Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Having recently "cut the cable" and gone to an HDTV antenna (for the local channels) and a couple of Roku's (for everything else), I still wanted the convenience of having a DVR. So, I began the search. I of course looked at the Tivo's, but hesitated because of the additional fees. I also looked at some of the (few and far between) stand-alone DVR's out there, such as the Magnavox models, but besides the higher price I also read the reviews about overheating, having to use a notebook cooler with them, etc. I then just happened to run across a couple of reviews of the iView 3500, and the reviews looked good, especially since these units have the USB output option for recording. I had not seen this feature in any other tuner boxes, and I was initially put off by the low price, thinking 'how good can this thing be?' But, I opted to give it a try and I'm really glad I did. First, I won't reiterate all of the pros and cons from the other reviews -- they are all for the most part true, although my unit thankfully did not "smell" coming out of the box. And, the controls/remote do take some getting used to. HOWEVER, I AM able to record 1080 HD onto a thumb drive, which I can also unplug and use in a laptop or desktop. The onscreen channel guide appears to go about 12 to 16 hours ahead, depending on the TV stations' input, so it's easy to set up a recording. Or, you can do it "blindly" by, for instance, telling the unit to record something at 8PM three or maybe four nights from now, as long as you know your program is on at that time. Very similar to the way you used to set up the old VCR timers. I think you can schedule recordings about a week ahead. The channel readouts on the unit itself do NOT correspond to the actual channels -- for instance, Channel 001 on the box may be your Channel 3.2. Always look at the on-screen display and you'll be fine. Bottom line: for the money, this little box just can't be beat. It gives you a true HD 1080 DVR option for well under $50, and that's a one-time investment -- no recurring fees, etc. I'm very happy with it, but then this unit is exactly what I was looking for, so I'm satisfied.