Go to Windows 7 Insider Guide
- Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 48 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
10 out of 10 people found this review helpful
2.5 stars
"Misinformation in previous post"
Pros: Ordering directly from Dish Network was easy
Cons: They charge sales tax on your purchase and all sales are final
Summary: I just ordered mine, so I can't really rate it as a product yet. However, I can comment on Dish Network as a retailer for this product.
I don't know how the previous consumer reached those conclusions but they don't apply to the DVVPal. One is not charged for receiving local broadcasts via DTVPal, nor does one need to subscribe to Dish network to order it from them. I am not a subscriber, and they took my order.
Since then I found 3 other online sources. One of which is way more expensive, but two others would be less expensive. (They charge the same price for the box, but there is no tax and shipping is less. I can't remember about return policies. If you can wait to order, it may show up in more stores.Updated
I received my DTVPal 6 days after placing my order with Dish Network.
The picture is as very clean and sharp for analog, with no artifacts that I could see. I get most of the available local digital channels clearly. Two break up if the weather changes, and there are a couple of others that are either fairly low-powered or too far away to tune in using unamplified rabbit ears, but they all have some problems as analog stations too.
The remote can control the functions of the DTVPal and adjust the volume, but can't control the TV itself. To get a sub-channel directly, say 7-2, one presses 00702.
I bought this converter box largely because it offered a better program guide than other CECB's and a programmable timer. The program guide is very good and searchable by title, category, or both. One can add an event to the timer by selecting a program in the guide. Timer events can also be set as one would for a VCR (for between 1 minute and 999 minutes). There are 5 timer events available. The timer comes on a couple of minutes ahead of time with a countdown. Unfortunately, the timer doesn't work quite the way I'd like it to. It does not turn off the DTVPal as one would expect. Instead, it stays on until the inactivity monitor turns it off. The length of time required for the inactivity monitor to activate can be adjusted though.
There are a good number of options available for displaying digital closed captions, but no way to change where they appear on the screen as some digital TV's permit.
One final note: At first glance, the invoice for the DTVPal, which was mailed separately, looked like a bill for a Dish Network subscrption, but on closer examination, it wasn't.
- 1 reply to this review
-
Thanks for commenting on how to access digital channels directly on the remote. I wanted to know but did not feel like reading the manual.
