Reviews about Home Theatre Accessories

blueworld says "A well made converter box that is built to last." about Zenith - DTT900 Digital-to-Analog Converter Box

blueworld — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:53:23 GMT

The Zenith DT900 Digital-to-Analog Converter Box it is one of the best purchases I have ever made. I have used this converter box for more than a year and I have not experienced any problems with it. The picture quality is very good, the image looks clean and sharp.

This converter box was built to last. The case is metal and is well vented. The power cord plugs directly into a wall outlet because it has it's own built-in power supply. Many other converter boxes use a cheap wall transformer for power.

What really makes this converter box stand out above the rest is it's high quality tuner. The tuner is very sensitive, it can pick-up very weak signals that other converter boxes miss.

The one thing I do not like about this converter box is it's program guide, it only displays the current program information and the upcoming program information.

Overall this is a great digital-to-analog converter box. It works extremely well and is simple to use.

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Micahb says "From 3 remotes down to 1 - Yippie!" about Logitech Harmony 880 LCD Remote Control

Micahb — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:18:57 GMT

This is my first universal remote so I don't have another remote to compare it to.

That said, I _love_ the Harmony 880! I'm using it to control my TV, whole house audio system and Popcorn Hour A-110.

Going from 3 remotes down to 1 is a huge improvement and the setup was relatively straight forward.

My only real complaint is that the remote seems way too light. I realize it's all plastic and the guts are probably pretty small but I do like to have a little heft to items like these.

Even so, I'm really digging this remote, would buy it again and would recommend it to other people.

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Beauticontrolpw says "Logitech does Not back their equipment" about Logitech - Harmony One Remote

Beauticontrolpw — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 06:21:15 GMT

I purchased this logitech remote less than 4 months ago, and it has already had the LCD display burn out in it, with normal light use and no damage otherwise by the consumer. I have read other reviews and have found that this is not uncommon. When speaking to logitech, I was told that someone would get back to me. They did.

Their answer? Sorry about that, nothing we can do. No offer of repairing or replacing the LCD.

Don't waste hard earned money on something when a company will not back up their inferior product! Lesson learned.

I am very disappointed with this universal remote, and very disappointed with Logitech and their customer service..... there is much to be desired. They say when you please a customer, they tell 10 people. When you make a customer mad, they tell 100 people. Guess what? I'm telling everyone in cyberspace!

Logitech can forget this customer---for good. The burned out LCD display renders this device useless and cannot be used.

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MarkGY says "Tivo is truly one of the great inventions of our time." about DirecTV recorder - Tivo

MarkGY — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:15:10 GMT

Do you love TV, but also have a life outside the house? If so, Tivo is for you.

I have had my DirecTV Tivo for 5 years and I can't remember what watching TV was like before. The basics are:

Record individual programs, set up season passes to your favorite shows, record shows based on wish lists and keywords.
Pause, rewind, fast forward live TV.
Our reciever has two tuners which means you can record two shows at once, watch one and record another.
Our reciever can record and store up to 32 hours of programming. This varies depending on the actual reciever you choose.

What does that all mean? Well, Tivo allows you to watch TV much more efficiently. You can get through an hour drama in 40 minutes, a half hour sitcom in 20 minutes, and a baseball game in an hour and a half. Using season passes and other advanced recording options allows you to easily manage what you are recording and when so you never have to worry about missing an episode of your favorite show.

Tivo allows you...

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Mayme1 says "The Logitech Harmony One Remote is awesome!" about Logitech - Harmony One Remote

Mayme1 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 05:36:08 GMT

I was introduced to this product through Bzzagent. I got an e-mail asking me if I would like to try the product and then bzz/talk about the Logitech Harmony One whether it was good or bad with other people. I wasn't too sure if I should try it because I'm not the techie type, but my husband is, so I asked him if I should try it. He said it sounded good and Logitech has a good name and make good products. My husband was blown away by this device and could believe that I got it for nothing. After having the Harmony One for at least 2 years now, I know I couldn't live without this device. It takes the place of 4 of my remotes (cable, tv, AV receiver and dvd/vcr). It has a touch screen and a charging base, so no need to buy batteries and looking for for the different devices when you want to perform different actions on your tv. Great, great device.

