Apex DT502

Pros: Was easy to hook up. The menu is easy to navigate. Scanning for channels is simple and takes a short time. the ZOOM feature will make the picture bigger but may cut off outside parts of it.

Cons: It powers itself off for no apparent reason, bad if you set a VCR to tape via it. Can't ADD a channel that may be weak/ not there all the time. Their on screen guide on my 20" TV has small print - hard to read across the room. NO on unit controls.

Summary: This was the only one BEST BUY carried at the time. I had a day or 2 to use my $40 off coupon and this was it. It did get OK ratings in the reviews I read up to then so I bought it. I did not hook it up nor scan for channels till June 12th. I do rescan from time to time but there's no real changes. Our channel 7 was there on the 13th but the signal may be too weak to be scanned in and set. There is no way of adding it without doing a complete scan. And this unit does power itself off for some reason. I don't know if one of my other remotes is affecting it or if it's suppose to do that or if there's a defect- I'm still checking. There is a 'sleep' setting. I have it set to max 5 hrs. This is bad if I have a VCR set to record via this box and I go out for more than 5 hrs.It has NO on unit controls- ie power off/on; channel up/down
All in all, OK for the price if you got a coupon. Check it out right away and if it's flakey like mine- take it back before it's too late and get something else.

Updated on Jul 1, 2010

After a year of mediorce service my Apex DT 502 died! It failed to turn ON the other day. Repeated tries of the power button on the remote or front panel did turn it to green and on. Then the only display I got was an all BLUE screen. No setup, no 'weak signal', no sound, nothing but blue. Prior to this, it did have trouble turning on and it would pixelate the display or affect the sound. Turning it off then on would clear it to normal. I should have listened to the reviews at the time and bought anything else- but this was on sale and I had a $40 off coupon I had to use soon. If you are considering buying a DT 502- do your homework. I'm sure the warranty ran out after 90 days and for a good reason. (PS sorry if there's 2 reviews- a mis-keystroke wiped out what I had typed and I had to do it over- I hope I got the same message across)