they have a few local stores in il and fl....and maybe a few other states too ..theres a link to the owners manual here too....it looks like a decent box on paper >>>>

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4164499&sku=A194-1036

FWIW, the 1080D uses a 5.5v power supply, not 6.5v like the 1020D. A spec sheet I found also claims that it uses a silicon tuner. The board inside says "DTA1050V8.0(A)" on it. If I can I'll get a photo of it in the next couple of days.

My problems with the 1080D is that the picture is not as sharp as the Artec T3A I also have, as I mentioned before, plus the audio level is much lower (even when set at max in the 1080D). Still, for free...

please tell us a little more about your impressions of other of the AccessHD 1080D's properties....'general use' kind of stuff like menu structures, button layout of the remote, ease of use, epg, etc etc....the owners manual makes it look like a decent box, on paper at least....

would u get another one? or recommend one to a friend?

Pictures of the Access 1020-D as promised:

The Access unit is on top, the Sansonic 300A is below :



The remotes:



And the pictures of the board inside. It uses the Thomson tuner :



Some other notes:
You can turn it on and change channels without the remote.
In the main menu, there is an edit channel option.
The heatsink gets very hot, a good 70C per the finger test. It really could use a fan. On the plus side, it will make a nice hand warmer in the colder months.
The covers are plastic.

nice job....thanks for the pix and info!

It's generally reasonable to use. You can see what the EPG looks like in this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0#post13715310, and it's got a lot of information in the program guide popup. There's a photo of the remote a couple of posts above (all of the AccessHD boxes use the same remote). It looks like the 1020 but in black and with larger buttons. It does have a silicon tuner as per the specs.

One note - the user manual say that the insufficient (or no) signal popups need to be dismissed by pressing OK on the remote, but it looks like they in fact go away by themselves. I'm not sure if that's true on earlier models - I'd think it would be a big annoyance if they didn't.

I would get another Artec T3AP instead of this box only because of the picture quality I see, but it's a pretty good box otherwise.

Here's a photo of the board; the other attachments show the bottom of the board, and the board in the open case.

On my 1020-D, it goes away by itself after a while or if you change the channel.

thanks for all the info, afecu.....nice job!

Does it output HD? I thought coupon eligible boxes couldn't do that.

Of course not.


You are correct.

Can you post any markings from the silicon tuner?

It's pretty hard to see the chips under the shield, but I'll try when I have a chance. What do you expect the tuner chip to look like (I think there's more than one chip under there)?

Possibly "MT2131."

question for anyone with an AccessHD DTA-1080D box >

lets say u want to go to channel 7 ....can u just simply enter '7' on the remote and wait a couple of seconds for it to go to ch 7 automatically?...

or does it force u to enter something like '000700' or some other long string of numbers/dashes/whatever ....plus maybe even the OK/ENTER button?

On my Access 1020-D, I just have to enter 7. I cant imagine the 1080-D would be any different in that respect.

I received my 1080-D this morning and did a quick setup to see how it compares to my APEX DT502 and Sunkey SK-801ATSC. It has proven not to be any better than a Samsung "Can" tuner.

Here is another remote that doesn't use the "Standard" of having the directional arrows control the Channels and Volume, when in normal viewing configuration. I do like the information screen supplying the screen pixel size and frequency. I've not seen this on any other CECB.

I'll supply more when I do a thorough evaluation.

Model #: DTA1080D Date Code: 1008 S/N: 1008800xxxxx

I'm finding this unit is needing a rescan every time I turn it off. It also is very low in volume and the Volume Bar only goes to 63. There is only two screen size settings "Normal" and "Zoom." What do other users of this box get?

I thought all CECB's were supposed to have an EPG? I bought this CECB based on the information on WIKI showing that it had a 10-hour guide. This box only has an "Information" button which gives Channel/Time/Current Show Title information.

On a positive note, I don't think I've ever seen a CECB that can adjust CC options:

Size
Font
Text Color
Text Opacity
Background Color
Background Opacity
Edge Effect
Edge Color

those captioning options look a lot like the Artec T3AP PRO that i just got....same firmware maybe? theres a whole bunch of other cc options too....things like 'text 1 thru 5' and 'cc 1 thru 5'?...something like that....all that and yet i couldnt find a way to move the text to another part of the screen....that would be helpful...and fyi> the ARTEC doesnt rescan, even after a power failure, and its epg is NOW/NEXT only...