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Yellowroses-4me says "Harmony One remote is easy to use and I could not live without i" about Logitech - Harmony One Remote

Yellowroses-4me — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:08:14 GMT

I got a chance to try a Harmony One remote for free. I love this remote, it is the only remote we use in my house now. I always hated having so many remotes around for all the electronics we had. We had purchased universal remotes in the past only to still be left using that remote along with at least 1 other remote. So, not so "universal". When the chance came up for me to try this product for free, I jumped all over it and I am gald I did. My husband actually did the programming which I thought was going to be hard even though you do it right online with their site. I was able to learn how to do this,so it is easy to use. With all the remotes before I never really know how to turn some of our systems on and watch a movie with our surround, that all changed with this remote. My husband was able to program the remote to do different things at the touch of one button on the touch screen. So now all I do is press one button to watch tv, watch tv with surrond, or turn on the dvd/cd players...

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west757 says "A remote for all situations." about Logitech Harmony 880 LCD Remote Control

west757 — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:18:38 GMT

Here's another good remote from Logitech. All of their remotes are computer compatible and are very easy to set up. Logitech has a good reputation for a solid product and it shows in this remote. I purchased the Logitech Harmony 880 LCD Remote Control to help my family with "control clutter", in particular all of the numerous remotes for the electronic stuff we have. There's a remote for the tv, dvd, vcr, (yes, we still have one of those), tuner, cd player and satellite controller.

The set up is simple and intuitive. It is truly seamless if you have the serial numbers for each of your products, unfortunately I didn't have all the serial numbers I needed but I was still able to determine the ones I did have with the help of Logitech's programming on the computer. Every time I set up one of these "universals" I am always amazed that one small remote can be used for all of my products, and that it works. The Harmony's screen is very helpful for all the tv watchers in our family, since there...

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Gracie513 says "Well worth the money." about Logitech Harmony 880 LCD Remote Control

Gracie513 — Sat, 02 May 2009 00:51:21 GMT

The Logitech Harmony 880 remote has possibly saved my marriage. My husband is not as tech savvy as I, and after we purchased our new TV, home theater set up, and signed up for TiVo - the whole set up was beyond him. I would get phone calls at work because he couldn't figure out which remote to use to play a tape for our preschooler ... you get the picture. Then along came the Logitech Harmony 880 remote. I gulped a bit at the price - but after searching online I managed to get it at a great deal - about half of retail. And once I fully understood what it can do, I would have paid three times the price. A very tech savvy friend helped my set it up - but I could have easily done it myself. The software is very user friendly - it really leads you through all the steps, and I have successfully made some changes to the programming on my own. My favorite feature is the Help button - if something isn't working right, it takes you step by step to figure out what component somehow...

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JumpStart says "Good design. Poor reliability. Poor Warranty." about Zenith - DTT900 Digital-to-Analog Converter Box

JumpStart — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:59:04 GMT

I purchased the Zenith DTT-900 DTV Converter Box from Radio Shack in May 2008. It performed well until March 2009 when it began turning itself off after a few minutes of operation. After resetting it, confirming the auto-off function wasn't the problem I determined the problem was heat related. The box has been installed with plenty of air flow and unobstructed vents so I believe the issue is quality related. I've installed several Zenith boxes, several RCA boxes, and one GE box. This is the first Zenith failure (the GE box also failed the same way in a totally different location and installation).

I called Zenith for warranty replacement. The DTT-900 has 90 days Labor and 1 year Parts Warranty from date of purchase. The description states that Zenith will pay shipping return to the consumer. I was informed that I would have to pay $35 Labor for repair of the unit plus shipping to Zenith. Discussion with the Zenith representative proved futile.

Since I am not interesed...

