Customer Reviews:
 Pulls in the Signals September 3, 2010
Bob Taurus (Oakland, CA USA)
I recently ditched the extra expense of subscription TV and opted for good old over-the-air. Our TV being about 7-8 years old, we had to get a digital converter for it.
We live in Oakland, California. Most of the Bay Area stations are broadcast from the west from nearby San Francisco; however, the local NBC affiliate is about 30 miles away to the south-southwest.
First, we bought a standard indoor antenna and converter from Radio Shack. To our dismay, however, we learned that only particular converter brands and models are compatible with Tivo, and ours was not one of them. We returned the converter and purchased another Tivo-compatible brand (sorry, can't remember which) from Target. This setup was fine EXCEPT we couldn't receive the NBC affiliate; the signal strength was too weak.
Our next step was to exchange the antenna at Radio Shack for one that amplified the signals. Still no luck (plus, it made an awful sound as it mechanically rotated to aim itself for better reception).
Given that we live just on the "far" side of a hilltop (relative to San Jose), I reasoned we had to go the outdoor antenna route, so I again traded in at Radio Shack for an outdoor dish which I mounted to our chimney. STILL no luck!
As a last resort, after reading online reviews, I returned our Target-bought converter and purchased the Zinwell ZAT-970A, which cost significantly *less* than the last one we tried. I'm happy to report that somehow the Zinwell is able to pull in the NBC affiliate when everything else failed! Based on that alone, I must recommend it over all other Tivo-compatible converters.
It is not perfect, however. Occasionally, when viewing Channel 2 or 11, we will get a brief "Bad Signal" message. Moments later, the picture returns, but then the sound is noticeably out of synch with the picture. Although this can be resolved by switching to another channel and then switching back, that is not an option when we are recording to DVR. We also occasionally have brief periods (about a minute) where the picture gets noticeably pixilated, but then returns to normal.
Still, the Zinwell ZAT-970A seems to be the best Tivo-compatible converter available in its price range.
worth the money September 1, 2010
Christopher L. Brown (mn)
I have used this converter box for 5 weeks and have had no problem with it. I feel its worth the money. It was easy to set up and very simple to use.
 It's Easy and It Works............. August 27, 2010
Gift Card (Allen, Tx)
I am the least technical guy on earth and I found this thing easy, even fun to set up, I was kind of dreading it's arrival, but for no reason at all I found out today. The reception is even better than what I had with my previous cable carrier. I am enjoying very much not paying 65.00 a month for nothing worth watching. Get one, you won't be sorry.........
WORTH A LOOK August 24, 2010
david hilst (Yankee Hill, CA, US)
The APEX units I purchased ( 2 ea. ) lasted almost one year to the day and were constantly requiring new scans and signal dropouts...I read the reviews by others on this brand/model and so far, 4 months, the unit is performing great. I receive almost 100% signal quality on about 200% more stations, a total now of 16 (I live a minimum of 30 miles from some stations and about 95 miles from 5 others but am at 2,000' of elevation ).
The feature of adding favorites is neither great not intuitive but is ok...I usually just use the direct channel number anyway.
The remote is not as bad as some reviews have indicated and unless you're a real channel-hopper ( on broascast TV??? ) you won't be bothered with the smaller keys.
I'm waiting on the longevity issue but compared to the APEX units, these are a 10 and the APEX is a -5 !!!
I am ordering 2 more right now, one for my shop and one for the game room.
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