Comparison of two HDTV converters, Insignia NS-DXA1-NPT and Airlink ATVC102

[trhouse]

The Airlink ATVC102 is available from Fry's Electronics for $59.99, the Insignia NS-DXA1-NPT is available from Best Buy for the same price. The Insignia is the same as the Zenith DTT901 (both are made by LG). All these models have analog pass through.

[edit]The Airlink is now available from Fry's for $40.

This photo shows the accessories with each model. The Airlink uses a special composite cable with a mini phone jack at one end and has an external power supply vs the Insignia which has standard composite cables with a built-in switching power supply.



The Airlink is about 1/2 the size of the Insignia and has a plastic foot so it stands vertically but the small size of the case is made up for by virture of the external power supply.


The Airlink does have a better EPG (electronic program guide) although it only shows the programming for the selected station.


The tests were done with two different over the air stations; one broadcasting in SD and one in HD. The same antenna was used in both cases. The signal strength was in the "good" region or about 72% on the Airlink signal strength indicators.

Signal strength meter on Insignia


Signal strength meter on Airlink


The tests with SD transmission show the Airlink and Insignia are comparable although during motion scences, the Airlink shows more macroblocking.

Insignia SD capture


Airlink SD capture


The tests with HD transmission show the Airlink is not as good as the Insignia showing jagged edges and blocking more frequently even in relatively motion free scenes.

Insignia HD capture


Airlink HD capture


Here are some views inside the boxes. Neither gets very warm. The Airlink is slightly warmer to the touch but not hot.

Insignia


Airlink

[lacywest]

Im glad you posted this ... but what is the summary of all this.

For my taste in this ... the signals in my area are strong ... but I want a decent box for recording the shows I watch ... I am currently using a Panasonic EH50 and am hoping to find a unit that has a decent EPG feature.

I cannot see how ... if it does not show what is coming on in a 7 day period how can it be called EPG guide. Geez ... I go to bed and wake up and go to work ... I get home ... and did my ... Young and the Restless ... show get recorded ??

I take a vacation for a few days .... if there is no 7 day EPG ... who is going to record my shows ??

To me this is a needed feature.

Would be nice if ... there was a S-VHS output instead of a Composite output.

Why is it so hard to put these features in one of these DTV converter boxes.

[lacywest]

Okay ... you gave a review on signal quality ... and warmth of boxes ... the size.

Is this a indicator of what quidelines the builders of these units are using ??

What about the quality [ method ] of the signal coming out of the box ?

And why bother saying there is a EPG feature .... you didn't say anything about how many days can be programmed into the unit.

I am already seeing that the digital signal shows what is coming on and what is coming on next.

I am not going to have somebody stay at my house ... while I go on vacation ... to record my TV shows. That was a feature all the VCRS and DVD recorders had and still have.

Now what ?? ... why cant they make a unit ... that processes all the Digital signals ... and spits out a signal that our VCRs and DVD Recorders can use just like it uses right now ?? Now that would be nice ... really nice !!!

[trhouse]

The Insignia downconverts to SD with better quality than the Airlink but the Airlink has better guide and says on the box "Includes Electronic Program Guide (EPG) function with up to 7-day on-screen list of TV programs' information".

Having that sort of guide is not all that useful since it only shows upcoming shows. It cannot turn the converter on at the appointed time and tune to the correct channel.

There are some units that can do that. Both the TVPal and TR40-CRA units can but they have some pretty awful reviews for reliability. They are said to run very hot.

http://www.dtvpal.com/

The problem is that the guide only works on the unit itself and does not pass the information to the succeeding device like your EH50. There is discussion that they are working on that but hard to say if it will really happen. These Dish Network units are not easy to find in a store.

[bmwracer]

The DTV boxes are just intermediary devices for the DTV transition, not a permanent solution.

I don't think there's a DTV box out there that you can program to allow your DVD recorder or VCR to record shows from different stations... If you want that, you'll need to buy a DVD recorder that has an ATSC tuner built into it.

[lacywest]

The DTV boxes are just intermediary devices for the DTV transition, not a permanent solution.

I don't think there's a DTV box out there that you can program to allow your DVD recorder or VCR to record shows from different stations... If you want that, you'll need to buy a DVD recorder that has an ATSC tuner built into it.

Okay guys ... what is your solution ... I am having good results using Beyond TV on my PC in the garage ... so far it works very nicely.

But ... I am finding out that it sucks up alot of CPU juice after it finishes recording ... not sure what it is doing ... maybe it is processing the video to tell me where the commercials are.

This topic is going to go off topic ... I will post a new topic thread.

[trhouse]

The Dish Network units do allow programming to record from different channels at different times. The EPG turns on the converter and tunes to the correct station but the recorder following it has to be programmed to start recording at each appointed time separately since the recorder does not get the guide info from the converter.