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njchicaa says "The Harmony One Remote is expensive but well worth the cost!" about Logitech - Harmony One Remote

njchicaa — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:23:10 GMT

We recently decided to finish our basement and turn it into a large entertaining area. My husband ordered himself a ginormous plasma TV, a surround sound system, and a Blu-Ray player. My father "gets" me and loves me. He decided to buy me the Harmony One Remote Control for my birthday.

The Harmony One Remote Control is, simply, a remote control that will work all of the various electronics that one has in their entertainment and sound systems. It costs about $200 and comes with software that you must load onto your computer. Once you load the software, you only have to input the model numbers of the TVs, DVD players, Blu-Ray players, surround systems, and even gaming systems. My husband took it upon himself to program our Harmony One Remote and he claims that it took him less than 10 minutes. It wasn't long before this Harmony One Remote Control was controlling all of the electronic equipment in our basement.

I'm competent at using a computer for email, internet browsing,...

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snk08 says "the best bang for your "coupon buck"" about Zenith - DTT900 Digital-to-Analog Converter Box

snk08 — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:40:05 GMT

The Zenith digital converter box is absolutely the best box you can get with the government's $40 coupon cards they gave out. Compared to the Magnavox, the Zenith has a lot more options and best of all, a better GUI - user interface.

Some key points that the Zenith has and the Magnavox does not:
- you can turn off your tv with the remote as well as the converter box.
- mute button and volume control on remote
- recall/return to channel button actually works
- digital guide button to see what's on each channel, without turning the channel (its just like you bought cable!)
- less digitized and old school user interface

By far, the best bang for your "coupon buck"....

mawfia says "Logitech-great name, great product." about Logitech - Harmony One Remote

mawfia — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:56:13 GMT

WOW! This remote has so much potential, but I don't think we are using it to it's full potential.
I received the Harmony One remote as a freebie through a review site. I had never even thought of having such a product. We were making do with using a multitude of remotes.
My husband did the set up and he said it wasn't very easy. You do have to set it up through your computer, and he actually ended up having to call the tech line to get some things to work.
It does say that it can control everything, but we don't have it programmed all the way yet.
As is, I would say that if you are very tech savvie and have a ton of electronice to control then this is the remote for you. But if you aren't then it isn't worth the money at all.
I do love the touch screen and I think that if we had it programmed all the way it would be of more use to us.
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jondle says "Control All Devices with a Single Button." about Logitech Harmony 880 LCD Remote Control

jondle — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:57:06 GMT

The Harmony 880 is amazing. I had the 880, and then upgraded to the 890 to get RF capability (ability to go through walls), but the remotes are the same. If you have never used an Activity based remote such as any of the Harmonies or a URC remote, you just don't know what you are missing. Before I had used one, I saw them at the store and couldn't believe someone would pay that much for a remote control, and now wouldn't dream of living without it. Activity based means you press one button, say Watch TV, and the remote does everything you need to be watching TV; it will turn your TV on, turn your stereo receiver on, turn your cable receiver on, set your TV to the correct input, and set your stereo to the correct input. No more 10 remotes. No more pressing TV, then pressing Power, then pressing CBL, then pressing power, etc. My mom can come over and watch TV or a DVD with full surround sound without having to ask me how to do it.

To elaborate on the cons listed, I've worked with a lot of......

mhew says "This thing is so cool!" about Logitech - Harmony One Remote

mhew — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:24:09 GMT

The Logitech Harmony One universal remote control is about the coolest little gizmo I have come across! My husband and I love it, it's so easy to use and you rarely have to get up out of your seat to use your entertainment system (if only it could put the discs into the DVD player for you).

What's different about this remote?
This remote control connects to you computer by USB input. It comes with a disc that you use to download the set up program. Using this program, you set up a user name and password so that you can personalize your remote and come back to customize it any time. We have foudn every one of our entertainment electronics in their database. Our TV, mini-system, VCR and even our projector! Once you've selected all of your electronics and set them up the way you'd like to use them, you complete the set up and the program sends the information into your Harmony One remote.

