Review on EXuby Digital TV Converter Box For TV View And Record HD Digital Channels For Free (Instant Or Scheduled Recording, 1080P HDTV, HDMI Output, 7 Day Program Guide) - Comes With RF And RCA Cable by Dominic Ceo

Let me say first that this thing works totally fine, however between the nonsensical user interface, the terrible layout of the remote, and having to manually program recordings, you might want to spend a little extra on something nicer to just have a more relaxing time watching television.Tuning and browsing channels works great, although there is not, as advertised, a "program guide." It has the ability to list programs in the future thanks to the broadcast information, but it does not aggregate the data from each channel and lay it out in a grid format like a tradition DVR. All it can do is show you future programs on the channel you're currently watching. Here's where the manual programming comes in. It's pretty much a 90's VCR when you're trying to record shows. We're talking punching in 24-hr time and channel numbers and hoping you got it right. It does reliably record once you get it programmed, but you can't just select it out of the "program guide" and tell it to "record this show." Everything you program for recording will be manually entered by time of recording, date, and channel number.Interfacing with the DVR is pretty rough, too. It doesn't record by show name, just "CHAN_DATE_TIMEOFREC", so browsing for previous recordings requires knowledge of your show's time on the channel. The picture/video/audio playback interface is the same, flies are listed as the device sees them. If you're a tech person and know a basic knowledge of how simple computers work, you'll do fine. If you're my mother, you'll want to set it on fire within the first 15 minutes.The remote looks totally capable, but the layout is just awful when you're actually trying to use it, especially the DVR functions like FF, REW, and Play/Pause. When you are using the DVR, the FF/REW functions have 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, and 32x speeds, but they mean nothing and seem to operate at random speeds. 2x is slower than just playing the file. 4 and 8 are indistinguishable from 16x, which seems to FF at 2x for 5 seconds, then jump wildly into the future. All things you can live with, but take patience to learn and cope with. The remote has a slight delay which also makes it tough to use for people who don't "wait" for technology.Other things, You'll need to bring your own storage, as others have mentioned, but it doesn't like SSDs for some reason. I'm using a 500GB usb 2.0 external drive from iomega and having no issues. When it's off, it doesn't record anything. It can power an antenna that works with amplification. It has its own volume control, but you won't want to use it. mute function is nice, but confusing sometimes when you forget if you muted the box or your tv/audio system. Mine has a "radio" button, but the function is not enabled on the box. Sometimes it gets confused and needs restarting by unplugging the power.But consider the price! Its less than a month of basic cable!