TIVAX STB-T8 Set Top Box (Converter Box) With Analog Pass Through!!

by Tivax

Product Details

• Item Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 10 pounds
• ASIN: B001GRZ4BQ
• Item model number: TIVAX STB-T8
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,297 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 26, 2008

Product Description

Main features ? Receives free on air High Definition TV broadcast ? Analog pass through Auto scan ? Electronic program guide and program information Parental control ? Supports both 4:3 and 16:9 TV aspect modes Closed-Captioning ? Dolby Digital Full operation by remote control ? ENERGY STAR compliant NTIA certified, Qualified for $40 coupon ? English, Spanish & French on-screen display Specs ? Includes remote control (with batteries), RF cable, AV cable Inputs/outputs: Antenna/RF Coaxial and Smart Antenna interface, composite video, stereo audio (L/R), and 1 Antenna/RF output ? Full operation by remote control Warranty terms: 90 days ? Weight: 1 lb Dimensions: 6.3"wX 1.8"hX 8.7"d ? 480i standard video output

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great D2A Converter Box, October 8, 2008

By 

P. Serengulian (Silver Spring, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: TIVAX STB-T8 Set Top Box (Converter Box) With Analog Pass Through!! (Electronics)

I live in the Washington DC burbs and I'm one of the few, the proud, who still doesn't have some form of cable TV. The February deadline is approaching quickly, so I applied for my Gov't coupon, received it, and purchased this converter box to convert the digital signals to analog for my 32" Toshiba CRT TV. Having the converter box is nearly like getting cable--there are subchannels for the main networks. For example, WJLA, channel 7 in our area, has a 7.3 channel which a retro tv channel that airs re-runs of popular 80s TV shows M-F, like the A-Team and Magnum PI.

Pros:
* Metal housing is durable--no plastic parts except for remote control and front panel.
* Easy setup - Antenna to box, A/V cables from box to TV and you're set.
* Signal strength indicator - shows you how strong of a reception you're getting.
* TV guide button tells you what's on now and what's on next.
* Aspect changer - button lets control the aspect ratio of the video signal coming through the TV
* Dolby Digital certified sound. Not many other DTV boxes on the market can claim that.
* Analog passthrough! Yes, with the device in standby you can still get analog signals to your TV. Not all converter boxes have this feature.
* RS232 service port -- calling any computer geeks, here's your DB9 for s/w updates.
* One of the top three converter boxes rated by Consumer Reports.

Cons:
* Sound quality through TV OK. I have the volume at near max in order to hear the audio. I need to get some 6' audio cables to see if it sounds better out of my Yamaha receiver.
* This is digital TV. All stations come in clear, but if there's a weak signal, you'll get blotchy images and inconsistent sound.
* User manual could use a better translation, but it does the job.
* "Smart Antenna" not explained well. This box allows you to hook up either a regular old antenna or a "smart antenna," which adjusts the rotation and gain to get the best reception for a particular station. [...] carries one for $[...], but the one on my roof seems to work well.

I highly recommend making the DTV transition now before the rush, especially with this box. It takes 4-6 weeks for the Gov't to process your application and send you a credit card for $[...].

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars easy to use, few complaints, September 22, 2008

By 

K. Wu (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

I bought this device because it was one of Consumer Reports's top-rated products.

Set up was easy (just four or five connections!) -- I plugged in the power cord, hooked the device to my TV using the AV and RF cables that were included, then connected the antenna cable to the converter box. There are few sockets on the device and thus little room for error. The converter automatically scans for channels and I was able to watch DTV within minutes.

The impressive thing about the converter is that it was able to find a few more channels that the other TV in my house, a bona fide HDTV. Both this set and the other use the same roof antenna (I am in the NYC area -- on the other set I could not get the three ABC or PBS channels, but with this converter I could)!

Pros:
-crisp video, loud volume; does what it was designed to do
-remote control is mainly intuitive, only a few weird design choices
-remote control has a signal button to display signal strength (which I guess could be useful if I had some kind of indoor antenna I could orient at will; or perhaps it's a way of gauging the weather outside?)
-last channel memory
-very lightweight and small (I would guess less than 2 lbs) so will not weigh down other devices

Cons:
-main annoyance: the captions are much smaller than they are through analog and are a strain on the eyes (I'm near sighted). It is nice that their color/transparency/size can be customized, but even the largest size is no match for the analog captions
-the box itself only has three buttons: on/off and two channel changers. If anything were to happen to the remote control then there's no way to access the menu for setup/channel scanning or any of the other features
-it took me a while to realize the round OK button in the center (why is it ABOVE the number pad?) is the 'enter' button for choosing a channel; I should not have to read a manual to use a remote control (and I don't think this function is mentioned in there)
-the remote control uses two AAA batteries (would have preferred AA)

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply works great, November 15, 2008

By 

anon - See all my reviews

This review is from: TIVAX STB-T8 Set Top Box (Converter Box) With Analog Pass Through!! (Electronics)

I just got one of these. Agree with the first reviewer's thorough assessment. I have no cable at home, have a 7 yrs old JVC with a rabit ear on top of it. In my area, before the converter I could get NBC, CBS, ABC, CW, PBS, Fox 1 and sometimes Fox 2. With the box, on automatic chanel detection, now I could see NBCx2, CBSx2, ABC, CWx2, PBSx3, Fox1x2 and give up standing up to adjust the antenna to get Fox2. When the weather gets windy I lose lots of signals (same as before the converter), can't stand the choppy stuffs and crackle sounds so just leave the antenna in the best position for the best programs. What has been said about the digital signal is so very true: the signals that get to the tv are much much better than before. Luckily my TV has two sets of red/white/yellow connections for audio and S-video, just enough now to accomodate this converter box and my dvd player.

I bought this box on complete faith in Consumer Reports' rating (this box is the best). The guys from PBS's "Ask this old house" were showing how to use a converter box with antenna and they used the Zenith box which was also rated favorably by CR.

The set up with the remote was confusing due to incomprehensible chinese English. Need patience to go though initial trials/errors to decode what the instruction means.