It has a touch-screen where you select which activities you want at the moment. Our remote......

socratesjr says "I have the POWER -- to control everything!" about Logitech - Harmony 659 LCD Remote Control

socratesjr — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:18:59 GMT

I've had basic programmable universal remotes for years, but it wasn't until I got this remote in early 2007 that I learned what a real universal remote could do. Logitech has delivered a great and affordable product that can greatly simplify your Audio/Video life.

Simple need, get them to work together!

Best of all, the girlfriend can use it without any help! Gets out of sync once in a while.

Pros: In general the remote is easy to hold with a pretty good button layout, although using it with Tivo is a bit awkward (but manageable). Programming the remote takes some time but is relatively easy. Just plug a USB cord into the remote and a Internet-connected computer and get most/all the codes you need from the Logitech web site. The best thing is setting up a set of commands to handle the configuration of a number of A/V components. I love pressing "Play DVD" and having all the right settings. It makes my life (and especially my girlfriend's life) much easier.

Cons: The LCD screen is a bit small......

surveycyndy says "DirecTV Tivo Receiver records all my favorite shows!" about DirecTV recorder - Tivo

surveycyndy — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:50:07 GMT

The DirecTV Tivo Receiver allows me to record all the shows i would have missed while I was at work or out and about. I had it installed by a Direct TV installer. I would recommend this tivo for every Direct TV suscriber. Never miss your favorite shows again! I love my Tivo!!!...

erobinson08 says "magical little box" about Zenith - DTT900 Digital-to-Analog Converter Box

erobinson08 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:40:40 GMT

The Zenith DTT900 Digital to Analog Converter Box has really been a great investement. It is normally priced at $70, with the free card provided by the government, the price was only $30. The pictures are clear, the setup is easy, and navigation is dummy-proof.

The only downfall in my opinion, is that you still need a regular antenna. We had to purchase a new antenna that had great signal ranges. Because we live under a hole bunch of trees, reception is not great and we don't receive a lot of the channels we could if we didn't have trees. I wish there was a way that it didn't need an antenna

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aadrinkin says "15 remotes in 1" about Logitech Harmony 880 LCD Remote Control

aadrinkin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:29:25 GMT

After getting a new plasma TV, an HD digital terminal, dvd, vcr, video game consoles it started to get very cluttered with all of the remotes. I began with the Harmony 659 which was ok. I upgraded to the 880 and it's been simply awesome. I had one issue with configuring the favorite channels but since the configuration is online, I just sent an email to Harmony support and they fixed the configuration for me on their end and simply told me to update the remote with the new settings and everything was fixed! Great support and a great remote....

mysticstarfish says "How did we manage without the Harmony One Remote???" about Logitech - Harmony One Remote

mysticstarfish — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:06:35 GMT

The Logitech Harmony One Remote is an absolute must have! I really don't know how we functioned without it. The constant battle of finding a lost remote; those days are long gone!

The Harmony One is a all-in-one remote that actually works. When you take the remote out of the box, the first thing you will notice is the sturdiness of it; quite impressive. The second thing I noticed is the remote actually has a touch sensitive display screen on it. One more thing...IT'S RECHARGABLE!!!! NO MORE BATTERIES!!

While the remote is charging, it is recommended to write down all of the makes and model numbers of the items you want the remote to control, ie: cable box, tv, surround system, etc. You will need the makes and model numbers in order to install them into the remote.

After you have charged the remote and compiled your list of makes and models numbers you are now ready to program the remote. Programming is very easy and the remote comes with step by step instructions.

You will...

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luvlakers says "My teenage son thanks me for getting the Logitech Harmony One." about Logitech - Harmony One Remote

luvlakers — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:53:16 GMT

My teenage son thinks I am the coolest Mom for getting the Logitech Harmony One Remote. We went from 5 remotes to one, sleek and sexy remote. We even installed family pictures on the it. The resolution is so clear. With one touch my tv and DVR will come on and I can switch to play a DVD with single button. I can even adjust the volume for on the same remote for all systems! Now if I can just get it to do the dishes!...