TerryA Posted August 31, 2003 Posted August 31, 2003 Hi again, We've now added some more reviews to our site, linked from the products page at http://itavservices.com/products.html These reviews are based on our individual experiences with the units involved in an installation environment, rather than just an assessment on the box as a product. We'll be adding more to the site as we install the various models. The individual reviews are as follows: Thomson DTI352TH - http://itavservices.com/dti352thrvw.html DGTEC DH2000a - http://itavservices.com/dgtc2000arvw.html Nextwave TDR3100 - http://itavservices.com/nxtwv3100rvw.html Teac DVB300 - http://itavservices.com/teacdvb300rvw.html
Boze4Ever Posted August 31, 2003 Posted August 31, 2003 Appreciate this type of info TerryA, it is a real help for all us Newbies, when it comes to evaluating STB's
frombrosis Posted September 1, 2003 Posted September 1, 2003 Yes, this is what I wanted. Thanks Terry for the reviews, it has really given me a better idea of which STB to get.
bizzibee Posted September 1, 2003 Posted September 1, 2003 Terry, Thanks for doing the STB review & for creating a Web pages with those reviews. Very much appreciated!!!!! Mark
TerryA Posted September 1, 2003 Author Posted September 1, 2003 Hi again, Added another set top box review - the DGTEC 5000i at http://itavservices.com/dgtc5000irvw.html - hope these reviews are helping people make decisions
AlexF Posted September 1, 2003 Posted September 1, 2003 These reviews should be taken with a grain of salt. Stating "We've not seen a great difference between component & composite video output, which is surprising & the signal holding has not been impressive at times" in DG2000A reviews shows the duperficiality of that these reviews. (Anyone who knows anything should know that there should be a great difference between these types of video ouput and has nothing to do with signal reception.)
delbz Posted September 2, 2003 Posted September 2, 2003 I can see an apparent conflict of interest when the STB's are being sold by the reviewer. How critical can you be when you are selling them?
TerryA Posted September 2, 2003 Author Posted September 2, 2003 Hi again, I'm perfectly happy to be criticised, but whether or not you believe me or not is of no consequence. We don't care if you buy a box from us or not - in fact we have yet to sell any boxes through our website at all - you'll notice I posted the individual review links, which don't take you to our products page. It's be nice to sell loads of boxes to happy clients, but that's not the point of the reviews. Taken in context, the comments about composite & component on the 2000a review are separated from the signal reception issues - if you have taken the time to look at the DGTEC 2000a composite & component outputs on a decent screen, there is a difference, but it isn't as big as it should be, whereas there IS a big difference on the 5000i. We've seen many many units of the 2000a exhibit this 'problem'. The 2000a, as I mentioned has a fabulous output in RGB, but I stand by my comments on the video output. I also stand by the reviews as they are - we install these on a daily basis - see the installation reports in the NSW Central Coast forums. Our experiences are just as they are written & if you're happy enough, cool, if not, then that's the way it is. We will never post a review of a product we haven't used & installed, because I don't feel that's a fair assessment of any product. In any case, that's the last comment I will make on this - I will continue to post review links as they are added when we see new units - if you like the content, great, if not, then click on.
CoNFooZeD Posted September 3, 2003 Posted September 3, 2003 Thanks for the post Terry - I found your reviews very useful. I think it is up to the readers to decide the level of bias or super-duperficiality and make their own decisions.
gclark8 Posted September 3, 2003 Posted September 3, 2003 Keep up the good work, Terry. Your cheque is in the mail
TerryA Posted September 7, 2003 Author Posted September 7, 2003 Hi again, As mentioned in the SD forum, we've just put up a review of the Thosmon DTI500AU on our site, at: http://itavservices.com/dti500aurvw.html As I noted in the other forum, yes we do sell them, but we can supply just about any brand you can think of - the reviews are based on our testing & installation experiences, not from a retail perspective. It'd be great if we could get some feedback on whether the issues we mention in the reviews are the kind of thing that you experience with the set top boxes you are buying, whether by email to us, or by a post to this forum somewhere. We're trying to make the reviews relatively in-depth, but not overly technical, as most of the tech-type people will already have done their homework on the unit they're interested in & want to cover the things people need to know about.
laurie Posted September 7, 2003 Posted September 7, 2003 I appreciate the info TerryA posts on their site but the only way people feel a review is independant is for say Choice Magazine to do the test! cheers laurie
TerryA Posted September 7, 2003 Author Posted September 7, 2003 I appreciate the info TerryA posts on their site but the only way people feel a review is independant is for say Choice Magazine to do the test!cheers laurie Hi again, Fair point - all we can do is post relevant info & you guys can make your minds up on the information we put out there.
