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I Highly recommend the Channel Master CM-7000 Tv Converter Box! I checked out the Consumer Reports ratings, as well as the on-line rating of products, before making my selection. This product rated Top 1 & 2 picks. It is a Great choice!! It arrived Complete with instructions & product information, it is easy to connect, has an easy to follow menu, & the remote control works very well from across the room. I purchased an RCA indoor antenna that had a 50 mile reception range from an electronic dept. of a local retail store & I am Very satisfied with the picture quality & audio reception I am getting on my analog TV. I Highly recommend this product!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Because *every* one of these units will fail, and it's by no means certain they can always be resurrected. That's what happens when you save money with Chinese capacitors. The gift that keeps giving. So be ready to replace all of them. If you're very lucky, you might not be required to changeout the surface mount components, only the conventional caps. But no guarantees - so the possibility exists that this unit will fail on you over and over again. Your bottom line depends on how much punishment you can take, and how long you're willing to keep your old hardware running. They work well when they work. Google "Wiki" "Capacitor plague"
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I would only recommend these to someone who wants an electronics repair project when it stops working--eventually it's likely to stop working. I've owned and helped clients install and use about 10 - 20 of these Channel Master Digital-to-Analog boxes. At first I was pretty happy, and selected these for myself and clients due to seemingly-obvious pluses: higher-quality S-Video output (compared to Composite RCA video)--which few converter boxes offered--as well as some other niceties, like the seemingly better build-quality of the chasis, with a lot of it being sturdy and metal. But these units have been very disappointing. The primary issue is about 2/3 of these I've worked with stop working after some amount of time. The units indicate a problem with the LED on the front staying Red. The LED is Green when the unit is on and working, and the LED is Yellow when the unit is in standby mode (off). (Important note, so you aren't scared when you plug one in the first time: it's common to get a Red LED right after giving power to the unit by plugging it in, but after a bit the Red turns to Yellow or Green and it starts working. But with the problem I'm describing, it stays RED forever, indicating it needs to be repaired. By the way, there's a youtube video of someone working on one of these units.) There are other engineering flaws, both with the mechanical/electrical design, and of course, with the proprietary software. I'll give you the most glaring example of poor engineering: the front buttons are NOT de-bounced (look up what that means if you don't know). So when you press one of the buttons, your button press might register as 0 - 3 presses. Very annoying, as you are often failing to get the desired response, or over-shooting the channel you wanted, and then you need several button presses to accomplish what should take a single press. Using the remote is a lot better, but it (and the software) is also convoluted in several ways. The final thing I'll mention is, for no apparent reason, some unpredictable combinations of events, the channel you're on, buttons pressed (on the remote or front panel) will sometimes lock it up, shutting it down and turning the LED on the front solid Red. Usually you can use a power button to get it to restart, and if not, you can try unplugging it and waiting a few seconds before plugging it in again. I still use the one's that work, but there's a part of me that's on edge, worried the next time I go to rely on it, the unit will be dead. With better engineering, this could have been the best ATSC converter box. Embarrassing, Channel Master. Just embarrassing! Read full review
Verified purchase: No
I've tested several brands of the non-DVR digital to analog converter (DAC) units including, those by Magnavox and RCA. II have it working in conjunction with a VCR to record shows I want to watch later. My experience is using this to get a two local stations and about 4 and sometimes 5 stations up to 90 miles away using an 8-bay bow-tie antenna with a mast mounted signal amplifier. Here are a list of the features I like: * The CM-7000 tends to get channels the other DACs could not, including the one in my new Sony flat-screen TV. * It has the best menu features with show descriptions for upcoming shows. * It allows updates to the channel scan (a supplemental scan) to allow adding channels depending on antenna direction. (This is important for those with rotators on their antennas.) Here are the limitations of the CM-7000: * It cannot control a external device for recording of shows nor can it be programmed to tune to a new channel at a future date/time. For my recording I must pre-tune the DAC to the channel that I want to record. * This is the big problem: These DACs have an issue with the capacitors on the logic board overheating and disabling the tuner. There are people who will sell the kits of the capacitors you need to replace the old ones but doing so is not for someone who does not have experience with soldering on printed circuit boards and good equipment. I've had two of these CM-7000 need the capacitors replaced but only one was I able to fix. * The newer Channel Master DVR+ is comparable but because it has two independent tuners, with the signal strength to each about 3dB less than the combined input, it cannot get the weaker stations. Its menu structure is not as nice as the CM-7000. Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Older S video unit (no hdmi). Stronger than most antenna receiver, great picture even with rca jacks. Lasts longer than most as well. Great and useful design. Only bad point is you have to turn to the channel to view the guide for that channel.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
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