Where to find STB to test and possibly return?

[gibhunter]

I don't want to order online because I live in an apartment building and am limited to an indoor antenna. If my reception is inadequate, then I'd be out of possibly $300+. Is there a regular store where I could purchase an inexpensive STB and if it doesn't work out I could return it? What STB is a good performer for the price?

Thanks in advance.

[toolo4sno]

Circuit City has a liberal return policy, which shouldn't be a problem especially if you cannot pull in all of the OTA channels in your 'hood. Then again, it likely depends on what antenna you choose more than anything else.

I had the Zenith HDV420 and the Zenith Silver Sensor (also tried Radio Shack omni directional "big disc" antenna). I am in a town house complex about 10-17 miles from the towers (estimated), and pulled in all of the channels, but varrying strength on ABC (located at different heading). I was basically testing the waters out myself, and was able to return the equipment to CC within 30 days.

Forking over $400+ without any idea if it will work or not is exactly the problem I had. I would have held on to it if I could have pulled in ABCHD w/o problems, but maybe I could have tweaked a little more. The problem with returning it is that you have 30 days (typically) to tweak whatever you can to get everything you want.

[Tomtrekkie]

I had a Zenith HDv420 for a couple weeks from CC. I returned it with no problem. It seemed ok in general. I picked up most of the CHicago stations. I am 45 miles from Chicago's downtown transmitters. I have a vu120 RadioShack antenna and a 20db indoor pre-amp. It's on a mast on my 2nd story roof. The big thing I didn't like was the lack of programming. Even the PBS HD demonstration times were often not HD. Also, the channel locking seemed to be intermittent. I went to a station and nothing would appear. I left that channel and returned and the channel would appear.

I do note that the Standard Def digital over-the-air programs are clearer (more detail) than my Dish network program. I attribute this to the compression techniques that I am sure are more aggressive in satellite transmission.

I found an open box Samsung T-SIR151 at Best Buy. I have this now and I like its screen interface a little better with the additional station info, although most stations seem not to provide the listed items. I do NOT like the "buried" signal level test meter. The zenith has this as a special button on the remote for signal level.

One thing I noticed was the Zenith seems more sensitive. THe signal meter never goes past halfway on the Samsung, whereas the Zenith is often at about 90%. I know the metering may be entirely different. At least on the Zentih I saw various signal levels, On the Samsung it was always either nothing or 50%.

I have never gotten a steady ch 2.1 (CBS) with the Samsung. On the zenith the signal was bad only one or 2 days. At least the Samsung allowed me to observe the breakup appearance of the signal as the small frames or boxes appeared on the screen, like 10x10 sets of pixels (10 is probably way off). the whole frame freezes, too, along with sound loss.

Also, repeating the auto channel scan on the Samsung seemed to to pick up slightly different channels.

I have been looking at Radio shack's biggest antenna and better pre-amp. However, it is not something I want to work on right now. So, I'll probably take this open-box unit back, since it is noticeable less sensitive, at least this particular unit. I haven't seen anything about unit-to-unit variation.

Can anyone confirm the reception sensitivity differences, and/or refer me to any web sites that address this? Does anyone know if the sensitivity is better on more expensive models?