Customer Reviews

Tivax STB-T8 Digital to Analog TV Converter Box

5 star:		(173)
4 star:		(153)
3 star:		(62)
2 star:		(43)
1 star:		(72)

 

 

The previous reviewer was upset about the high price Amazon charges - not about the converter's performance. I purchased two of these from another online vendor using the coupons and ended up paying an additional $45.00, so about $60.00 a piece. If you want quality, you have to pay for it. This model received high praise from Consumer Reports and I agree with them. The picture is as clear as a DVD and the sound is really good too on most stations. The stations without super sound probably has more to do with the broadcaster than the box. The remote has a number of useful buttons. Very simple to set up. The colors are a bit more intense so you may need to adjust your TV set again. I received about 30 stations initially, but deleted ten or so since they were in other languages. Very happy with my puchase. Highly recommended.

My first converter box was a Zenith DTT900. It died exactly 92 days after purchase which was 2 days after the full warranty expired - very displeased. Instead of paying Zenith the $35 they wanted to fix it, I ordered a 2nd coupon and bought the Tivax. Wow, the color is brighter and the picture is noticeably more sharp than the Zenith on the same TV. My whole family noticed it right away. Almost made me glad the Zenith died - almost. I'm very pleased with the Tivax. The only thing the Zenith has over the Tivax is that the Zenith remote can be programmed to turn on the TV so you don't need 2 remotes to watch TV. Of course, that doesn't help much if the box is dead.

I must add that although I love Amazon and their service, this box is overpriced here. It's available for less elsewhere.

After much research, including the previously mentioned Consumer Report recommendation as a best buy there, we ordered and installed this converter box about a week ago. Even with just an indoor amplified rabbit ears antenna, the quality of the picture of the channels is DVDesque and the other functionality such as the Signal (strength measuring) button are extras that help get the antenna oriented right, depending upon which channel you are trying watch. After getting everything hooked up (well illustrated in the User's Guide) I ran the Automatic Scan for the first time and instantly had more channels than before (4 PBS channels compared to one before, along with four of another Network that previously only had one using just analog). Then I pointed the antenna towards the one major city we live to the east of, ran the Update Scan and pulled in more channels without wiping out the previous channels found. Point the antenna towards the other major city we live west of, and more channels appeared rerunning the Update Scan. In all, about 26 channels with an indoor antenna that we've had for close to eight years. This converter also comes with both AV and RF cabling, unusual for most of these units. All and all, this a great solution to those who don't want to sell out... er... shell out a weekly food budget to cable every month.

I've read CNET, Amazon and several other reviews prior to my purchase. I bought this unit and the Zenith DTT901 so I could compare the two. The Zenith feels like it's built better, has a better remote, better on-screen guide and seems to produce a better picture - HOWEVER, the Tivax receives more channels (~30 compared to ~20 with the Zenith--in my area) - I've compared both units connected to the same TV with the same "rabbit ear" antenna. Also, the Tivax has a switch on the rear for Channel 3 or 4 output - with the Zenith this option is software controlled. Zenith's technical support was Outstanding - I haven't had to call Tivax. I paid $10 more for the Zenith - so overall I'd say I'm happy with both considering what I paid - I enjoy using the Zenith more.

After extensive online research. These 2 boxes consistently came up top in ratings and reviews. I knew I would not be happy with a unit that could demonstrate any compromise in video quality vs getting a unit with a programmable (VCR) timer, best program guide, or universal remote to simply turn my TV on. I could not decide which of the 2 boxes to purchase so I purchased both. Upon receipt - I tried both units. For all practical purposes both units have similar performance characteristics. The CM-7000 had the slight edge with S video output being slightly better. Features between the units were basically the same, even the size, feel and functions on the remote felt the similar. Both are great units and are recommended. If I had to pick one, I would select the CM-7000 because it had slightly better video quality with S out, channel changing seemed a tiny bit faster, and the one marginal station in my area seemed to lock in better - though different atmospheric conditions at the time may be the only reason for that. Note that all the stations in my area are all broadcasting in digital so the analog pass thru feature of the Tivax was not needed.

Both units have buttons on the converter box so you can power up and change channels without your remote. On either unit there was no instructions on if or how you get access the menu from those buttons - so I do not know if that is possible or not.

One more thing to mention: I purchased 2 units (one CM-7000 & one STB-08) to have one as a backup. Using govt coupons and low priced shipping, paying a total $7 out of pocket is a cheap backup and is cheaper than paying postage and handling in 2 directions should one unit fail in the future. I read stories on how hard it was to exchange broken units. I purchased the Tivax form Amazon. The first Tivax unit I received did not power up. It was ONE email to Amazon and a replacement unit was at my door the very next day - plus Amazon emailed me a return prepaid shipping label to return the unit to them via USPS. Zero extra cost. What a pleasurable surprise.

So for everyone grinding over the reviews and features and trying to figure out which one to get -- you can purchase either of these two units and know it was a smart choice with no regret.

