Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

In my pursuit of no cable bill, I have tried several different types of amplified HDTV antennas with little or intermittent success. I live in Newport Beach, California near the water and decided that I didn't want to pay Time Warner over $100 a month for basic cable and broadband anymore. This is partially because of the cost, but also because I was disgusted with the horrible HDTV picture quality resulting from TW's compression. The first step was to switch to AT&T DSL and drop their broadband and buy a Roku box which I've also reviewed. But for live TV, I bought two of these antennas and place one on each TV. Each TV received different channels and the results were better than expected but still somewhat intermittent. Each TV in different rooms received different channels and I especially enjoyed PBS programming. However, I decided to experiment with placing the antennas in my windows. The living room wasn't so great but when I placed one antenna in a bedroom window which only faces a narrow alley, I couldn't believe the results. The TV scanned 94 Digital Channels and 3 Analog ones!!! I honestly could not believe this! And every one is strong and tunes in immediately. Of course half of those are community service, foreign language and religious channels I won't watch but that still leaves enough wonderful, full 1080p high definitely programming; not one of which looks as bad as standard cable. I was already more happy than I ever was with my cable. Well, I decided to take my experiment to another level. I realized that the cable junction for my downstairs condo is in the bedroom closet right near the window with the antenna. I disconnected what was the feed coming in from the cable/street from the splitter and connected this antenna. ONE $40 antenna now drives the cable loop in my house, providing 90+ stable HDTV channels. I am happier for free! No more cable! One other thing I'll mention. I was like so many people who say, I can't go without cable; I love Discovery Channel, I love History Channel, I love CNN. This is what kept me paying for years. While we've all been locked in thinking we had to have cable, stations switched to all digital as mandated by the FCC and even more came on line. There is so much wonderful, rich, clear programming out there on the airwaves that us cable subscribers don't see. Yes, you won't see those programs anymore but you'll see different, better ones. And an internet device like to Roku will give you CNN, Comedy Central, and much more. Try this antenna, position it where you can to get the best results and cut the cable! *** Review Update *** I have now been using this antenna for a year and a half since I wrote that review. It is still sitting in the same window, receiving the same channels flawlessly, powered on day and night. It is still feeding the entire cable loop in my house, currently with two TV's and I'm about to add a third. I recently watched the Olympics in wonderful, full bandwidth high definition. People come to my house and they can't believe what's providing all the TV channels when they see it. Living in this area, so far from LA and usually unable to receive anything, it seems this is a bit of an anomaly. All my neighbors have Time Warner Cable or DirectTV. It seems the side of the house may be causing the signals to focus into the alley next to the house. But this very inexpensive antenna has been reliable and in this setting has been great. If you live in a place and can't get much with it, I encourage you to keep varying the placement any way possible. Using this along with my Roku boxes, I've never missed cable.