Steve Mercer Posted September 7, 2003 Posted September 7, 2003 I've read this forum on and off for two years and the reviews, while obviously of a qualitiative nature only, seem pretty accurate based on the comments posted on this forum from time to time. I've also been reading some more supposed 'impartial' reviews in sound and vision type magazine, but have not found these to be very useful. The reviewers still tend to be a bit dismissive of DTV and/or do not have a technical understanding sufficient to give much confidence in their comments. I think a review based on long term practical experience has its uses for a consumer. More technical reviews based on a few days testing are also useful, but may be confined to testing with just one TV, rather than a variety of display devices.
Alias1503559532 Posted September 9, 2003 Posted September 9, 2003 I found the reviews useful as well, so thanks for them. One thing I would add to the 5000i review is the abilty to switch input res (not sure if thats the right term) ie from 576p, 720p, 1080i from the remote, rather than having to flick a switch on the back of the box with the 2000 model. Also a question, is there any advantage in using the AUX input from a picture quality point of view? does it upscale and will it be noticeable? thanks
TerryA Posted September 9, 2003 Author Posted September 9, 2003 I found the reviews useful as well, so thanks for them. One thing I would add to the 5000i review is the abilty to switch input res (not sure if thats the right term) ie from 576p, 720p, 1080i from the remote, rather than having to flick a switch on the back of the box with the 2000 model. Also a question, is there any advantage in using the AUX input from a picture quality point of view? does it upscale and will it be noticeable? thanks Hi again, I didn't add the soft switch mode for screen res to the review the simple reason that on the 2000a model, you physically need to get up & do it, so it needs special mention, while the 5000i lets you do it from your chair - good point though, I might add that in the next day or so. We didn't test the aux feature heavily, other than to note that it worked & it's existence - I would need to spend more time with that unit to assess any benefit in picture quality - what I do like is that you can remove an item such as a VCR from a port-filled TV & use the aux feature. A lot of our clients have both in & out ports filled on their VCR with, say, a Foxtel box, so to add a STB into the chain would mean removing one of those other than having that aux feature.
Bazza1503559531 Posted September 9, 2003 Posted September 9, 2003 Also a question, is there any advantage in using the AUX input from a picture quality point of view? does it upscale and will it be noticeable? This is a question I too am extremely interested in knowing. Alias, I notice you have a dgtec 5000i, perhaps you could shed some light on this. If this unit upscales to any decent quality, I may well upgrade my 2000a to 5000i.
Alias1503559532 Posted September 10, 2003 Posted September 10, 2003 Bazza - if you have a 1080i display I would consider upgrading anyway - reason being that you can switch res from the remote rather than the switch at back of box and more importantly the 5000i does not appear to be effected by the Chroma bug which the 2000 has. Also when you do use the AUX then you can use PIP which is kind of neat ie have Digital signal in main picture and AUX in small window. this AUX can be what ever you like. DVD, optus etc etc I picked mine up for $700, not sure if you can get em cheaper, but I thought that was reasonable.
Bazza1503559531 Posted September 10, 2003 Posted September 10, 2003 Alias, Can the AUX be the Main picture without any PIP...and output at 1080i thereby upscaling your DVDs to 1080i? (assuming here of course the AUX is a component input, not composite/svhs)
LaPlaya Posted September 10, 2003 Posted September 10, 2003 Hi again, We've now added some more reviews to our site, linked from the products page at http://itavservices.com/products.html These reviews are based on our individual experiences with the units involved in an installation environment, rather than just an assessment on the box as a product. We'll be adding more to the site as we install the various models. The individual reviews are as follows: Thomson DTI352TH - http://itavservices.com/dti352thrvw.html DGTEC DH2000a - http://itavservices.com/dgtc2000arvw.html Nextwave TDR3100 - http://itavservices.com/nxtwv3100rvw.html Teac DVB300 - http://itavservices.com/teacdvb300rvw.html Fantastic work. I have the old Thomson DTI352TH and in bad reception area it's picking up digital with no problems. When I get a new HD box this type of info will be so handy. Thank you
TerryA Posted September 10, 2003 Author Posted September 10, 2003 Hi again, Spoke with my business partner today - he is sure that the aux funtion is a straight composite passthrough & thus would not upscale. hope this helps.
adrianvos Posted September 11, 2003 Posted September 11, 2003 I am pretty sure that it does upconvert. I have this set as a video input on my 5000I. I can use it to get PiP with the Aux set to my analogue video as a receiver. You can also display the aus input full screen, and I am pretty certain it just follows the video mode selected. I use the component output to my plasma, and it can;t be pass through... at a min, it converts to component, but I suspect there is a display memory internally, and it converts it to that like it does for DTV. Than the video memory is just output the component. So it is an upscaler, but I don;t see any advantage in this..... why convert 576i to 1080i.... it just scales... it can't add further details. Why not just allow your monitor to do its own upscaling to its native resloution which would be better quality I would think... atleast in the case of plasmas and projectors which have a native resolution as such and fixed pixel pitch. -- Adrian
Alias1503559532 Posted September 11, 2003 Posted September 11, 2003 It is a composite input, but I am sure I read somewhere about the upconverting. I thought it may have been on the Dg-tec site. As you probably know there site is down atm
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