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Best low-ball DirecTV/OTA HD box?

1207 Views 20 Replies 14 Participants Last post by ernie, May 10, 2002

Dean Roddey

Discussion Starter · May 9, 2002

A guy who lives here in the apartments came over and saw some HD on my FP system and left a convert. He's got a new HD ready 42" Mits now and wants to find the least expensive way into D*/OTA. I'm going to use my CA-1 and HDG-2000 to get him calibrated, so that he gets maximum quality for his troubles.

I've got a DTC-100 and haven't been watching this market for many months, so I'm completely out of the loop. He's looking to minimize expense and isn't a videophiler per se, so no bells and whistles are necessary, just core functionality.

What would fit that bill these days?

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1 - 20 of 21 Posts

Carl Brinkman

· #2 · May 9, 2002

I just bought a Panasonic STB and am pretty pleased with the D* performance but have not yet installed an OTA antenna. An added bonus is that the non HD NTSC programming is a huge jump up from what I had been getting from my cable. Though I don't know if its the D* or the STB that makes the difference. It sure makes watching sports a lot more fun.

The component out of the Panasonic is an advantage over the DTC100 for a Mits RPTV.

Dean Roddey

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 9, 2002

I was poking around and it doesn't look like any have dropped down into the $300 range, which was about where he was willing to spend, though he might make it up to the $500 range once he has time for the lust level to build up I guess.

Carl Brinkman

· #4 · May 9, 2002

When some of the next generation of boxes become available IN VOLUME you will see the current STBs drop down into the $300 range. But thats not going to happen probably until the merger issue gets settled and manufacturers see where to place their bets.

All we have now are press releases and specs of products that have slipped their original introduction dates. When they will actually appear is anyones guess.

Ken H

· #5 · May 9, 2002

A number of members have found 'open box' DTC-100's in the $200-$300 range. Try scouring the local big chain electronics stores in your area, like Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. Once you own it, Thomson (RCA) is very good about exchanges, if you should get a clinker.

jerndl

· #6 · May 9, 2002

Quote:

Originally posted by Carl Brinkman
The component out of the Panasonic is an advantage over the DTC100 for a Mits RPTV.

Not really. The Mits. TVs have an RGBHV input so all that is needed to connect to the DTC100 is a VGA breakout cable with 5 RCA ends which is about the same price as a set of component video cables. For other TV brands that don't have an RGB input then you would need to spend approx. $100 for a transcoder.

Jay

PTS

· #7 · May 9, 2002

Well Dean, your lucky. In Calif, there is a video store called VideoOnly that sells the Toshiba 3000 for $449. Try them!

Benji

· #8 · May 9, 2002

Dean: Definately stick with the Hughes/Mits/Toshiba/Philips line to go with a Mits display. Especially now that Hughes seems to have worked the bugs out of the Advanced Program Guide and the Hughes line of receivers are working flawlessly. With Hughes name on the box, it retails for $499. This is in my opinion the best STB on the market.

JoeCraw

· #9 · May 9, 2002

Quote:

Originally posted by jerndl
Not really. The Mits. TVs have an RGBHV input......

Jay,

That was only true for the older Mits(1st Gen and maybe 2nd). The newer ones have standard component connections.

Joe

Dub Egbert

· #10 · May 9, 2002

Quote:

Originally posted by JoeCraw

Jay,

That was only true for the older Mits(1st Gen and maybe 2nd). The newer ones have standard component connections.

Joe

I have a month old WS73909 Mits and it has both RGBHV and component.

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jerndl

· #11 · May 9, 2002

Quote:

Originally posted by JoeCraw
Jay,

That was only true for the older Mits(1st Gen and maybe 2nd). The newer ones have standard component connections.

Sorry to disagree, but you are incorrect as well. I have a 2001 model Mits. model 55857 with an RGBHV input. All current year and last year model (and I think the year before that also) Mits. RPTVs have a single DTV (1080i) input with 5 RCA jacks. It can be configured as component (YPrPb) or RGBHV via the setup menu. Here is a pdf file with the specs and a diagram of the inputs. You can zoom in on the "High Resolution Input" panel to see the details.

Jay

Dean Roddey

Discussion Starter · #12 · May 10, 2002

Thanks, I'll pass this info on to him. He's already a subscriber and has an eliptical dish already (he was doing DirecPC before), so he's almost already there anyway.

jdiehl

· #13 · May 10, 2002

65857 - 2001 model here.

It has 5 RCA jacks to accept either input type and I've run my DTC-100 both ways.

I had purchased a breakout cable originally, only cost $35 (copperbox.com).

However, you can't use a red push attenuator with the RGB connection, so I ended up finding a transcoder on Ebay for $40 and sold my breakout cable.

As previously mentioned, you can find open box or used DTC-100's out there for $200-300. Figure another $40 for either a transcoder or breakout cable....which you'd spend on component cables anyway with any other receiver.

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Dean Roddey

Discussion Starter · #14 · May 10, 2002

The latest Mits sets finally provided a software means to deal with the red push, right?

CaspianM

· #15 · May 10, 2002

My undestanding is that the software is provided by some individuals. Another words the service menu is hacked. Check out the www.***************.com on this.

southwind

· #16 · May 10, 2002

I bought a hughes e86 last weekend from the good guys for 499.00 and i had a 10%off coupon so i paid 449.00 plus tax.

Steve13

· #17 · May 10, 2002

Quote:

Originally posted by Carl Brinkman
I just bought a Panasonic STB and am pretty pleased with the D* performance but have not yet installed an OTA antenna. An added bonus is that the non HD NTSC programming is a huge jump up from what I had been getting from my cable. Though I don't know if its the D* or the STB that makes the difference. It sure makes watching sports a lot more fun.

The component out of the Panasonic is an advantage over the DTC100 for a Mits RPTV.

The reason the Panny improves your NTSC program is that it has a pretty good built in scaler. If you've set it to upconvert to 1080i or 720P, it does a resonably good job of taking your NTSC signal and upconverting it to one of those resolutions.

In my case, that upconverting is one of that STB's best features and makes NTSC stuff good enough to enjoy on my front projector.

ugyvel

· #18 · May 10, 2002

Quote:

Originally posted by Carl Brinkman
I just bought a Panasonic STB and am pretty pleased with the D* performance but have not yet installed an OTA antenna. An added bonus is that the non HD NTSC programming is a huge jump up from what I had been getting from my cable. Though I don't know if its the D* or the STB that makes the difference. It sure makes watching sports a lot more fun.

The component out of the Panasonic is an advantage over the DTC100 for a Mits RPTV.

I've not seen the Panasonic anywhere on line or in the stores. Anyone have a link to an online retailer or reviews of it? Thanks

ugyvel

· #19 · May 10, 2002

Disregard prior post, guess I just didn't look hard enough. $489 at Orbitsat, anyone ever dealt with them?

ugyvel

· #20 · May 10, 2002

Quote:

Originally posted by Steve13

The reason the Panny improves your NTSC program is that it has a pretty good built in scaler. If you've set it to upconvert to 1080i or 720P, it does a resonably good job of taking your NTSC signal and upconverting it to one of those resolutions.

In my case, that upconverting is one of that STB's best features and makes NTSC stuff good enough to enjoy on my front projector.

The features summary for the Panasonic states that all standard programming is "delivered" at 480i, implying that it is not upconverted. I didn't realize SD could be upconverted like that. What am I missing? (i'm still learning the HDTV and format basics, as you can tell). If in fact the Panny does this, is this unique to Panasonic? If so, this would seem to be a very fine and desirable feature making the purchase of this a no brainer. ????

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