Customer Reviews

Coby DTV-140 ATSC High Definition Set Top Box

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This unit works good but I haven't seen any way to add channels to the scan list. You can only do a new scan and then you will lose what you had saved with the antenna pointing in the other direction.

I could afford a HDTV if I wanted one, but I imagine seeing the kind of programming they have on TV and the thought of seeing it in high definition is a bit scary. Since I wanted pictures without snow or shadows and more stations, I decided to get the Coby box.

This ATSC tuner by Coby does an excellent job. The remote is well designed, the manual is well written, and I have no major complaints. I live 30 miles from the TV stations in Knoxville and there are many hills and trees near my house, so there are a couple of stations that break up (digitally) and disappear for a second before reappearing. Even so, before I was pulling in 4 stations over the air well enough to watch and now I get 10 or 12. Keep in mind that most of the digital stations broadcast 2 shows instead of 1 and some stations are digital only with no analog (NTSC) simulcast.

I got exactly what I wanted, very clear pictures and more choices. The only problem (that can't be fixed with a better antenna) is that a couple of the stations I used to watch with my analog tuner have a black frame using the Coby tuner. In other words, the pictures are smaller. No way to fix that without some stretching in 2 directions, which would mess up the other stations. So my solution is an antenna switching box where I can quickly route the antenna to either the Coby tuner or the TV. This works fine, but if I am watching a snowy picture using only the TV, the Coby has to be off or it will put digital noise on the picture (radiated interference).

I spent a lot of time trying to decide if buying this device and its (twice expensive) samsung counterpart (I wanted that because the hdmi connector). Fortunately, a friend borrowed me this last one for testing; I saw a very bad picture (pixelated) with the samsung. Assuming this bad picture will be for any, I decided to buy the cheap one (coby). For my surprise, the picture quality is perfect with the coby.

This is definetly a good HDTV tuner for those of us on a budget. I live in a fairly large metropolitan area and am able to recieve 15 channels all of which are in Hi-Def. CBS, ABC, FOX, NBC all come in great. any regular set of rabbit ear antenna work well but i do recommend getting a powered antenna. picture quality is excellent 720p and 1080i are readily available from the major broadcasting stations. The program guide works for each sation as well as a signal indicator informing you of the strength of reception. Component output is great for your hd ready tv. setup and installation was a snap.. less than 10 minutes including searching for channels

Now for the bad....but not really..

1. Channels take a few seconds to "tune" in once you flip the station.
2. remote feels flimsy and if you are hard of seeing its not the easiest thing to read
3. signal fluctuation but that could be caused by reception. the picuture will break up in to blocks on the screen till the signal is re-aquired.

For the price this little box does a fair job. When I first got it I noticed a buzzing noise coming from my TVs speakers, when I disconnected the Coby box it went away. I found that the volume level on the Coby box was set to midrange and pushing it up to just under maximum cleared the buzzing. I like the ability on the remote to switch from 480i to 480p to 720p and 1080i. My biggest complaint about this box is the limited picture sizing control (no zoom or wide stretch.) Again, aside from this it does a fair job

I do not have cable or satellite service and was looking for an inexpensive product that would receive over-the-air high definition television signals. I found this product on Amazon, read the description of the product and ordered it. And it does what it is advertised to do very well. As it is connected to a fixed-position antenna near my home's roofline, it's inability add channels without completely rescanning is not a problem for me. I haven't noticed any delays when changing channels, but have noticed the sound "warbles" for a few seconds after changing a channel. The sound issue isn't a problem for me since I usually turn to the channel I want to record from, set up my DVR to do a timed recording, then turn everything off. If I did a lot of channel surfing it might eventually become a minor annoyance.

The unit does not have a channel display, which is really the only thing I don't like about it. When I set up a timed recording it would be nice to be able to glance at the front of the unit to make sure it is tuned to the channel I want to record. If I'm unsure what channel it was tuned to last I have to turn on my TV and DVR to make sure I don't record the wrong channel. This is the only reason I rated this product with 4 stars instead of 5.

I have tried most of the available "convertor boxes" and this one is by far the best. It has both composite and component outputs, unlike most of the others. So it found all the stations; and puts out analogue for my VCR and digital for the monitor.
All in all far ahead of the pack, even though it costs a little more.

Died after a few months. Does not turn off unless you unplug it. It's box with a light now. Does nothing. No picture on TV. Tried to connect with S-video and audio cables as well as component video cables and plain RCA video cables. Nothing.
I called Coby customer service today. I was on hold for an hour. The representative was rude and condescending throughout the entire call. For example, the first thing she said was, "did you connect it correctly to your TV?" Duh, no, I connected it wrong and then willingly waited on hold for an hour just to call you for fun.

I purchased the receiver when my LCD-TV's internal HD receiver quit functioning. I've had 3 - 4 weeks to play with the receiver, and so far, so good. It does what I needed it to do.

NOTE: If you are looking for a digital to analog receiver capable of pulling in digital signals to display on your analog TV, this receiver is overkill. It will work with your analog TV, but it was designed to deliver an HD picture to a digital TV. Most digital to analog receivers cost about half what you'll pay for this one.

NOTE (also): There is no HDMI output on this receiver. You'll have to use component video outputs to deliver the HD signal to your TV. The video quality is just as good as HDMI, but you'll need more cables (video and audio. And the HD-audio output is digital coax not fiber-optic as is found on most receivers these days.

It seems to have a higher sensitivity than the TV's internal tuner. Setup was easy. The auto scan quickly found the local channels. I did not find a way to add a specific channel. I would suggest being familiar with the available channels in your area before scanning so you can be sure that the receiver captures all of them. (Use [...] to get a list for your area.)

The remote control is okay. It is easy to do the normal things. Oddly enough, there are buttons to change the video output of the box (480p, 720p, 1080i). That is something you'd likely set once and leave alone unless/until you changed TV's. But the buttons are there if you just want to mess with it.

The only drawback I've encountered is with the channel number designations. In some cases the box seems to use the actual digital channel v. the channel's ID #. Channel 11.1 on all my other digital TV's comes up as 10.3 on the Coby receiver. That's not a problem, but you may have to get used to a different channel lineup as you surf the channels. You can set up favorite channels and pull up a list to scroll through directly accessing the desired channel. The remote control button for this is one of many tiny buttons; it will take some practice to use this feature without looking.

Overall it does what it is supposed to, receiving channels well and it does a good job of displaying multiple formats. My only complaint is that the remote is not very programmable. There are four function buttons, but you can't program them to change to a specific channel. And the interface for changing the settings on the box is mediocre at best. It took me awhile to figure out how to setup the "favorite channels" and then use them. Those are minor nitpicks though, considering the price and ability to decode OTA signals.