I have really researched the different models for several weeks before choosing this one. It was at the top of my list but was unable to find it, as was the Zenith DTT 901 and the Insignia. The Insignia was impossible to get, the zenith was hard to find from a reputable company which honored the warranty and defects that can occur in any model. When I noticed that the Tivax STB-T8 was overall superior to any other brand and model with its smart antenna connection (great option), analog pass though, power and channel buttons on front of device (a must just! for the just in case situation), does not get hot (don't put on other machines like others have and surprisingly find any electrical device too hot), great remote that controls channels, volume, aspect ratio, signal check, awesome guide display that shows several hours ahead of programming, easy and quick connect and setup. It is well worth the money, I bought it through Amazon for 79.99 and with coupon only cost 39.99 (they are trustworthy and honor defected boxes and will replace it) and signed up for the Amazon prime free trial, upgraded from free 2 day to one day shipping for 3.99 (i placed order on Saturday and received it on Monday which was one business day as estimated). I am buying a second box and now that I have the Amazon prime free trial it is $30 cheaper (that's awesome!). I decided to buy the RCA smart antenna passive multi directional version to see if i can pick up more channels than my current outdoor antenna. Will have to see if it works. Overall I am extremely pleased and satisfied with this device and highly recommend it to everyone wanting a converter box that is well worth paying for. Also, for those viewing reviews to decide what to get. Pay the extra 10 or 20 dollars (better than buying cheap, having it break down and then buy this one anyway) and choose a reputable seller, many had poor customer service and return policies and shipping costs that run up the price. I was dis-satisfied very much with MANY of the companies that i googled when searching for coupon eligible boxes, definitely read the reviews, if they can offer you a too good to be true offer, it probably comes with a cost. Amazon gave me an ease of mind knowing i was buying from them directly and their policy on returns and defects.

After some research, I narrowed down what I thought was the top (coupon redeemable) DTV box to these two. I needed two boxes, so ordered one of each.
I will just go into what I see different in these two boxes.
1.Appearance: Both boxes are gray but the Tivax is smaller and more streamlined and modern looking than the CM. Although appearance means nothing in my preference, just thought I would throw that in there.

2.Remote: The CM has a larger remote than the Tivax and the buttons are not so close together. The one thing that annoys me though is that several of the buttons do absolutely nothing, it even says this in the manual. But the remote still has a better feel and ease of use than the Tivax. Both remotes come with AAA batteries.

3.Reception: This was my main concern. I have tried both boxes on an amplified indoor antenna, with same setup and conditions. Both boxes picked up the same channels. 11, 13, 24, and 30. Channel 36 is the only other nearby tower and neither can pick it up, which I'm sure is because of the antenna I am using, and not the fault of the boxes. Both boxes have a nice signal strength feature that you can turn on and watch the meter while you adjust your antenna. The CM seems to get a slightly stronger signal than the Tivax. Channel 24 seems to get garbled every now annd then on the Tivax and the CM gets a stronger signal on the meter.

4.Text: The Tivax is much nicer with the text display. Larger, easier to read text. The CM has horrible text for trying to read closed captions and the EPG text is horrible looking to the point that it almost looks blurred and miscolored.

5.EPG: Both boxes seem to be capable of reading info up to 12 hours ahead. However, the Tivax has to be scrolled sideways to read one program at a time, while the CM will show up to atleast 5 at once. But this feature seems useless to me since the text on the CM is so small and cramped together.

6.Picture Quality: I think the CM definitely delivers a sharper picture than the Tivax. This is while using RCA cables with both boxes. Each box comes with an RF cable (the CM's cable looks like it's better quality) and the Tivax comes with RCA cables while the CM does not. But the CM is capable of S-Video hookup, even though it doesn't come supplied with an S-Video cable. I have not tried using this feature but it's supposed to deliver an even better picture than the RCA cable. The RF cable should be your last choice as it isn't as good with delivering the best picture.

7.Other odds & ends: Both boxes have manual channel entry which I think is a must to have. Although with the CM if you want to directly go to, say, channel 24.2 you just punch in 242 on the remote and it takes you there. With the Tivax, you can only go to 24.1 by punching in 24. If you try to punch in 242, 243, etc. it will just stay on the channel it's already on and do nothing. I don't like that.
The Tivax does have a port for a "smart antenna" hookup and the CM does not have one. I have not tried a smart antenna, though.
Neither box has a universal remote, but, if you use a universal remote for your TV you can control the CM box with that by programming a Pioneer code into your remote. I don't know if you can do this with the Tivax box, probably, but I don't know what the code would be.

Both boxes have a few other features that I don't really care about so I am not bothering with listing them. But overall, I have to go with the Channel Master-7000 just because it performs better in most of the categories I want.

Purchased two Tivax STB-T8 CECBs last fall--largely based on Consumer Reports top rating. Both died shortly out of warranty (purchased elsewhere). One was flaky for a while, then would crash after a few hours operation, then just dead. The second just died.

Have had great luck with the Channel Master CM-7000 and Echostar DTVPalPlus.

Personally I do not think this device is worth the extra money. I also have a Philco converter box and it seems to do much better than the Tivax. The Tivax drops the signal at a higher rate than the Philco, so I put the Philco on my most used tv and the tivax on another. I would recommend getting the Philco instead.

With all the good reviews about this box, I am pretty disappointed with the Tivax STB-T8 when compared to the Insignia NS-DXA1 first generation box.

Although the video and the sound were slightly better, the reception was significantly worse than the Insignia box. Many channels that worked fine with the Insignia box were cutting in and out with the Tivax box. I used the same antenna in the same position for both.

Also, the zoom feature of the Insignia works much better than the Tivax to fit to my 4:3 aspect TV. The Tivax doesn't remember the zoom settings for each channel, plus it crops out too much of the picture that it is basically useless.