[mazalo]

I just ordered a combo kit from American Satellites. It included 2 Samsung S75, Tripple LNB Dish to hit all the birds, and installation. It's my parent's XMas gift...been trying to get them off of cable for a long time!


Their main TV is a Mitsubishi in the main room w/ a built in HDTV tuner. I figure I can get them component cable and they will be able to receive HD signals through that set no problem.


Their bedroom has an old 42' Sony projection w/ just SVideo. Will this box downconvert the HD signals so that they can view it on a non HD TV or will they just not get any of the HD stations there?


Also, I've read that this set has a very fast menu system. The current cable system takes a second or two between all of the functions, and they complain about this all the time. Is it really that much faster than the competition?


Also, some of my friends have satellite and I really dig that guide that has the current program your watching as you surf for other shows. However, ALL of their systems take FOREVER to load that picture once you go into the guide....I can sometimes go through the whole guide before it loads. However most of them has Dish network.


I'm getting my parents on DTV for sports. It's also a test run for my upgrade to Satellite in the future! Anyone w/ the S75 have any comments on it? Reliability, Speed, the guide picture, etc.


Thanks in advance!

Maz

 

[Ken H]

Quote:

Originally posted by mazalo Will this box downconvert the HD signals so that they can view it on a non HD TV or will they just not get any of the HD stations there?

No, it will not get the DirecTV HDTV channels. The only Samsung stb that will receive HDTV, either from over-the-air, or from DirecTV, is the 160.

 

[Steve Mehs]

Quote:

However, ALL of their systems take FOREVER to load that picture once you go into the guide....I can sometimes go through the whole guide before it loads. However most of them has Dish network.

On Non PVRs the Dish Guide is slow to load and the PIP/Guide feature doesn't work that well. On PVRs the 9 day guide is cached on the hard drive, so surfing the guide while watchig a show is flawless.

 

[chs4]

Maz,


Ken answered your question re: HD so I'll skip that, but I can give you my impressions on the other points:

Quote:

Also, I've read that this set has a very fast menu system. The current cable system takes a second or two between all of the functions, and they complain about this all the time. Is it really that much faster than the competition?

The guide is quick, as fast if not faster than any other sat receiver I've owned. You can move around the guide pretty much as fast as you can hit buttons on the remote.

Quote:

Also, some of my friends have satellite and I really dig that guide that has the current program your watching as you surf for other shows. However, ALL of their systems take FOREVER to load that picture once you go into the guide....I can sometimes go through the whole guide before it loads. However most of them has Dish network.

The "picture in guide" comes up instantaneously. In fact, there doesn't even seem to be any pause/break in the audio so you miss nothing when jumping to the guide. As a former DISH sub I have to agree with Steve regarding their non-PVR receivers being VERY slow to load the "picture in guide". Not so with the S75. Another nice feature of the Samsung guide is that as you scroll through the channels on the left-hand side of the guide, the "picture in guide" changes. I use this quite a bit when I'm not sure what I want to watch...I can scroll through and watch/listen to a bit of the program without ever leaving the guide. I don't think this was possible with my old DISH receivers.

Quote:

I'm getting my parents on DTV for sports. It's also a test run for my upgrade to Satellite in the future! Anyone w/ the S75 have any comments on it? Reliability, Speed, the guide picture, etc.

I've been very happy thus far with it. There isn't much info out there on this receiver, but it uses basically the same software as the TS-160 and S70 units, so if you may find more information and get more opinions if you search for threads on these receivers.

 

[mazalo]

Thanks for the help guys. I just have a couple of more questions. I've never heard of the acronym PVR...what is that?


Also, you said this receiver can't get HD signals. If the TV has an HD tuner built in (not HD upgradeable), it will be able to get the HD signals right? I'm assuming you meant the old Sony that didn't have HD capability couldn't get the signals.

 

[jsalemi]

Quote:

Originally posted by mazalo Thanks for the help guys. I just have a couple of more questions. I've never heard of the acronym PVR...what is that?

Personal Video Recorder, such as a Tivo or Replay box.

Quote:

Also, you said this receiver can't get HD signals. If the TV has an HD tuner built in (not HD upgradeable), it will be able to get the HD signals right? I'm assuming you meant the old Sony that didn't have HD capability couldn't get the signals.

Yes, but only over-the-air (or OTA as you'll see it here) via an antenna -- not through the DirecTV box. You need a HD DirecTV box to get their HDTV channels.

 

[chs4]

Maz,


If you could let us know the manufacturer and model of the TV in question we may be able to give you more specific answers.


Thanks...

 

[mazalo]

Ok, got the model number on the Mitsubishi...WS55909. I called to verify with American Satellites and they confirmed that the HD tuner could only get antenna signals so I upgraded to the 160/75 package they had.


What a waste of money on that extra tuner in the Mits, they should have gotten the Pioneer Elite instead. It came down to the those two and the salesman said the Mits is better because of the tuner, what a crock.


Well I saw a bunch of stickies with 160 issues so off I go so see what to expect. Thanks much for pointing me in the right direction folks!


Maz

 

[chs4]

Maz,


FWIW, I purchased the 160/75 combo from American Satellite a couple of months ago and have been very happy, both with the receivers and American Satellite's service.


As you read through the various threads on the 160's issues note that earlier units seemed to have the most problems. I have one from the original batch (before the problems were identified) but I've been lucky as the only issue I've had to deal with is the OTA reception being messed up by local PSIP information, and this is *supposed* to be fixed shortly via a software download.


Not sure if it's possible, but if American Satellite can give you the serial number of the 160 prior to shipping you can call Samsung to see if it's one of the units that may have problems. Samsung's been pretty good about RMA'ing bad units and shipping replacements, but better to nip it in the bud if at all possible.


Good luck and if you have any questions after pouring through the 160 threads let us know.